The Library Vault

I have been waiting all year for November because it is National Picture Book Month.

While I love all levels of children’s books (see my previous posts about the Enola Holmes mysteries and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles), I always get the most excited about picture books.

Yep. Picture books. Big books with few words. Meant for very young children.

Why do I love them so much? First, let me wax poetic about the art work. The pictures in most children’s books are simply stunning. The detail, the color. Why are bold and colorful things reserved only for children? Why, as adults, do we put aside the joy that big, bold, colorful pictures can bring?

A few examples. (Believe me, there are hundreds. Thousands.)

But picture books only cover children’s subjects I can hear someone declaring!

Do you have any idea how deep most kid’s books are? How serious, how touching, how profound?

You want a book about searching for yourself? Read Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein. Or, how about a book about Eastern Philosophy? Try Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth. Biography? Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Palacco. Feeling lonely? Read Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. How about death? Discover Ida, Always by Caron Levis. (Keep a box of tissues handy.)

And then there are the stories themselves. Have you ever tied telling a full tale with a limited number of words? Have you ever tried doing it and having it rhyme to boot?

Elizabeth Brown
Entered the world
Dropping straight down from the sky.
Elizabeth Brown
Entered the world
Skinny, nearsighted, and shy.

The opening lines of The Library by Sarah Stewart. Pictures by David Small.

With just two two rhyming lines, the author introduces the heroine, tells us the pertinent facts about her appearance and personality, and makes us smile. (I love the picture of her mother looking up and as the baby drops down from above. I can just imagine what she was thinking! ) Oh, one more thing. The Library is a tribute to a real woman, librarian Mary Elizabeth Brown.

I am always amazed at the depth that children’s authors attain. The stories are funny and sad, silly and serious, wildly imaginative and sometimes brutally real, and while they are all those things they are also so much more. They make you think. They touch your heart. They tackle current social issues. They dare to ask questions. They lay bare truth.

And they are fun. So. Much. Fun.

Russell Library has an extensive picture book collection. Our librarians would be happy to tell you which ones are their favorites or help you search out one on a particular topic. We even have picture books sorted into collections, such as Feelings, Dinosaurs, Bedtime, and more.

By the way, if you want to try a picture book, there are many, many picture books about libraries. Just sayin’.