Beautiful Oops! is a board book with bright colors, flaps to open, and other fun features, which communicates the idea that when being creative it's okay to mess up. Rather than coming right out and saying "It's okay to mess up" though, the book gives examples of how seeming mistakes or imperfections can be used as a starting point to create something wonderful.

Whether it's a stain from a coffee mug, a tear in paper, a smudge of paint, of even a wadded up piece of paper, everything has potential if you choose to see it that way. This book's mixed media images and interactive features work well together to help children view their art in a more positive way (in the tradition of Peter Reynolds' Creatrilogy), as something with potential rather than simply a rote task with only one possible outcome. A fun book for young kids, and possibly older ones as well! (Some of the elements in the book might not work out well with toddlers who don't yet know how to treat books "gently," so parents may want to play it by ear.)

Scrounged From: Amazon (a Christmas present for our five-year-old)

Format: Board book
Author/Illustrator: Barney Saltzberg 
Pages: 28
Content Advisory: None

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When I recently came across a copy of Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie, I remembered it from the PBS show Reading Rainbow -- none of the details, but I knew it was a story about a father who asked his daughter to keep the lighthouse lights burning while he was away. 

It turns out this is based on a true story that took place in my home state of Maine in 1856. Not only did Abbie have to keep the lights burning by herself for weeks while the storm raged and her father was unable to return to Matinicus Rock, but she also had to tend to her sick mother, feed (and rescue!) her chickens, and help her three sisters as they managed the household. 

I still find this story moving even though it's written in reader style with fairly short, choppy sentences. Most of all, I love the story of Abbie's courage, and the simple father-daughter moment at the very end. 

Scrounged From: A homeschool book sale

Format: Paperback
Authors: Peter Roop, Connie Roop
Illustrator: Peter Hanson
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: A bit of peril when Abbie is almost hit by a giant wave.

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My kids have really enjoyed Leslie Patricelli's bright-colored board books, featuring a smiley, almost-bald baby who experiences holidays, helps demonstrate some simple concepts, and expresses love for some popular baby objects (blankie, binky). I can see why these books appeal to toddlers, with the simple words, exuberant baby, and textured color on the pages. Surprisingly, even my four-year-old enjoyed them, when I thought he was "beyond" these kinds of board books. Here are five of our favorites so far (but there are many!):

BIG Little compares the sizes of different (often related) things, with the repeated phrase "_____ are big, ______ are little." Things such as heads vs. toes, boats vs. rubber duckies, and ladies vs. ladybugs. At the end is a two-page spread featuring more big things and more little things that a toddler might recognize.

Binky is probably one of the books we've checked out of the library the most. It's a very simple search for a lost binky -- the baby looks in all kinds of places, like in a cereal bowl and under the rug, then begins asking family members before having a meltdown. My toddler gets especially happy when, at the end, the baby finally finds the binky in the crib -- "just where I like it best." Even though my kids never used binkies, they can still identify with the frustrations of losing a special object and not knowing how to find it, so they especially like the happy ending. My daughter has even decided that "Binky" must be the baby's name.

Quiet Loud is a cute comparison of related things that are quiet and loud. It's fun to read the first part in a quiet voice and then raise my voice a bit for the loud comparison. Some examples are "Snow is quiet. Rainstorms are loud." "Birds are quiet. Airplanes are loud." The last two pages contain several more examples on each page of quiet and loud things. The book doesn't make judgments about whether loud things are good or bad, but if I ever do need to ask my kids to do something quiet, this book helps to give them some examples!

No No Yes Yes is a nice, gentle way to demonstrate things that are not good to do, contrasted with the positive, correct way to do those things. For example, one "no no" is running away from Daddy -- the "yes yes" is holding hands while walking. Another "no no" is dumping water out of the tub, while the "yes yes" shows the baby dumping out water in the tub. The illustrations serve as the explanation -- the only words on the pages are "no no" and "yes yes," but I will usually add some explanations here and there. Sometimes these kinds of books make me worry that they'll introduce bad behaviors that children haven't thought of yet, but this one seemed pretty basic and familiar.

Again with very simple text (primarily just "Higher! Higher!"), this book introduces what appears to be either a new character or an older iteration of the almost-bald baby. The little girl's father is pushing her on the swing, and the higher she goes, the more amazing heights she reaches -- from as high as a giraffe to a skyscraper, and airplane, and even outer space where she meets an unusual creature. Fantastical, but fun. Along a similar vein is Faster! Faster!.

Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature is a visual feast of colorful, mixed-media images and poetic descriptions that celebrate the most everyday and relatable aspects of nature. It's organized by seasons, and each double pages serves as a vignette of various animals and acts of nature that happen during that season -- from birds building nests and tadpoles hatching in ponds to gardening, wind, snow, fungi, bees, worms, and many other things that are accessible right outside our doors and windows. 

I think the illustrations are the best part, with their textures and color pallette, but the text also easily evokes the sights, sounds, and experience of being outdoors, using simple language. This book is fairly long (108 pages), and covers quite a few topics, but is also short enough to read in one sitting if a child has a long enough attention span. 

Scrounged From: Amazon (a Christmas present for our five-year-old)

Format: Hardcover
Author: Nicola Davies
Illustrator: Mark Hearld
Pages: 108
Content Advisory: None

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Perhaps it's because they were the inspiration for cute and cuddly teddy bears, but bears have been a mainstay in children's literature, especially since that famous bear of "very little brain," Winnie the Pooh. Here are some of our favorite picture books that feature bears as the main character(s):

1. Though it's a long-time classic, I didn't discover Corduroy until adulthood, but my children and I have really enjoyed it. It's nostalgic in terms of the way that many children look at their toys -- as sentient beings that must be loved and given a good home. In the end, despite his missing button, Corduroy is united with a caring owner who loves him just the way he is.

2. Little Bear's Friend is a childhood favorite of mine, and I'm sure of many others who have also practiced their reading skills on these books. Written by Else Holmelund Minarik, they are illustrated by Maurice Sendak, which is why Little Bear bears a slight resemblance to Max from Where the Wild Things Are. This book contains four short chapters involving Little Bear's interactions with some of his friends, especially a little girl he meets named Emily, and her doll Lucy.

3. I grew up reading the popular Berenstain Bears series, and this book is something of a spin-off from that, but Bears in the Night is worded simply for preschool-aged children, and is all about demonstrating prepositions. When a bunch of bears are sleeping in bed, they hear a "Whoo!" sound, and creep out the window to investigate. They also go around the lake, through some woods, and up a hill -- then quickly back through it all again when the owl hoots loudly at them!

4. Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson, is an adorable story written in rhyme (with a consistent meter too - yay!), in which a party develops in bear's den while he sleeps winter away. One after another, his friends show up and begin cooking and making merry -- but as the title says, bear snores on. Young children might enjoy repeating the refrain as it comes up. A fun winter tale for preschoolers.

5. By the talented Stead couple, Bear Has a Story to Tell is a cute story of bear and his friends which, like the book above, involves hibernation. Bear has a story to tell his friends, but they are all busy getting ready for winter. So bear helps them. By the time spring comes, bear can't remember his story! Can his friends help him?