What Makes a Good Picture Book?

Wordless Picture Books

Becker, Aaron  Return
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Candlewick     2016
ISBN 978-0-7636-7730-5

Boyd, Lizi  Flashlight
Preschool     40 pp.     Chronicle     2014
ISBN 978-1-4521-1894-9

Cole, Henry  Spot, the Cat
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Little Simon     2016
ISBN 978-1-4814-4225-1
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4814-4226-8

Idle, Molly  Flora and the Peacocks
Preschool     40 pp.     Chronicle     2016
ISBN 978-1-4521-3816-9

Lawson, JonArno  Sidewalk Flowers
Illustrated by Sydney Smith
Gr. K–3     24 pp.     Groundwood     2015
ISBN 978-1-55498-431-2
Ebook ISBN 978-1-55498-432-9

Lee, JiHyeon  Pool
Gr. K–3     56 pp.     Chronicle     2015
ISBN 978-1-4521-4294-4

Merveille, David  Mr. Hulot at the Beach
Gr. K–3     56 pp.     NorthSouth     2016
ISBN 978-0-7358-4254-0

Miyares, Daniel  Float
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Simon     2015
ISBN 978-1-4814-1524-8
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4814-1525-5

Newgarden, Mark and Cash, Megan Montague  Bow-Wow's Nightmare Neighbors
Preschool     64 pp.     Roaring Brook/Porter     2014
ISBN 978-1-59643-640-4

Savage, Stephen  Where's Walrus? And Penguin?
Preschool     32 pp.     Scholastic     2015
ISBN 978-0-545-40295-8

Sturm, James  Birdsong: A Story in Pictures
Gr. K–3     69 pp.     TOON     2016
ISBN 978-1-935179-94-8

Wiesner, David  Mr. Wuffles!
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Clarion     2013
ISBN 978-0-618-75661-2

 

Metafictive Picture Books

Barnett, Mac  How This Book Was Made: Based on a True Story
Illustrated by Adam Rex
Gr. K–3     48 pp.     Disney/Hyperion     2016
ISBN 978-1-4231-5220-0

Bingham, Kelly  Circle, Square, Moose
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Gr. K–3     48 pp.     Greenwillow     2014
ISBN 978-0-06-229003-8
Library binding ISBN 978-0-06-229004-5

Byrne, Richard  This Book Is Out of Control!
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Holt     2016
ISBN 978-1-62779-933-1

Coudray, Jean-Luc and Coudray, Philippe  A Goofy Guide to Penguins
Illustrated by Philippe Coudray
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     TOON     2016
ISBN 978-1-935179-96-2

Falatko, Julie  Snappsy the Alligator: Did Not Ask to Be in This Book!
Illustrated by Tim Miller
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Viking     2016
ISBN 978-0-451-46945-8

Hall, Michael  Frankencrayon
Preschool     40 pp.     Greenwillow     2016
ISBN 978-0-06-225211-1

John, Jory  Quit Calling Me a Monster!
Illustrated by Bob Shea
Preschool     40 pp.     Random     2016
ISBN 978-0-385-38990-7
Library binding ISBN 978-0-385-38991-4
Ebook ISBN 978-0-385-38992-1

Novak, B. J.  The Book with No Pictures
Preschool     48 pp.     Dial     2014
ISBN 978-0-8037-4171-3

Ruzzier, Sergio  This Is Not a Picture Book!
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Chronicle     2016
ISBN 978-1-4521-2907-5

Stead, Philip C.  Ideas Are All Around
Gr. K–3     48 pp.     Roaring Brook/Porter     2016
ISBN 978-1-62672-181-4

Walsh, Liam Francis  Fish
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Roaring Brook/Porter     2016
ISBN 978-1-62672-333-7

Zagarenski, Pamela  The Whisper
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Houghton     2015
ISBN 978-0-544-41686-4

 

Picture Book Biographies

Barton, Chris  Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
Illustrated by Don Tate
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Charlesbridge     2016
ISBN 978-1-58089-297-1
Ebook ISBN 978-1-60734-854-2

Burleigh, Robert Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
Illustrated by Raúl Colón
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Simon/Wiseman      2016
ISBN 978-1-4814-1600-9
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4814-1601-6

Gandhi, Arun and Hegedus, Bethany  Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story
Illustrated by Evan Turk
Gr. K–3     48 pp.     Atheneum     2016
ISBN 978-1-4814-4265-7
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4814-4266-4

Macy, Sue  Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber
Illustrated by C. F. Payne
Gr. K–3     40 pp.      Simon/Wiseman     2016
ISBN 978-1-4814-0120-3
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4814-0121-0

Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux  The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore Gr. K–3     Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
32 pp.     Carolrhoda       2015
ISBN 978-0-7613-3943-4
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4677-4618-2

Novesky, Amy  Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Gr. K–3     40 pp.      Abrams     2016
ISBN 978-1-4197-1881-6

Rappaport, Doreen  Frederick's Journey: The Life of Frederick Douglass
Illustrated by London Ladd
Gr. K–3     48 pp.      Disney/Jump     2015
ISBN 978-1-4231-1438-3

Rockliff, Mara  Anything but Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic
Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
Gr. K–3     48 pp.     Candlewick     2016
ISBN 978-0-7636-6841-9

Stone, Tanya Lee  The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams
Illustrated by Kathryn Brown
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Holt/Ottaviano     2015
ISBN 978-0-8050-9049-9

Tate, Don  Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Peachtree     2015
ISBN 978-1-56145-825-7

Vernick, Audrey  The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton
Illustrated by Steven Salerno
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Clarion     2016
ISBN 978-0-544-61163-4

Winter, Jonah  You Never Heard of Casey Stengel?!
Illustrated by Barry Blitt
Gr. K–3     40 pp.      Random/Schwartz & Wade    2016
ISBN 978-0-375-87013-2
Library binding ISBN 978-0-375-97013-9
Ebook ISBN 978-0-375-98748-9

 

Picture Books for Older Readers

Coy, John  Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game
Illustrated by Randy DuBurke
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Carolrhoda     2015
ISBN 978-1-4677-2604-7
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4677-8810-6

Danticat, Edwidge  Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation
Illustrated by Leslie Staub
Gr. K–3     32 pp.     Dial     2015
ISBN 978-0-525-42809-1

Fogliano, Julie  When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
Gr. 4–6     56 pp.     Roaring Brook/Porter     2016
ISBN 978-1-59643-852-1

Hopkins, Lee Bennett  Amazing Places
Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
Gr. 4–6     40 pp.     Lee     2015
ISBN 978-1-60060-653-3

Gerstein, Mordicai  I Am Pan!
Gr. K–3     80 pp.     Roaring Brook     2016
ISBN 978-1-62672-035-0

Orgill, Roxane  Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph
Illustrated by Francis Vallejo
Gr. 4–6     64 pp.     Candlewick     2016
ISBN 978-0-7636-6954-6

Olshan, Matthew  A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785
Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Farrar/Ferguson      2016
ISBN 978-0-374-32954-9

Tonatiuh, Duncan  Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras
Gr. K–3     40 pp.     Abrams     2015
ISBN 978-1-4197-1647-8

Weatherford, Carole Boston  Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Gr. K–3     45 pp.     Candlewick     2015
ISBN 978-0-7636-6531-9

These titles were featured in the December 2016 issue of What Makes a Good...?: "What Makes a Good Picture Book?"