I have a four-year-old daughter who, luckily for me, has never seemed to get "stuck" on a favorite book for weeks at a time. This has allowed me to survey a wide range of picture books and early readers, and we have recently started in earnest on chapter books. This article will focus on the picture books, which may be enjoyed by a wide range of ages. Here are some of her favorites, and mine.
Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth. As the siblings Addy, Michael and Karl get to know Stillwater the Panda, who speaks with a "slight panda accent," he tells each of them a story adapted from a Zen koan. Muth's paintings are extraordinary, and the stories Stillwater tells are both funny and enlightening. This is my personal favorite picture book. My daughter likes it too, but not that much.
The Olivia books by Ian Falconer. Olivia the pig likes to be loud, has to try on everything to find the right outfit, and is never, ever tired, except when she wears herself out. Sounds just like a certain four-year-old I know. These books started out more as daddy favorites (much of the humor is easier for an adult to appreciate), but in the past couple of months they've caught on with my daughter as well. The first book was all in black, white and red; as subsequent books have been published (there are currently four), Falconer has added additional colors, and part of the fun comes from having your child figure out what the new color is.
Francine, Francine the Beach Party Queen by Audrey Colman. Francine the dog narrates her own story in rhyming couplets. The unhappy and unloved pet of the "boring, persnickety Crabapple clan," forced to eat "Bland Brand Nuggets" and stifle her natural exuberance, Francine runs away and finds a true home with a dance troupe who call themselves the Dancing Fools. Colman did the computer-generated illustrations for the Walter the Farting Dog books; her style is unmistakeable. I admit I've grown weary of it, but this one has been a source of ongoing fascination for my daughter.
The Miss Bindergarten books by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff. Miss Bindergarten, an Australian sheep dog, shepherds a class of 26(!) kids through a wild year of kindergarten. Each child is represented as a different animal whose name starts with a different letter of the alphabet (Fran the Frog, Lenny the Lion, Quentin the Quokka, etc.). There are several of these books now, but my daughter's favorites continue to be the first one (Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten) and the one where Miss B and a few of the kids get the flu (Miss Bindergarten Stays Home from Kindergarten). Part of the appeal is in seeing how the different personalities of the kids evolve as the books progress.
The Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child. "I have this little sister, Lola," Charlie begins every story. "She is small and very funny." Indeed she is. These books have recently been turned into short animated segments that are shown on Noggin and are voiced by a couple of pretty adorable-sounding British children. As a result, I now cannot read the insta-classic I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed without affecting a British accent of my own. These books are sweet and addictive.
Why Can't I Fly? by Rita Golden Gelman and Jack Kent. This is an old book I kept from my childhood that may be out of print now but is still available through the Amazon Marketplace or Alibris. Minnie the monkey gets some bad advice from some well-meaning birds and bugs about how to fly (for instance, the ladybug tells her to paint herself red with black dots). The story is an object lesson in the value of experimentation, determination, skeptical thinking, and finally cooperation; not bad for a simple 48-page story. It's also got the slapstick humor (always popular with four-year-olds and dads alike) of Minnie repeatedly launching herself from the top of the tree and yelling, "I can fly! I can fly! I can ... FLOP."
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. This Caldecott winner is another one that combines a meaningful story with often hilarious slapstick humor. Officer Buckle is a police officer whose safety tip speeches at the local schools put the kids to sleep. One day, he's assigned a buddy, Gloria the dog, who unbeknownst to him begins acting out the safety tips behind his back (for Safety Tip #79-never leave a thumbtack where someone might sit on it-Gloria launches herself into space). My daughter's favorite parts of the book are the endpapers, each of which has twenty or so safety tips being enacted by Gloria. Rathmann's 10 Minutes Till Bedtime is also a favorite.
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes. A lion who is fond of story hour is allowed to hang around the library day in and day out, with the stipulation that he cannot break any of the library rules, particularly the one about not making noise. When the head librarian falls and break her arm, the lion has to roar in order to get someone's attention, and as a result is exiled from the library. Of course everything ends well. The moment of the lion's return has been known to dampen the eyes of several otherwise-level-headed adults. Great drawings, and a very satisfying story.