I started following Susanna Hill’s blog sometime at the end of the summer and I’m glad I did. Hill is a children’s book author, and someday I’d like to be one, too. Her posts are entertaining, informative, and easy to read. All good things when I’m squeezing writing into my full-time job of mother-of-three.
In early November, Hill started a series called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. The purpose: To share favorite picture books among teachers, librarians, parents, authors, illustrators and general readers. At the onset, she consulted a few of us regular visitors to give feedback on the idea, and commit to making a few consistent posts. (For each book, contributors list the title, author, illustrator, publisher, synopsis/message and why we chose that book. ) The hope was that the series would catch on and grow to become a valuable resource for any and all readers. It has.
What started as a small group of ten or so contributors has grown to over 20. As a result, special sections are developing, like one for boys loaded with stories of dinosaurs, monsters, trucks, trains, and anything else that seems boy-related. As both a weekly contributor of Perfect Picture Books, and a reader of others entries, I’ve come to view this series as extremely valuable.
As each review discusses lessons, the moral of the story, and why it’s being recommended, I’ve found some great books. What did I do with my favorites? I wrote them down and took my list to the Verona Public Library, where I gave it to Cheryl Ashley, the children’s librarian, who pulled them off the shelves for me. What the VPL didn’t have, she ordered for me through inter-library loan.
One of our newly discovered favorite books is I’d Really Like to Eat a Child. The title sounds a little strange, but the story is hysterical and has become a favorite of my four year old. Then there’s Dave the Potter, a story of a slave named Dave who made amazing pottery and wrote poetry.
This week, Hill has given her review of The Monster Returns and you can read her post here. My contribution is Inside Your Outside and you can read about it here, or from the link on Susanna’s blog. There is a page dedicated to all the picture books that have been suggested and they are categorized for easy searching. If you tune in on Fridays you can follow all of the books put up each week, or if you’re like me and won’t remember to go there on your own, just click on the subscribe button and you’ll get all of her following postings.
