I can’t help it; there are so many good ones! Whether it’s lovely alphabet books that tell a story or clever ones that explore a concept or theme, the genre is loaded with many books that are much better than any disconnected alphabet books that may exist. So, here is my Top 10 NEXT best Alphabet Books… to be taken as a follow-up to the first titles that made the cut.
Well everybody has an opinion on Disney, I may as well chime in with my two cents. In a nutshell: I love classic Disney movies. I also appreciate the occasional recent movie from the company as well. What I don’t love is the current huge, bloated, over-commericalized Disney industry. I have other complaints from an artistic and ethical standpoint also, but I’ve not the energy to lay all that out there. Generally speaking, I am disheartened by the commercialization of children. I want my daughter to love princesses sure. But do they have to always come with a trademark symbol after their name?!
So, here we have it then. My top ten alternatives to the Disney Empire. Keep in mind that many of the original fairy tales were actually written for adults, so the themes can get very dark, graphic or mature. The books I have here are much more faithful to the original fairy tale (or myth or history) than the movies Walt and his contemporaries have made and may have some of those darker elements. Even if you are a Disney lover, reading these books would be an interesting lesson in “compare and contrast” for children of multiple ages.
1. Snow White illustrated by Charles Santore. Rich, traditional illustrations make this a great choice, and my boys especially love what they call “the big head dwarves.” But I do confess to having a soft spot also for the version by Paul Heins because Trina Schart Hyman adds the detail of a Marian image on one wall… plus the princess seems to age a little more congruently in her story.
2. Cinderella by K.Y. Craft definitely takes the cake here. Craft’s vibrant and ornate style is especially suited to this fairy tale. Barbara McClintock’s version of the story gets an honorable mention for a fun story and a young George Washington looking prince!
3. Aladdin And The Enchanted Lamp will substitute nicely for the letdown of Disney’s version; if you aren’t familiar with the story, you will be surprised at the liberties taken and unnecessary changes the movie made. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp by James Kunstler also looks promising (not having read it myself) as well as this version adapted by Eric Kimmel (of whom I am generally a great fan).
4. Hercules by Robert Burleigh is my favorite picture book alternative to the Disney movie. Though this story only details the final of the twelve labors, it’s just the right size for younger children. While James Riordan’s book The Twelve Labors of Hercules is extremely well done and faithful to original story, it is fairly long and pretty graphic. There is the question of whether or not some of those images need picture representation at all. However, if we want to leave the book category altogether, I don’t think you’ll find a better retelling of the Hercules tale than that done by Jim Weiss.
5. Rapunzel by Alix Berenzy is my favorite adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale. This one is far more popular but I think the author got a little sloppy with how Rapunzel got pregnant. In the original tale, and in Berenzy’s work, the symbol of her laying her hand in the prince’s seems to be what suffices for marriage vows. Then the story tastefully goes on with the prince finding Rapunzel at long last with their twins. At least with this there is no question of Rapunzel’s virtue being held intact. The version of Rapunzel done by Barbara Rogasky (illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman) is also a winner and deals with the marriage situation artfully through omission. Rogasky actually states when the twins come in that Rapunzel and the prince were married by then and it’s done in a way that children won’t be asking “Wait, when did that happen?!”
6. Beauty and the Beast by Max Eilenberg is my favorite. The illustrations by Angela Barrett are just right: full, captivating, moody, and evocative. This particular version isn’t 100% accurate to the tale, but it is still full and rich and the very minor embellishments just add to the beauty in my opinion. There are two other good options out there as well: the one by Jan Brett is clean, fairly simple and of course features the always lovely Brett artwork. And then the book by Marianna Mayer is pretty neat too. My only aversion to this one is that the illustrations of the beast (done by Mercer Mayer) are truly frightening. His eyes pop out in a very sort of disturbing way… but maybe it’s just me.
7. Pocahontas by the D’Aulaires is the only really solid alternative to the mediocre Disney movie. The movie itself was fairly informative but it of course avoided some of the uglier sides of the story (e.g. how the English treated her tribe). Reportedly, Disney turned down the offer of Native Americans who wanted to help the company produce a more accurate movie, but that’s just hearsay. But at least we have one great biography by the excellent Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire. Their fun and appealing art is always a treat for children. I have seen a couple other books on Pocahontas but none stick out in my mind as pushing past mediocrity. I think it’s time for someone to produce a beautiful and lavish book on this fascinating princess!
