Your Best of List is Wrong

Earlier this week The Wife Person asked me to make a list of my favorite picture books. My initial thought paralleled this tweet:

Favorite Picture Book? How can you choose? How about my favorite as of this minute…
@Lisalibtech

It can be very difficult to make a ‘best of’ list. Someone will always say you left something off. That you put something in that didn’t belong. But, she wanted a list, so I was going to make one. I started by creating the hashtag #favoritePBlist on twitter and asking what books other people liked. I got some great responses, like:

You know what? I love any picture book that feels comfy to hold, has great illustrations, and an awesome story.
@KathyEllenDavis

I love that she included ‘comfy to hold’. Such an underappreciated facet of the PB.

Another response I got was for ‘any book by so-and-so’. Some great authors were called out.

Marla Frazee, Kevin Henkes, Oliver Jeffers, Peter Brown, Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen, P.D. Eastman, Mo Willems, David Weisner, the Steads, Lisa Wheeler, Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, William Joyce, David Shannon, Melissa Sweet, Jez Alborough, Jane Yolen

I started to compile my list. Originally, it was heavy on books that I remembered from my childhood, the classics, https://www.galarson.com/. As I reevaluated my list, and looked at some of the great books other people were posting, I noticed a change. Slowly, my list became more populated by books that I enjoyed reading with my kids, and less with these ‘classics’. There’s still one or two, but not nearly as many as on the first draft. Here is my list of 15 favorite picture books, or at least, the 15 favorites right now.

Not a Box – I love the creativity and simple style of this one. The concept and the simple art carry it.

I’m the Biggest thing in the Ocean – The 5-yr old knows this one by heart. A great story.

The Giving Tree – This has always been a favorite. A heartwarming tale of selflessness.

The Monster at the End of This Book – If I said this book influenced my writing it would be an understatement. I just wish they hadn’t forced Elmo into the sequel.

Press Here – You know a book is good when you wish you had written it.

Boy + Bot – The youngest sleeps with this one in his bed sometimes. It might single-handedly turn him into a reader.

Ferdinand – This story about staying true to yourself should be in everyone’s personal collection.

Tikki Tikki Tembo – The best thing about this book is how The Wife Person reads it. Great art, too.

Where the Wild Things Are – I think I used to want to be Max. I probably still do.

Knuffle Bunny – A great story, but the art makes this one. I love the drawing on photo style.

Otis – A sweetheart of a tale starring a lovable tractor. The sequel is pretty great too.

I Want My Hat Back – Not many books ‘get’ my sense of humor, but this one does.

10 Little Zombies: A Love Story – Another book that gets my sense of humor. Some friends introduced me to it, and the ending is to die for.

Exclamation Mark – I love punctuation. This imaginative take on it is a big winner with my boys.

I’m leaving this spot open for the next awesome book I fall in love with. Also, there were too many to choose from. I’d put them all here if I could.

Here is the list of all 215 books from the twitter feed (as of 8:00 pm on 4/2/13) in no particular order:

