"Beautiful Blackbird"

Beautiful Blackbird is a Coretta Scott King Award winning book about finding true beauty within.  All the birds of the forest envy Blackbird's beauty and wish to gain a hint of black to add to their feathers.  Blackbird agrees to paint a small token of beautiful blackness on each bird.  The book reveals how true beauty comes from within.  Blackbird tells the birds, "Color on the outside is not what's on the inside.  You don't act like me.  You don't eat like me.  You don't get down in the groove and move your feet like me."  Beautiful Blackbird is an upbeat and joyful book about he beauty that everyone should look within to find.  Ashley Bryan has been writing and illustrating children's books for thirty years.  He also won a Coretta Scott King Award for illustration as well as received Coretta Scott King Honor Books. 

"The Hello, Goodbye Window"

This book by Nortun Juster and Chris Raschka is a winner of the Caldecott Medal.  The book tells the story about the perception of a window through the eyes of a child.  A small girl tells the story of her Nanna and Poppy's kitchen window.  She refers to it as the Hello, Goodbye Window because people can be seen coming and going.  She also takes the reader on many descriptive journeys throughout the days spent with her grandparents.  She tells of special moments shared with Nanna and Poppy, such as breakfast time and bedtime.  Many imaginative characters can be seen visiting through the Hello, Goodbye Window, also referred to the "magic" window by Nanna.  This book is a very affectionate, pleasant portrayal of the relationships that develop between children and grandchildren.  The Hello, Goodbye Window is Norton Juster's first picture book.  He is also the author of other children's classics such as The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line.  I thoroughly appreciate this book because of the relationships that have developed between my own children and their grandparents. 

"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"

"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" is a Caldecott Honor Book written by Mo Willems.  My children absolutely adore this book and make me read it all the time.  I don't mind because it is such an easy, fun read.  The book sparks interaction between Pigeon and my children.  They love telling him "NO!"  The illustrations are very expressive of Pigeon's feelings and thoughts.  Mo Willems is extemely talented at developing friendly, hysterical characters.  Compared to Willems' other books, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" is more interactive and expressive.  A must read for parents of small children.