One of the questions I hear quite often in the children's department is, "can you just find some good picture books for my kid?" Grownups who aren't in the habit of reading picture books--which, let's face it, most aren't--can find our picture book collection, which includes roughly 14,000 volumes, very intimidating.
Rest assured, this is a question that most of us who work the kids desk are not only happy to answer for you, it's a question that gets us excited! We almost always have a list of recent favorites tucked into our brains and are always looking for people to share them with! In fact, a favorite past time in the youth services workroom is "storytime"--in which one of us reads aloud a picture book we just found in the collection which we totally love.
As my role as the early literacy specialist has me basically living in the picture books, I'd like to think that I'm a pretty good resources for the most recent fun, creative, hilarious, and beautiful titles. And while this time of year is always full of "best books of the year" lists, some of my favorite picture books are the ones that rarely show up on those lists. They've got a great rhyme scheme, the illustrations are hilarious, it gives a peaceful quiet mood that I like for bedtime with my own kiddo or for a quiet storytime, or it just happens to strike me for no reason at all.
If you're someone who's always looking for fun, new picture books but combing through a literal mountain of possibilities isn't something you're interested in, check out some of my personal favorites from this year. You'll see some of the heavy hitters that are starting to appear on the critically acclaimed lists, but you'll also see some cute and funny picture books that are always a staple on kids' shelves but not always a hit with the critics. During the cold months ahead, check some of these out--you might find a new favorite!
It's been a heck of a year for picture books! There have been a lot of great ones, but these are some of my favorites. HerrickDL KidPicks
