Do you have a little one who loves animals? If so, you should give these picture books a try:
• Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper: This is a beautiful story told in short sentences and drawn in striking black-and-white illustrations. A cat’s life changes when a new kitten comes to join the family. Soon, the pair become inseparable and spend their days doing all the things cats do best. Very young children will enjoy the illustrations and simple language while older children — and adults — will respond to the deeper themes of family, loss and renewal.
• Can an Aardvark Bark? by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Steve Jenkins: Did you know that a giraffe can’t laugh but it can bellow? Or that rats chortle during play? You’ll be armed with plenty of neat snippets of info after reading this book. The illustrations are created from cut-and-torn-paper collage, lending a realistic, yet stylish look throughout.
• Egg by Kevin Henkes: Perfect for spring, this book is warmly illustrated in Henkes’ distinctive style and a palette of pastels and warm browns. The tale uses limited vocabulary and lots of repetition to great effect. A trio of birds is joined by an unexpected hatchling; showing that friendship can come from anywhere.
• A Greyhound, A Groundhog by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Chris Appelhans: If you like tongue twisters, this book is for you. Short sentences, filled with rhythm and rhyme, narrate a playful greyhound and groundhog as they frolic together. This is a great read-aloud to share with young children. Be prepared to make some mistakes as you read the first few times but it’s all part of the fun. The soft, watercolour illustrations are full of movement and personality.
• Hooray for Birds by Lucy Cousins: Cousins’ bold and bright illustrations convey plenty of character and excitement as the reader is encouraged to imagine themselves as various kinds of birds. Some children may enjoy doing actions along with the text — impersonating noisy songbirds, cuddly owls and elegant swans. The wide variety of birds depicted means that playing “I Spy” with the illustrations is another way to enjoy this book.
• Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin: This sweet and enchanting book is done in one of my favourite styles: wordless. A little girl loses her toy fox companion to a real fox, sending her on a chase into a secret world inhabited by woodland creatures. As the characters move from the everyday world into the fantastical, the illustrations shift from blue/grey to a bright, fairy-tale palette. Readers get to decode the story without the help of dialogue or narration, giving little ones a chance to exercise their imaginations.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Amelia Affleck works at Coquitlam Public Library.
