This is my eleventh hour submission to the Fuse #8 Production Top 100 Picture Books poll.  Man.  It was hard, and not least of all because I lost my first draft.  I really need to stop writing important things on small scraps of paper.  But that’s a really boring story.  Without further ado:

#1 – Blueberries for Sal (1948) by Robert McCloskey

Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk. ^[1] After much thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is my all-time favorite picture book.  It’s probably not a coincidence that I lived in Maine from birth to age 10.  We had raspberries, though.  I never heard any kerplinking or kerplanking.  Even if I used a metal pail instead of a plastic tumbler, I think raspberries would just sound like a thud, which is onomatopoetically lame…but they were all routed directly to my mouth.  My dad would return to the house with a full cup, and mine would be empty.

[ UDPATE:  This took #13 in the Fuse poll. ]

#2 – The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit (1906) by Beatrix Potter

This story is deceptively simple.  Ken Follett has described this brilliantly and concisely:  “This is the shortest thriller ever written.  In just 142 words it has suspense, crime, gunplay, and retributive justice.”  [source]  We had many Beatrix Potter books in my house growing up, and I read Fierce Bad Rabbit many, many times.  I’d like to think that the fact that it was the shortest story in the lot had nothing to do with it, but The Story of Miss Moppet was my other favorite, so who knows.  Potter’s books weren’t all winners, though.  Mrs. Tiggy Winkle?  She does some laundry and, oh, wait, she’s a hedgehog.  Yawn.  Fierce Bad Rabbit is way cooler.  If you don’t have a complete BP collection, read it online.

#3 – Where the Wild Things Are (1963) by Maurice Sendak

This is like putting Citizen Kane on your list of top ten films.  Clichéd, maybe, but it’s Just That Good.  My imagination leaves much to be desired, so I always valued Max’s.  He’s also role model for rebels.  He doesn’t just sit and rot in his jail cell.  He breaks out and has a wild rumpus.  I love how it reveals “I’ll eat you up” as a positive statement.  Plus there’s something majestic about ending with an unillustrated “And it was still hot.”

[ UDPATE:  This took #1 in the Fuse poll. ]

#4 – Curious George (1941) by Margaret and H. A. Rey

“Oh, what happened!  First this, and then this!” A fine example of how quoting out of context doesn’t always work so well with illustrated books.  On the other hand, it is my favorite passage, and I bet there’s a good chance you get the reference.  Oh, George.  He’s larger than life, to the point where his companion, the man with the yellow hat, never gets a proper name.  This first story of his adventures is a little sprawling, and you might say everyone’s favorite little monkey really comes into his own—whatever that means—in subsequent volumes, but I’m steadfastly partial to the original.

[ UPDATE:  This took #42 in the Fuse poll. ]

#5 – Knuffle Bunny (2004) by Mo Willems

Never mind figuring out the top 10 picture books…how do you choose a favorite Mo Willems title?  Ends up it wasn’t that hard…no offense, Pigeon.  Knuffle Bunny’s contrast of the cartoony characters over the scenic grayscale photography is best described as very, very right.  (As a side note, I get to feel like I’ve practically included A Pocket for Corduroy, a bear toward whom I have strong sentiments but weak literary convictions.)

[ UDPATE:  This took #10 in the Fuse poll. ]

#6 – The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) by Eric Carle

My earliest library memory is of taking The Very Hungry Caterpillar home from the Fort Fairfield Public Library.  Let me tell you, I thought the “but he was still hungry” pages with the holes were the most clever invention ever.  Now that I’ve been raising a couple of kids of my own, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has remained important to us.  The repetition is nice, and it’s always fun to rattle off the list of foods consumed on Saturday.  And, I don’t know about everyone else, but on the last spread I always move the book so that it looks like the butterfly is flapping his wings.

[ UDPATE:  This took #3 in the Fuse poll. ]

#7 – Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955) by Crockett Johnson

The nature of Harold’s worldiverse is unclear, but the way he controls his own circumstances is appealing.  He is quite adept at creative problem solving.  My favorite illustration in the book is the one of el horrendo dragón.  (Hm.  Yeah, the only copy I could get my hands on today was Harold y el Lápiz Color Morado.)  I’ve sometimes wondered what about the porcupine made him so deserving, but I’m sure it was very pie-worthy.

[ UDPATE:  This took #7 in the Fuse poll. ]

#8 – I Am Too Absolutely Small for School (2004) by Lauren Child

Pretty much anything by Lauren Child could stand in here.  Beware of the Storybook Wolves and I Want a Pet were certainly contenders, but in the end I had to show my love for Charlie and Lola.  Lola has an exceptionally clever and distinctive voice, and I Am Too Absolutely Small for School is the best of the original C&L titles.  Plus, if I were never introduced to Soren Lorensen (Lola’s invisible friend), our real-life cat, Hiroe Lorensen, would have no middle name.  True story.

#9 – If You Give a Moose a Muffin (1991) by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

A lesson in logical, and not-so-logical, consequences.  In truth, I fell in love with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie first, but Moose a Muffin definitely 1-upped it.  The pig books are also good.  The mouse-to-school, mouse-to-the-movies, and cat-a-cupcake titles are seriously lacking, which is unfortunate considering the infinite potential of the if…then statement, but not surprising given how the idea was clearly overtapped.

[ UPDATE:  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie took #47 in the Fuse poll. ]

#10 – Olivia and the Missing Toy (2003) by Ian Falconer

I have nothing but love for a character who, at one point, had a poster of Eleanor Roosevelt hanging above her bed.  (My library has an awful picture of me posing with Olivia and Eleanor for Children’s Book Week last year.)  Spot #10 is clearly hard to fill, because it has to stand up against the others that didn’t make the cut (Eloise, The Runaway Bunny, and Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing, to name a few).  Olivia’s worth it, though, and Missing Toy is her best.

[ UPDATE:  The original Olivia took #34 in the Fuse poll. ]

So, there you have it.  Agree?  Disagree?  I’d love to hear it!

^[1] Misquote!  I own it.  The correct spelling is U’s instead of ER’s.

[ Posted in » Book Review Channel :: Picture Book Reviews ]