Am I an grown-up if I like kid's books?

I really enjoy finding books for my neices, ages 3 and 5. It is too much fun to go to the local bookstore, hug the wall of books back to the children's literature section and pour over the different authors and stories. For my niece, Fiona, last year I found the book Milo's Hat Trick. I was laughing while reading it and new that Shannon and her husband, Sebastian, would enjoy reading it to my nieces. Lucky for me I was right!

A bit later my friend Holly's daughter, Emma, was having a birthday. I was asking myself, "What do I get a three year old?" So I figured I would get her the gift that keeps on giving, a book! Can you tell I'm a teacher? I was flipping through all the different selections of books when I found, Olivia. I was so excited to find it. The story is about a little pig-girl who is a happy little artist. She paints, she dances, she joins her mom at the museum, she helps her brother... she goes Jackson Pollock on a wall in her house.

I guess Olivia does make sense considering I am an artist and a teacher... its almost the best of both worlds. Mom bought me a kids book for my birthday last year called, Hands, growing up to be an artist. The book is written by an artist, Lois Ehlert, who uses collage like foldouts to help the reader follow her art explorations growing up. It is a really neat book, well thought out, visually stimulating, and allows for growth in the narrator, i.e. at the beginning the author's parents are teaching her and by the end she is helping.

A book that I have in my personal library is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I remember it from my childhood. I always liked the art in the book, the way the caterpillar eats through all the food, leaving holes in them all and that he turns into a butterfly.

So what is it that makes a children's book so appealing? What is it that makes some better than others? In my personal opinion I find that children enjoy what adults enjoy. In these picture books I read I want to find pictures that are visually stimulating, like the author of "Olivia" using Pollock, or the author "Milo's Hat Trick" using crayon inspired coloring, with penciled lines. It was beautiful work. Then on top of the art one has to look at the writing; its interesting. All four of the books referenced above have strong writing to them that are not only interesting to adults but that are interesting to youth as well.

Maybe next post I'll introduce you to the bookstore I frequent, its stacks and the adjacent bookstore.