Honestly this picture book gift guide could have been pages longer, but I thought that these books are a great start because they will please both the child and the design inclined parent. They all have wonderful illustrations and charming stories and you will be happy if you have to be the one reading them over and over again. The way it works in my house is that we check books out from the library first, if they get requested to be checked out more than a few times I end up buying them and adding to my daughter’s library.

The Little People, Big Dreams series is focused on women that accomplished great things overcoming obstacles (Amelia Earhart, Maya Angelou, Coco Chanel, Frida Kahlo…), it’s so important to have strong role models and I suggest this series for both girls and boys. The Fan Brothers are wildly talented in the illustration vein of Edward Gorey, if Gorey was light-hearted and optimistic. I love, love, love all Kyo Maclear’s books, Julia, Child is another fave. The Day I became a Bird is excruciatingly charming both the story and the illustrations. K.G. Campbell’s Mermaid and the Shoe shuns the traditional mermaid stories and is about self discovery and building confidence. Sara O’Leary is a fave, she usually works with illustrator Julie Morstad and together they create new classics, hipster parents around the world will rejoice. Speaking of hipster any Oliver Jeffers book would be welcome on our shelf, you can’t go wrong! Our great friend Sanae Ishida is on her second book and it’s even better than the first (which seems impossible) so make sure to take a peak!

 

Enjoy!

//TODDLER PICTURE BOOK GIFT GUIDE//

01. Isabel Sanchez: Little People, Big Dreams

02. The Fan Brothers : The Night Gardener

03.Kyo Maclear : Virginia Wolf

04. Ingrid Chabbert : The Day I became a Bird

05. K.G. Campbell : The Mermaid and the Shoe

06. Sara O’Leary : This is Sadie

not shown but we recommend-

Sanae Ishida : Chibi Samarai wants a Pet

Emily Winfield Martin : Dream Animals

Benjamin Chaud : The Bear’s Song

Philip Simon : I Don’t Know What to Call my Cat

Mike Curato : Little Elliot in the Big City

Peter Brown : Mr. Tiger goes Wild

Sara O’Leary : When you Were Small

Jane Yolen : Dinosaur book series

I haven’t come up for air in months and down time is pretty non-existent these days which makes the concept of picking up The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, a 784 tome, almost laughable to even consider, but consider I did and then I dove in. I am going to be honest here I only decided to read it because of the cover, I know it had an ‘it book’ cache and even a Pulitzer, but what really made me decide to crack it open? The cover. Seriously, I am still in awe how the cover is so simpatico with the story. I am always in awe when this happens, which of course is the art directors doing, but still feels like some sort of happy design coincidence. This cover was the genius of Keith Hayes, a sort of book cover savant, I’ll link to an interview below, because I find the process endlessly interesting. How was the book? It was heavy, Tartt’s writing is incredibly rich with descriptives, if you like that you will be in literary bliss. It dealt heavily (in gruesome detail) with a subject that I have no stomach for but by the time I had hit that spot, I was already too deep to not keep reading, but the cover? The cover for me will stay with me, it’s truly a masterpiece, simple and intriguing.

Have you read The Goldfinch? What were your thoughts? Did you buy it for the cover too? Any good reads of late?  I am going to be in need of another book now!

//RESOURCES//

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Keith Hayes Art Director Interview

Goldfinch without cover (LOVE!)

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When Michelle and I first started writing our novel I only read non-fiction. I hadn’t read a fiction book in years, make that decades. My favorite books were non-fiction books that felt like novels, but I was always up for a good biography. I knew from my past experience with writing that the one way to become a better writer is to read–a lot. I also wanted to read in the genre we were writing and for the market we were targeting, to tell you the truth we still aren’t exactly sure who our market is, but I went with what I thought it was and delved into that category. We both felt that our book would most likely fit next to Ransom Riggs ‘Miss Peregrine’, (his series) so I read books that had that ‘feel’ in some ways.  I really wanted to share this list with you because there are a ton of gems in here. In the last year I have read a lot of books. This is not all of them but a chunk. Most if not all of the books were read on my Kindle which I checked out via my local library for free which is a service I am completely and utterly addicted to. It is very simple to sign-up with your local library and well worth the small effort it takes to get yourself set-up especially if you are as voracious a reader as I am!Read More