Top Ten Tuesday: Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read

I’m continuing my streak of making up my own Top Ten Tuesday themes! I just can’t seem to help myself by taking my own spin on these themes. So for today, while the official theme is “Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read” I felt like I tend to share a lot about my favorite books, so I’m adapting the theme just a little to work for me!

Today, I’m sharing five picture books by well-known children’s picture book creators and pairing them with a biography or autobiography about the creator! I thought this was kind of a cool idea because these are some of my favorite classic picture books and you can learn so much more about the people who wrote and illustrated them!

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Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert

Each turn of the page reveals a mouth-watering arrangement of foods: Indian corn, jalapeno, jicama, kumquat, kiwifruit and kohlrabi. Lois Ehlert’s lively watercolors paired with bold easy-to-read type make for a highly appealing and accessible book for parents and children to devour.

At the end of the book, Ehlert provides a detailed glossary that includes pronunciation, botanical information, the origin and history of the particular plant and occasional mythological references, with a small watercolor picture to remind the reader of what the plant looks like.

The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life by Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert always knew she was an artist. Her parents encouraged her from a young age by teaching her how to sew and saw wood and pound nails, and by giving her colorful art supplies. They even gave her a special spot to work that was all her own.

Today, many years and many books later, Lois takes readers and aspiring artists on a delightful behind-the-scenes tour of her books and her book-making process. Part fascinating retrospective, part moving testament to the value of following your dreams, this richly illustrated picture book is sure to inspire children and adults alike to explore their own creativity.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd

In a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. “Goodnight room, goodnight moon.” And to all the familiar things in the softly lit room—to the picture of the three little bears sitting on chairs, to the clocks and his socks, to the mittens and the kittens, to everything one by one—the little bunny says goodnight.

Only Margaret: A Story about Margaret Wise Brown by Candice Ransom, illustrated by Nan Lawson

When Halley’s comet arrived in 1910, so did an extraordinary person: Margaret Wise Brown. Margaret had a boundless imagination and a gift for spinning stories. Most grown-ups thought children’s books were frivolous and silly, but Margaret didn’t agree. Could writing stories for children be important work—a incredible way to share truth, beauty, and wonder?

Other people might call Margaret strange, and sometimes her own worries and doubts felt overwhelming. But only Margaret and her original ideas could lead to Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny­, and other classics beloved by children around the world.

From smuggling rabbits onto trains, to scribbling stories about island whispers, Margaret embraced adventure in life and on the page. This whimsically illustrated biography shares how an independent, fun-loving woman became a trailblazing pioneer of the picture-book form.

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Clooney

Barbara Cooney’s story of Alice Rumphius, who longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful, has a timeless quality that resonates with each new generation. The countless lupines that bloom along the coast of Maine are the legacy of the real Miss Rumphius, the Lupine Lady, who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went. Miss Rumphius received the American Book Award in the year of publication.

World More Beautiful: The Life and Art of Barbara Cooney by Angela Burke Kunkel, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander

For every kid who loves art, here is the inspirational story of beloved illustrator and two-time Caldecott Medalist, Barbara Cooney.

Barbara was born in a hotel in Brooklyn, with a view of the city and the sea. Her father loved numbers and money. But Barbara and her mother loved art, and color, and light. Barbara’s favorite days were when she stayed home sick in bed and got to paint and draw.

In the summers, they left New York for Maine, where Barbara scrambled among the rocks, wind whipping her hair, light sparkling on the water. Summer was grey, and blue, and green, and free.

When Barbara grew up, she ventured out into the world with an art portfolio—she thought she might like to illustrate books. And she did, creating classics like Miss Rumphius, Island Boy, and Hattie and the Waves.

Her character Miss Rumphius said, you must do something to make the world more beautiful. And that is exactly what Barbara did. It’s a message that’s sure to inspire young readers and creators today.

The Snow Day by Ezra Jack Keats

In 1962, a little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the hearts of millions of readers. Universal in its appeal, this story beautifully depicts a child’s wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever. The quiet fun and sweetness of Peter’s small adventures in the deep, deep snow is perfect for reading together on a cozy winter day.

A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book.

For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats’s — neighborhood.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published by Frederick Warne in 1902 and endures as Beatrix Potter’s most popular and well-loved tale. It tells the story of a very mischievous rabbit and the trouble he encounters in Mr McGregor’s vegetable garden!

Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit by Linda Marshall, illustrated by Ilaria Urbinati

Growing up in London, Beatrix Potter felt the restraints of Victorian times. Girls didn’t go to school and weren’t expected to work. But she longed to do something important, something that truly mattered. As Beatrix spent her summers in the country and found inspiration in nature, it was through this passion that her creativity flourished.

There, she crafted The Tale of Peter Rabbit. She would eventually move to the countryside full-time, but developers sought to change the land. To save it, Beatrix used the money from the success of her books and bought acres and acres of land and farms to prevent the development of the countryside that both she and Peter Rabbit so cherished. Because of her efforts, it’s been preserved just as she left it.

This beautiful picture book shines a light on Beatrix Potter’s lesser-known history and her desire to do something for the greater good.
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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.