There's a lovely post at Picture Book Month by Alma Flor Ada in where she talks about why picture books are important for children. The bond it creates between adult and child and that picture books can be enjoyed by the very young as well as the older more sophisticated child reader. Each day of the month a different picture book champion weighs in on why they think picture books are important.
The Bear in the Book (Farrar Straus Giroux, Oct. 2012) written by Kate Banks (also an agency sister with Hen & Ink Literary) and illustrated by Georg Hallensleben is a beautiful representation of storytelling between parent and child, where a little boy listens to a story being read by his mother and metaphorically speaking he's so caught up in the story that he enters the world of the bear. He identifies with the words and pictures he sees playing out over the pages. Excerpt below:
Snowflakes began to fall across the pages of the book.
The snow sat snugly in the boughs of the trees.
The boy could almost feel it.
"Snow is cold," he said. He nestled closely against his mother.
"I like snow," he said.
Winter settled like a big hush," read the boy's mother.
"And the big black bear slept."
"Shh," said the boy.
It's picture book storytelling at it's best! And the vivid artwork by Hallensleben is extraordinary like watching a painting come to life. It's a tribute to fostering a love of reading in children at least that's the conclusion I'm drawing, and I say Bravo!
I showed you one of my new favorite picture books now it's your turn. Celebrate picture book month with me by leaving a comment below listing one of your favorite picture books.
Happy Picture Book Month! Happy reading!