8. The Little Mermaid is the reason I wanted to write this post. Like any other little girl, I loved the Disney version of Little Mermaid. When I grew up and finally read the original tale, I was shocked at how dumbed down the cartoon version was… and how the ultimate ending of sacrifice and references to the eternal life were entirely omitted. But hey, Disney is in it for happy endings and I get that. The original tale is kind of an ambivalent ending: mermaid doesn’t get her prince, but she will get the chance to earn her afterlife. The versions available are tricky… I wanted to find something that still guarded the modesty of the mermaids without it being obvious or kitschy (e.g. clam shell bras). That unfortunately ruled out some beautiful versions of the story, most notably that done by Charles Santore (there is a new version available for pre-order on this one). I also was looking for something that preserved as much of the original language of the story as possible since it is just so extraordinary. This combination, tasteful illustrations and excellent text, was hard to come by. Robert Sabuda has a pop-up book (and I’m certain that ‘hardcover’ price will change in time) coming out later this year that could be excellent. Initial pictures of the pop-outs are incredible but I don’t know how the text will be yet. So I eventually settled on the the version the adaptation by Anthea Bell and illustrated by Chihiro Iwasaki. The story is simplified somewhat so the text isn’t as wonderful as Santore’s, and I was a little disappointed that the sea witch didn’t seem very evil but I really appreciate the watery, ethereal illustrations by Iwasaki. Even if they aren’t traditionally rich and bold, the simple sketch and watercolor technique is very fitting for this particular tale.
9. FA Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior by Robert San Souci is a very well done story about the Chinese folk hero, Mulan. This book is the actual one Disney used for the basis of their movies. And I have to admit, the movie version of this tale isn’t too far out there or ridiculous at all! For a later-released Disney flick, it was surprisingly well done all said and done. Anyway, as usual though, the book is better! And the illustrations here by Jean & Mou-Sien Tseng are, like Iwasaki’s Little Mermaid, the perfect fit for this story. They are bright, ornate and faithful. China’s Bravest Girl is another title you can look up in your library if this one is missing…
10. The Sleeping Beauty by Trina Schart Hyman is a narrow winner for this story. I also really love this version illustrated by K.Y. Craft. But in the luxurious pictures in Craft’s book, the good fairy’s good body is fairly suggestively shown once (hey I’ve got four boys who don’t need that titillation!) and the witch in the tale is incredibly scary looking. In Hyman’s book, she gets major points for having the most handsome prince of all the fairy tale books I’ve ever seen. I admit this is just personal preference, but I really have no use for effeminate looking men in tights who’ve never needed a razor. Craft’s Prince Charming comes with facial hair and looks manly and rugged and like someone who could definitely defend a princess from a dragon!
A good story is a good story. And a good story is always a good choice for bedtime. But some books are specifically about bedtime, sleep or goodnight rituals and are particularly dear to have on hand for toddler sets. What makes a good bedtime book? Excellent art. A slow pace. A lyrical cadence. Or all of the above. Many of the titles below embody all of those qualities… here is my personal Top 10 Goodnight/Sleep/Bedtime storybooks:
I had a hard time with this list because there are many sub-categories of winter which could fill out their OWN Top 10 lists. I could have lists on snow, on winter animals, or winter sports. There’s just a lot of fun to be had in this season. And let’s not forget some of the fall books that overlap here for super great reading like Snowsong Whistling or Waiting for Winter. Be that as it may, we have to start somewhere, so here I go. Books that try to be fairly general on the season:
Snow Moon by Nicholas Brunelle. We discovered this one last year and we loved it! The story is super simple and solemn and lovely. And there’s a touch of whimsy at the very end that makes you wonder whether it was all just a dream or what. Very nice…
Yet another Christmas post! But Epiphany really is a separate sort of celebration and I want to put this up before January 6th. I’m not convinced that there aren’t more great ones out there that I’m missing in the Epiphany genre… but the following are the best ones I know about!
The Last Straw by Frederick Thury. This is a winner in my family primarily because of the way the camel’s name rolls off the tongue: Hashmakaka. True story: we have a rice casserole dish named after this camel after an impatient child kept whining that he wanted to know what was in the dish I was making… and I burst out in frustration: “It’s camel meat! We are eating camel for dinner!!!” Hence: Hashmakaka was born… and it’s a well loved dish today (made with ground turkey, just so you know).
