It has occured to me that while I talk a lot about storytimes and television, I don’t talk about what books I like!  This could be because, as part of my work, most of my reading involves books that have 10 words or fewer per page.  As a general rule of thumb, I try not to read anything intended for people over the age of 18.  “Adult” books take too many brain cells, and I use enough of those in a day that I don’t have any left over for big books.  So here’s a little bit about me, through my book choices. Let’s start with my specialty, picture books:

~LAUREN CHILD. “I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato” was followed by a host of other Charlie and Lola books, which got turned into a TV show. That last part I’m not so happy about, but they really are phenomenal books.

~DOREEN CRONIN. She did “Wiggle,” one of my favorite picture books EVAR. She also wrote “Click Clack Moo,” which is fabulous, but the problem with that book is that children these days don’t know what a typewriter is, thus somewhat defeating the point of the book, not to mention severely sidetracking the kids.

~IAN FALCONER. He wrote the Olivia series. Personally I think the adults might enjoy these books more than the kids. “You wear me out, but I love you anyway.” “I love you anyway too.” I have a friend who is a Teen Services Librarian named Olivia who, not surprisingly, has a substantial collection of “Olivia” merchandise.

~JONATHAN LONDON. One word: Froggy. ’nuff said.

~TODD PARR. His stick figure people are purple and blue and he tells children it’s okay to eat macaroni and cheese in the bathtub. He’s my hero. (P.S. When I read “It’s Okay to be Different” at Wee Read, the kids get all excited about the bright colors and start climbing all over me to try to see them. Then I have to sit on a chair to finish the book. Not that I have a problem with kids climbing on me, but then no one can see the book.)

~ELLEN STOLL WALSH. Have you ever read “Mouse Paint?” Have you ever even LOOKED at “Mouse Paint?” Every single one of her books is THAT good. Fabulous stories, fabulous pictures, fabulous woman (I met her when I was in 6th grade, she was the nicest person.)

~VIRGINIA WALTER. She wrote my favorite picture book of all time, “Hi, Pizza Man!” If you have not seen this book, come see my copy. But it is out of print, and I guard my copy with my LIFE. You can look at it in my presence :-)

~MO WILLEMS. He invented The Pigeon and Elephant and Piggie. He worked for Sesame Street. How can you not love everything this man does??

A little food for thought. Go check out these authors at your local library!