My Top Ten Favorite Children's Authors Celebrating 600 Reviews
Apr 02 '06
The Bottom Line There are so many wonderful children's authors and so many wonderful books to read to a child that you care about. I've just_barely_scratched the surface of what is available.
What better way to celebrate hitting 600 reviews than to write about my favorite children's authors. I've tried to narrow it down to my top ten favorite, but I'm not sure I can really do that...we'll see.
Every book that I read has been read to either one of my grandchildren or one of my daycare children, ages 2 1/2 to 5 years old.
The Authors
The first five authors on my list of my favorites not only authored books, but also did their own illustrating. I really admire the ability of some of my favorites to make their story come alive with their own wonderful illustrations as well.
Eric Carle has written and illustrated so many wonderful books and I've reviewed quite a few of them. I've tried to think of my favorite and that is just so hard to do. I admire that Mr. Carle not only writes wonderful children's books but he also does collage illustrations that are a bit different than I've seen in any other books.
I guess my very favorite would be The Very Hungry Caterpillar but there are so many others that I love as well.
Lois Ehlert lives in Milwaukee Wisconsin and one of our own beloved epinionators knew her. Ed Grover wrote to me after I reviewed my first Lois Ehlert books and told me he would steer her to my review. I really thought that was so sweet of him and loved that one of my favorite authors was known by someone I know.
Ms. Ehlert is another author that illustrates her own books. She uses several different mediums to illustrate her wonderful books, which are about nature and some of the things she has learned while growing up in Wisconsin. She utilizes photographs and bits and pieces of twigs, twine, buttons, material and most anything she can get her hands on to make her books come alive with fantastic illustrations.
My favorite Lois Ehlert book is Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf but she has so many that I truly love. Another of her wonderful and very creative books is Planting A Rainbow.
Alexandra Day is not quite as well known an author as some of the other ones that I've named but her books really grabbed me and the daycare children. Ms. Day is another who writes and illustrates her own books. The series of books that we discovered and enjoy are about a big lovable rottweiler named Carl. One of my favorites is Carl Goes To Daycare.
Norman Bridwell is another author / illustrator that I truly enjoy. Mr. Bridwell is the genius behind Clifford the Big Red dog. A dog that is much larger than the average large dog. While Clifford books have been around a long time I find them to be timeless with children and each book teaches a small lesson while being fun and interesting as well. One of the favorites in my daycare was Clifford's Halloween. While Mr. Bridwell has written many, many books in this series he always manages to make the unique and fun for toddler and preschoolers.
Kevin Henkes is another Wisconsin author that also does his own illustrations. The first book of his that I became aware of was Kitten's First Full Moon a wonderful book that held the attention of my daycare children and myself as well. I love the uniqueness of only using black and white in this book.
While we haven't read a lot of Kevin Henkes books, yet, he is high on our list of authors to expand our book shelf with.
As I said, it surprised me as I was compiling my list that so many of my choices are authors who also do their own illustrations, but of course it isn't limited to those selections. The following authors have others illustrate their books but are wonderful authors who know how to captivate a child's attention with the written word.
Jonathan London is another author that the children recognize his work as soon as I lift a book up. The cover of his books always show his main character, Froggy, and the children love doing the repetitive line of Frrroooggggyyyyy….Whhaaaaaattt? that is included in each of the books in this series. One of my very favorite Froggy books is Froggy's First Kiss. but we also really love Froggy Gets Dressed.
Mem Fox is a wonderful author that knows what children will love to listen to. My first Mem Fox book was Time for Bed and then went on to read Sleepy Bears. I found this author to write great bed time (or naptime) stories that are calm and soothing.
Erica Silverman The first time I ever heard of the book Big Pumpkin was when I was an assistant teacher in the preschool room at a daycare center. One of the other teachers had brought in the book and also a cassette that read the story. I do think it was hearing this story on cassette that made it one of my favorites and set up the style in which I read this book around Halloween every year. Cowboy Kate & Cocoa was a more recent Erica Silverman find that was absolutely loved by my little daycare group and me. It was a book that was a little bit longer than our usual picture books and was broken down into chapters. We read one chapter a day and I loved how the children anticipated hearing more about Cowboy Kate & Cocoa which I very recently reviewed.
Jamie Lee Curtis is an actress turned children's author. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about her books but absolutely loved how expressive books like Today I Feel Silly are. While I've only reviewed one of Ms. Curtis's books, I've enjoyed reading many of them to my daycare children and to several of my grandchildren.
Judith Viorst One of my very favorite books by Ms. Viorst is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day followed very closely by another wonderful book in this series Alexander, Who's Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move ..… Ms. Viorst knows how to tell a story in such a way that children can really relate. The feelings that Alexander has are feelings that we all have at times and most especially children. He talks about his feelings and in the end shares them with others, which helps him to feel better.
Doreen Cronin has written some children's books that are a bit different than your average picture book. I first became aware of writing with Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type and then was delighted when I checked out and then eventually purchased Diary of a Worm.
Karma Wilson is an author that I just happened to pick up one of her books one day while meandering through the children's section of the library and fell in love immediately. Bear Hugs: Romantically Ridiculous Animal Rhymes and Bear Snores On are but two of our daycare favorites. Ms. Wilson writes books that are funny and fun and always manage to hold the attention of all four of my daycare children.
My Feelings
I don't usually put a lot of links into my reviews, but I did feel like they should be added to this one to show why each author is one of favorite authors and some examples of their wonderful work.
I admire children's authors very much. Writing is such a gift and being able to write and/or illustrate books that will shape and mold a child's life has to be one of the greatest gifts that can be bestowed on anyone.
I feel privileged to spend time with children everyday and getting to read to them is one of my favorite parts of any day. I'm thankful that there are so many wonderful authors out there for me to choose from.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.