Sunday, October 24, 2010

Marc Tyler Nobleman's Picture Book List


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.

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