We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin. This is the next Epiphany book on my list to buy. Pure eye candy accompany the text of that famous song.
They Followed a Bright Star by Joan Alavedra. A deceptively deep book couched in a very simple story: the shepherds and kings follow the star to find the Newborn Baby. My very favorite part is when one shepherd boy whispers, “Is He a shepherd or a king?” I had never thought of the significance of Christ’s visitors until that… very cool.
The Third Gift by Bagram Ibatoulline. I am in love with this book. So thoughtful and such a unique angle on Epiphany. A boy and his father are harvesting one of the gifts that the wise men will bring to baby Jesus. Beautiful.
Strega Nona’s Gift by Tomie dePaola. Brand new this year, this is a lighter story that relates to the tradition of giving your animals special treats on Epiphany…
Federico and the Magi’s Gift by Beatriz Vidal. A different take on Epiphany from the traditions of Latin America. I really like the sweet Lois Lensky-like illustrations in this book.
The Stone: A Persian Legend of the Magi by Dianne Hofmeyr. This is an excellent book based on an excellent legend and you’ll find it a nice break to think about what happened on the way back from visiting the Child Jesus…
Danny and the Kings by Susan Cooper. Another fresh take on what the Epiphany is all about. A young, poor boy just wants a Christmas tree for his young brother to see… he hears that the 3 kings are still traveling the world leaving gifts; can it be true?
I know it seems odd to offer a booklist on Advent but let’s get real here. Do you know how many excellent Christmas books are out there?! It may well be the single most prolific genre of picture books. For that reason, not even I could possibly narrow it down to ten titles. {BUT I CAN NARROW IT DOWN TO 100!!!} So we’ll break it up a bit, I’ll offer you the books that seem to be more fitting for the season of Advent… then we’ll get into the best post-Christmas day books. And apart from even these, I’ll then write up a post about my top ten Winter books! Too bad we skipped Thanksgiving… next year life might slow down and the computer might speed up making this blog more active. For now, it is what it is!
Nothing troubles me more about Christmas than the utter lack of focus on Christ obviously… but a close second is the missing and messing up of the season of Advent: that quiet, somber season of hope. The celebrations and frenzied shopping and indulging in treats are really rather inappropriate during this time of waiting, in my humble opinion. That said, there aren’t very many Advent specific books out there… so the list I present to you includes feast day books, and the Christmas books that at least have a significant time spent on the time prior to the 25th… if you can’t wait until Christmas SEASON (which BEGINS on the 25th) to read in this genre of books (I certainly can’t) than at least try to prioritize your reading list to include the more preparatory books before we begin celebrating Christmas itself.
*** Two years later, I’m updating this list. Look for my new notes in red.***
Welll you’ll have to forgive the quiet month of September as I’ve been settling in with my sweet, new bibliozealot: Henry Benedict. Now October is waning by and I’ve not said a peep about all the excellent fall literature out there. This season offers quite a feast of delights; it’ll be difficult to narrow it to just ten. I’m also not going to dwell on specific holiday reads either just to keep the list focused. So come on in from these cold, dark days and grab a steaming mug of apple cider as you snuggle under a blanket with one of these lovely books:
This Top 10 list was almost impossible for me to make. Not only does summer encompass so many great topics, there are inumerable books which aren’t season specific that COULD be summer books. I am purposely leaving out some of my very favorite summer-toned books because they can be in a category by themselves. So hopefully we can look forward to a “Top 10 Beach Books” and “Top 10 Historical Fiction Books” and “Top 10 Baseball Books” etc. There are so many great titles out there, but I had to narrow it down somehow. The great news is that while I was perusing Amazon to refresh my brain and get the links for these books (click on pictures), I came across at good dozen or so books that I’d never heard of but which seemed very, very promising. So I’ll be checking those out at the library. For now though, I love the challenge of thinking “If I had only 10 summer books on my shelf, what would they be?” So in no particular order I offer these titles:
*****So these next three titles WERE going to be included in a whole ‘nother post featuring narrative style books. What this means is that these titles don’t tell a story in the traditional sense but they are the author’s memories or just sort of meander through a moment or season without a particular apex. This doesn’t mean they are bad stories, but they are to be appreciated on a different level I think… and there are more where this came from.*****
When your family starts growing up, it’s very easy to adjust all the family read-alouds to the levels of the oldest. This is fine and good in some respects but I’ve noticed recently that the meaty, in-depth stories are getting far more readings around here than the simple ones suited for the 4 and under bracket. One way that I’ve remedied this in my own home is that when our family breaks for quiet time (we all split up into separate rooms and some of us nap, others read or play very quietly) I take 10 minutes or so with each of my youngest two children, my nearly 5 year old son and my 2 year old daughter. They each get individual attention to spend reading one or two of those “forgotten books” that were everyday fare here once upon a time. While my little ones are pretty good sports about listening to great myths or picture book biographies, they really do delight in those simple, simple stories that have their place in a child’s mind forever. I’ll share with you some of those titles in a bit but I first want to say a word about repetition.
