Some favorites for Kindergartners

Big Man and I came up with this list just before xmas and I thought I'd share. If you have a kid, select books for kids, or like to read picture books (they're totally underrated!) these are some good ones. I have a board book list too, I'll probably post that next week.

• Chickerella by Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch. Cool art, and at the end the heroine goes into business with the prince!
  
• Maxwell's Mountain by Shari Becker and Nicole E. Wong. Excellent for discussing projects and planning and reaching past your boundaries.
  
• The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
• Mixed Beasts by Kenyon Cox and Wallace Edwards. Beautiful, witty illustrations, full of little jokes.
  
• Ruby Sings the Blues by Niki Daly. Gotta be ready to holler along with Ruby if you're gonna read this one aloud.
  
• The Yellow Balloon by Charlotte Desmatons. Fun for all ages. A bottomless source of story and detail, with no words at all!
  
• Charlie Cook's Favorite Book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Clever and fun celebration of reading.
  
• Gakky Two-Feet by Micky Dolenz. The guy from the Monkees writes a book about pre-humans!
  
• Extinct Files, The: My Science Project by Wallace Edwards
• Josias, Hold the Book by Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren and Nicole Tadgell. A little boy in Haiti learns the value of education. Sweet.
  
• Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears by Valorie Fisher. Cool-looking and full of vocabulary-building detail.
  
• Eddie's Garden and How to Make Things Grow by Sarah Garland. A really nice gardening story, with good science mixed in.
  
• In the Woods: Who's Been Here? (Mulberry Books) by Lindsay Barrett George. All of the Lindsay Barrett George picture books are so amazing. This one shows you how to draw conclusions from details of your surroundings.
  
• The Monster Show: Everything You Never Knew About Monsters by Charise Mericle Harper. Monsters in underpants, heh heh.
  
• Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins. The best use of Steve Jenkins' collage illustration style I've seen yet.
  
• The Worm Family (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards)) by Tony Johnston and Stacy Innerst. Say it loud! We're worms and we're proud!
  
• SuperHero ABC by Bob McLeod. Faithful to old-style comic book illustration and concept.
  
• If You Decide To Go To The Moon (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards)) by Faith Mcnulty and Steven Kellogg. Facts about space travel and the moon, with an environmental message.
  
• Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen. I like everything by Jerdine Nolen, but this trippy little offering is especially sweet.
  
• Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly (Fancy Nancy) by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser. Celebrating individuality and the concept of more is more.
  
• Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery by Kevin O’Malley & Patrick O’Brien. Gorgeous paintings and a real page-turner to boot.
  
• Seen Art? by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Kid goes to MoMA.
  
• Mommy? by Maurice Sendak. Totally indulgent pop-up book. Spin the mummy!
  
• The Ravenous Beast by Niamh Sharkey. One of the first books a pre-reader can narrate himself, taking cues from the rhythm of the text and the pictures on the page.
  
• Wild About Books (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards)) by Judy Sierra. What's not to love about a ponytailed librarian in hot pink pants parking her bookmobile at the zoo? The insect haiku is a crackup.
  
• Henny-Penny by Jane Wattenberg. Shake, rattle, and roll! Use a whole lot of crazy hepcat voices to read this crack-a-lackin' version out loud.
  
• Dear Mr. Rosenwald by Carole Boston Weatherford. Did you know that the Sears, Roebuck founder funded hundreds of black schools across the South? I didn't.
  
• Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book) by David Wiesner. Another wordless, mind-expanding book from David Wiesner, maybe his best so far.
  
• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems. Great role-reversal for kids - they're the ones saying "No!" and you the reader get to have a tantrum in the middle of the book.
  
• Leonardo, the Terrible Monster (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards)) by Mo Willems. Leonardo is a terrible monster because he's bad at it. Sweet without being gross.
  
• Nothing to Do by Douglas Wood and Wendy Halperin. Celebrating the kind of things kids get up to when their minds are allowed to wander.
  
• Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim and Sophie Blackall. Inspiring true story about a Chinese girl who wants more than her traditional role dictates.