Shark Vs. Train
Chloe And The Lion
The Snowy Day
Cloudland
That’s Good, That’s Bad
There’s A Nightmare In My Closet
I’d Really Like To Eat A Child
Gulliver Snip
The Bears We Know
The Tiger Who Came To Tea
Bark
George
Sylvester And The Magic Pebble
14 Bears In Summer And Winter
Tell Me A Mitzi
A Bad Case Of Stripes
Tops And Bottoms
Something From Nothing
Diary Of A Wombat
How To Heal A Broken Wing
Am I A Color Too
My Cat The Silliest Cat In The World
Miss Rumphias
Possum Magic
No
Jazz Baby
Cloudette
The Red Tree
The Rabbits
A Is For Salad
1-2-3 Peas
Peak A Moo
You Will Be My Friend
Fish Eyes
Swim Swim
Waking Beauty
The Police Cloud
These Hands
Mr. Zinger’s Hat
The Quiltmaker’s Gift
Little Bird
Mole’s Surprise
A House In The Woods
Doodle Bites
No Bears
Big Bouffant
Millie Fierce
I Love My New Toy
All The World
Pete And Pickles
The Hello Goodbye Window
Hunwick’s Egg
Stuck
Leaf
Egg Drop
The Amazing Hamweenie
Wild About Books
Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type
Interrupting Chicken
I Don’t Want To Be A Pea!
Rotten Island
I Hate Picture Books
Pink
Say
Sister Anne’s Hands
Ferdinand
The Library Dragon
Hershel & The Hanukkah Goblins
Star Mother’s Youngest Child
Little Tricker The Squirrel Meets Big Double The Bear
The Monster At The End Of This Book
Anything
Fly Away Home (Kd Plum’s, not the goose book)
The Wolves In The Walls
The Second Favorite Tuba
Big Red Lollipop
Me Want Pet!
Chicks Run Wild
The Three Ninja Pigs
Is Your Buffalo Ready For Kindergarten?
The Mermaid Queen
The Other Side
My Friends
My Very Own Room
Wind Wild Dog
Two Bobbies
The Big Orange Splot
What If The Shark Wears Tennis Shoes
Dear Mrs. Larue
The Crippled Lamb
The Dot
Ish
The Mitten
Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse
Wilfred Gordon Macdonald Partridge
Grandpa Green
Oh No!
Kel Gilligan’s Daredevil Stunt Show
Home For Bird
Miss Nelson Is Missing
House Held Up By Trees
The Gardener
The Curious Garden
The Library
An Egret’s Day
Insectlopedia
Boxes For Katje
Early Morning In The Barn
A Perfect Nest
Sandwich Swap
Book Speaks
I Am The Book
Wonderful Words
Land Of Words
One Cool Friend
Unspoken
Dragons Love Tacos
Flora And The Flamingo
Squids Will Be Squids
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
New Socks
Library Lion
Creepy Carrots
Extra Yarn
This Is Not My Hat
Bow-Wow Bugs A Bug
Paper Bag Princess
Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Tadpole’s Promise
Here Comes The Poo Bus
Exclamation Mark
The Ok Book
The Relatives Came
Eloise
Mike Mulligan
Screamy Mimi
Richard Scarry’s Cars And Trucks
Richard Scarry’s Things That Go
It’s A Book
Green
City Dog, Country Frog
The Quiet Book
Any Scaredy Squirrel Book
Miss Brooks Loves Books And I Don’t
Mostly Monsterly
Leonardo The Terrible Monster
Spoon
Little Hoot
Strega Nona
The House In The Night
Owl Moon
Bear Has A Story To Read
The Gentleman Bug
The Little House
Knuffle Bunny
Otis
How Rocket Learned To Read
Kitten’s First Full Moon
Tuesday
Hello! Hello!
Clever Jack Takes The Cake
Press Here
Flotsam
I Want My Hat Back
The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Boy + Bot
The Sweetest Fig
Thank You, Mr. Falker
A Sick Day For Amos Mcgee
Not A Box
That Rabbit Belongs To Emily Brown
Arnie The Doughnut
The Louds Move In
Guess What I Found In Dragon Wood
Black Dog
Dog Gone!
Charley’s First Night
Silly Doggy!
A Dog is a Dog
Say Hello to Zorro
Bone Dog
I Got Two Dogs
Dog In Charge
A Ball for Daisy
Boot & Shoe
Homer
One Starry Night
Welcome Comfort
Visitor for Bear
Tom’s Tweet
Chicken Dance
Building Our House
The Three Questions/Muth
One/Otoshi
The Perfect Pumpkin Pie
The Clown of God
Those Darn Squirrels
Again/Gravett
The Junkyard Wonders
Chicken Litte/Emberley
Wumbers
The Great Fuzz Frenzy
The Olivia books/Falconer
Another Brother
Fold Me A Poem
Perfect Square
Animalia
Eleventh Hour
Splash of Red
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean
Polar Bear Morning
Tall House
Me…Jane
Jumanji
Tuesday
Quiet/Loud Book