Picture Books- A Donkey and Homes

One of my favorite things about having a kid, other than the kiddo, has been picture books. He is on a journey of first-time discovery and I’m on a journey of rediscovery. The art is amazing. The prose is at times poetry. They hold emotional gut punches that sometimes bring me to tears. Today is a library day, meaning it is time to release some of the ones we picked up and pick more. We both pick one book, sometimes more than one each if we can’t decide. Being that he is two, he is more likely to pick a book with an animal or automobile on the cover. I like heavier prose and the art style.

Before we make our selection, we do not know what is inside the books. It is usually based on our moods and how much time we have.

Last week his pick was The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith and Illustrated by Katz Cowley. This was picked because it has a donkey on the cover, and my mother has a retired donkey he gets to pet and feed. I’ll find a picture and add it below. I appreciated the rhythm of the book. If you’ve had kids after a certain point, you’ve read this one. I have one big, BUT that I’m sure a hundred other people have complained about: The language in the text is problematic.

My pick was Home is Where the Birds Sing by Cynthia Rylant and Illustrated by Katie Harnett. It caught my eye for three reasons, the art, the title, and how many words were on each page. If the paragraphs are too long my child’s attention will disappear. (There is a joke here when it comes to writing short fiction.) This was a huge win because there are a ton of objects to point out. While the book focuses on different types of diverse homes, we discovered cats, cars, windows, and a bunch of words. It is a book that can easily be explored.

I intend to post more of these. They’re not meant to be reviews but explorations.