Lisa Siebert, originally from Goleta, California, is a nursery school teacher in Berlin, Germany.
This is a list of her favorite picture books:
1. Kleinen Maulwurf, der wissen wollte, wer ihm auf den Kopf gemacht hat by Werner Holzwarth, illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch. Somebody did their business on the mole's head and he is determined to find out who.
[Published in the U.S. in 2007 as The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit.]
2. Winnie Flies Again written by Valerie Thomas and illustrated by Korky Paul. Lovable Winnie keeps bumping into things while traveling on her broomstick until she discovers the reason why. Winnie the Witch is a much loved series from Britain.
3. One two three me illustrated by Nadia Budde and put into English by Jeremy Fitzler. Nadia is an illustrator who is waiting to be discovered on the other side of the ocean. This is the only gem available in English, none of her other books have been translated, as far as I know. I wish I could show you a picture but things aren't working for me that way at the moment! Her website is under construction but worth waiting for!
4. Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are an award winning dream team (as are all of the non-American titles mentioned here) who have produced many a treasure...The Gruffalo is about a clever mouse who outwits his predators including the now famous Gruffalo of the "knobbly knees and turned out toes".
5. Tigerprince by Chen Jianghong. With breathtaking illustrations combining classical Chinese drawing with modern, western visual language, Chen Jianghong tells the moving story of a mother-son relationship between a little prince and a tigress. [This book is not available in English yet, but if you can read German or Chinese, then you are fine. S.R.]
6. Fast Food by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers. These guys create characters using fruits and vegetables and black eyed peas. My favorite is the banana airplane.
7. Une soupe au caillou by Anaïs Vaugelade. Based on the fable. A wolf visits a hen and suggests they make stone soup. The neighbors are concerned and come to call, each bringing a vegetable to contribute. After they dine together the wolf leaves and we wonder what he would have done if the neighbors had stayed at home.
8. Traction Man by Mini Grey.
I love the way this title celebrates children's imagination.
9. Sorry, but I have to say: anything by Mo Willems.
10. Lon Po Po by Ed Young. As with Chen Jianghong, I appreciate (and I think children also appreciate) when authors are not afraid to tackle our fears. (I like the dedication to the wolf at the beginning.)
