Picture Storybook Reviews

I am loving my children’s literature class because it is giving me a great opportunity to finally pick up some books that I haven’t read before. Every year around book fair time, I would have many students purchase beautiful books for our classroom. My classroom was filled with books that I always said I’d use for read-aloud, but I just never could get to them all. These three titles have been sitting pretty in my teacher box and I am so happy I pulled them out to read. The following titles are great examples of picture storybooks. They integrate text and illustrations beautifully and tell wonderful stories.

Chopsticks by the late Amy Krause Rosenthal is the cutest story about friendship. I had read her other title Spoon and this one was just as clever. It is a story about a pair of chopsticks that do everything together until one of the chopsticks breaks and needs time to rest. During their time apart, the chopsticks learn how to function on their own. The book sends a great message about standing out on your own but also sticking together. The illustrator does a wonderful job of creating humorous pictures that bring out the text on each page even more.

After a fellow classmate discussed the book Blackout by John Rocco, I remembered that I had it in my collection and had never read it. I am so glad I finally gave this book a deeper look. It is a Caldecott honor book that is a perfect example of a picture storybook. It is a very relatable story about how a family reacts after the power goes out on a summer night. No one in the family was able to use their technology and had to pull out board games and get outside, play, and enjoy the city lights. The author/illustrator in this book does a great job of using dark colors to show the blackout but highlights the main action on the page. This is the kind of book that if the text wasn’t there, you would still be able to understand the story.

I have also enjoyed reading books by Jon Klassen so I pulled the book The Dark. This book tells a great story about a boy who is afraid of the dark and how he faces his fear. The “dark” is written as a character and the boy actually talks to the dark. I think this book is so relatable to kids and does a great job modeling how kids can tackle their fears. Jon Klassen is definitely becoming a favorite illustrator of mine, and this books’ illustrations did not disappoint. He does a great job of showing the darkness and playing with the shadows. The boy's face was also detailed throughout showing his timid personality. I love, love, loved this story!