Curating a Picture Book Collection

 We read a lot of books, most of them are currently picture books. Our kids don’t read yet, but the first is starting to regularly recognize sight words, so I expect she will start reading a little on her own now. They both already have opinions about the books we read. They both love anything by Mo Willems. I kept my favorites from growing up, and I love when I get to share those with them. Usually it isn’t the book so much as the memory of the book that makes me keep it. That’s why the “classic” picture books are so powerful. They bring in a sense of shared history and culture. Maybe for you that book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and nothing else, or an out of print book about winter that came out the year you were born. The point is that a curated collection can be so much more than the books it contains. It’s personal, and it says what you hold onto even when space is tight and you don’t have an immediate need for the book. It is essential to me that the books in my collection fill at least one of the following five roles.

1. Early learning stories: numbers, colors, days of week, letters and sounds, shapes, and then legion. Honestly, I prefer when these things are subtly slipped into an otherwise interesting story, or that they are combined or mashed up with multiple concepts (The Crayons’ Book of Numbers and the Monkey and Cake series by Drew Daywalt does this well, plus another shoutout for Mo). If it’s for babies, it’s okay to lose the subtlety, but it needs to gain something e.g. humor (Circle, Triangle, Elephant by Kenji Oikawa), realism (Creature series by Andrew Zuckerman), social commentary (Black Cat & White Cat by Claire Garralon), or interactive elements (Mix it Up by Herve Tullet) to remain in circulation after the first baby year.

Once you get past early learning, it’s exciting to get into all of the other information books out there based on your or your child’s interests. Again, the best ones are the artful ones, or at least the ones that seem artful to you. Do not lick this book by Idan Ben-Barak, Grow: Secrets of our DNA by Nicola Davies, and Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sara Levine are my current favorites. Any topic you find you or your kids have an interest in probably has an incredible picture book made about it. If the quality doesn’t blow you away, make your own (that’s my advice for any picture book you want to curate into your collection and can’t find).

2. Bedtime story: Preferably rhyming or lulling language. I don’t like the Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow for example as a bedtime story, though I love that book during the day. There are a lot of those funny bedtime stories which rile up the littles. Those books are fun, but not at bedtime when patience is gone. It’s a tricky genre to perfect. The book needs to be engaging, but in a calming way. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site  by Sherri Duskey Rinker is excellent and McDuff by Rosemary Wells is my favorite from childhood. I love the nights we go back to a beloved classic (as long as it’s not the same one 5 nights in a row). Those are the ones that sound better every time you read them, they have a lilt or a personal timing that you have crafted over many readings. Some of them are memorized, but you are grateful, because when you recall the words you feel peace.

3. Ethical code and religious books: These are the books that help reinforce your moral worldview through stories. My favorites come from a background of parables, fables, myths, fairy tales, and other hero driven works. The ones with a strong sense of origin are better, either origin in history or the ones that are super personal to the author and illustrator and yet are fully relatable. Ben Hatke is doing some amazing work in this category right now. This category is incredibly personal. Take your time picking these. The most beautiful of this category can become your bedtime stories.

4. Historical people and events: This is separate from information books for me because they are more human interest than subject interest oriented. It’s most powerful when it at least starts with the child version of the famous person, or when the event is seen through a child’s eyes. These books are the ones I most look forward to reading, but my kids aren’t always sold. This category feels to me more for adult appreciators of picture books, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep trying to get my girls to love it. Dazzle Ships by Chris Barton is a standout for me.

5. Holiday books: This is where I don’t mind having favorite characters (the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numenoff or Leslie Patricelli’s baby) carry the story and artwork. Stand alone original holiday books are impressive in the way The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was impressive when it came out. The problem is that you can’t reinvent a holiday without losing part of what it was. Otherwise the holiday becomes a cluttered mass of traditions that don’t really fit together and you don’t have time for (I’m looking at you Christmas movies). The good thing about that is when you curate your collection with intention, you can end up with a few strongly linked traditions which feel personal and meaningful.

I realize that the best books will crossover multiple categories, or completely defy categorization. Kahlo’s Koalas by Grace Helmer hits 1,2, and 4, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss hits 1, 2, 3, and 5, and Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island by Jennifer Thermes hits all five if you think of September 11th as a day to celebrate rebuilding the World Trade Towers. Those are the books that keep me curious. Those are the books I can’t wait to find, not just to add to my collection, but to read and reread, to pass down and point to as one of the books that made me.