I used to get annoyed when a child would say “Read it again!” or when they’d keep choosing the same volume every single day at reading time. I’d think “How boring! Let’s read something new for once!” Then I wised up a bit and read a bit and researched a bit and learned that repetition is so important for wee little brains. Children thrive on knowing a story. They love memorizing it and being able to tell you what happens next. I think it somehow reinforces their view of the world that life is secure and predictable… and the familiarity found in an old book is a great source of comfort to them… especially when coupled with a warm lap and loving voice.
Maybe I’m overanalyzing it, but that’s what a bibliozealot does with books.
As it is, every home with toddlers should have a rich collection of basic books that are known and loved and read often. I won’t bother to state that these are the BEST OF THE BEST (since there are many “bests” in this particular category). But I will give you an idea of some titles on our bookshelf (and we’ve a few hundred children’s books I think) that get repeated many, many times. I think I’ll eventually make a Top 10 Board Books post in which a couple of these will be repeated but for now I just wanted to offer 10 books that have been read cumulatively 100 times or more in our home:
You know, it’s funny the books that enchant children. You can plant all the books you love best in their lives and many will take, but there are some books that aren’t necessarily YOUR favorites that you must endure with a smile and willing heart because it is so loved to littles. And when you make a child smile with a great book, how can you possibly not love the story too?
Animalia by Graeme Base is my first immediate choice. The Australian Graeme Base is one of those illustrators that must really adore art since he puts so much time and detail into his lavish pictures; each page is a feast for the eyes and in this particular book, no detail is too small as everything on every page begins with its corresponding letter. Each page offers a bit of a vocabulary lesson as well: “Proud peacocks preening perfect plumage.” This books could easily double as an I-Spy book, it’s as much of a delight for 2 year olds as it is for adults.
A Farmer’s Alphabet by Mary Azarian. I love woodcuts and you should too. This particular woman does them beautifully. The book details very simple words from farm life and black ink woodcuts to pore over. She’s produced another book: A Gardener’s Alphabet in the same vein that is also fun to peruse… though much more colorful.
B is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner is another winner. It deserves a spot in the Top Ten not just for the nice, gentle rhyming… but mostly because of its illustrator– one I’ve highlighted before– Elisa Kleven. Amazon lists this book as discontinued I think, but other internet searches reveal that it is still in print; I was lucky enough to score a beautiful hardback for free on Bookmooch. Bonus points that it is available as a board book too. (Think gifting for children or godchildren.)
A is for Annabelle by the never disappointing Tasha Tudor. Doll lovers everywhere will swoon over this book and the exquisite and sweet illustrations that glorify the details and delights of dollies. 
Alphabet City by Stephen Johnson. This is a wordless book that cleverly shows urban landscapes highlighting each letter of the alphabet. Not only is the art extremely well done, but the concept itself inspires all sorts of scavenger hunt games in children. This will help them to see the world in a different way, to find letters in everyday things and to want to copycat this idea through photography or drawing from unusual perspectives.
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert. This book is being included because it truly is a great preschool book. Bright, chunky fruits and vegetables, in typical Lois Ehlert style, adorn each page. It obviously inspired my 2 year old as she has literally eaten our copy beyond repair. 
The Handmade Alphabet by Laura Rankin. An excellent introduction to the ASL alphabet, this book is so clever and beautiful; each page features a hand demonstrating the sign for the letter along with pictures of what’s represented (The X hand is shown through an X-Ray).
The Butterfly Alphabet by Kjell Bloch Sandved. Now here is a truly innovative book, one to nourish butterfly lovers everywhere and to demonstrate just how ingenious God is in His natural designs of the universe. Each page shows a full picture photograph of a butterfly and the opposite page is an extreme close-up of the actual letter in the butterfly’s wing. Who knew?! Truly a beauty.
