Marc Tyler Nobleman is the author of more than seventy books for kids, including the picture book Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, illustrated by Ross MacDonald. He is also a cartoonist, even though he admits he doesn't know how to draw Sponge Bob. He has a blog where he writes the stories behind the stories he writes.
Here's Marc's entry:
I love lists and I love picture books (natch) but I know I'm leaving out many favorites with this list, plus ask me again next week and it may be different:
(in no order)
- WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak. Lyrical and almost hypnotic when read aloud.
- THE CAT IN THE HAT by Dr. Seuss. Another I love to read aloud, particularly the last few pages (starting with the clean-up session, which I can't help but read fast).
- THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson. I love the inviting illustrations.
- THE MILKMAN by Carol Foskett Cordsen and Douglas B. Jones. A contemporary (and low-key) book about a bygone era (rare in picture books, in my experience) with a sweet subplot.
- THREE LITTLE GHOSTIES by Pippa Googhart and Anna Laura Cantone. Another one that is very fun to read aloud. Great wordplay.
- THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS by Chris Barton and Tony Persiani. An adroit blend of sharp subject, strong prose, and original research.
- THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS by Mordicai Gernstein. A real-life adventure with a tragic overtone that will chill adults without upsetting kids. It somehow makesbreaking the law seem okay, if there is a higher (figuratively and literally) purpose.
- MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans. Yet another that is addictive to read aloud.
- ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz. Genuinely funny and heartfelt.
- MOOSE by Michael Foreman. A favorite from my own childhood and very hard to find these days. I used to pore over certain illustrations and imagine that I was in them.
It almost pained me to leave Ferdinand off my list.
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