Favorite Authors for
Young Children
February/March 2009
When looking for good books to read to young children, certain authors come up. These authors have a knack for capturing the attention of the preschool crowd (and older!) with their sense of story. Here are some authors whose books are always hits.
Jez Alborough
I like the nearly wordless books about Bobo, the chimpanzee, and his Mommy, which include Hug, Yes, and Tall. What makes these good books is that after one or two readings the child can read the word in the speech bubble since it is repeated so many times throughout the book. Plus these books lend themselves to narrating the story in your own words, thus modeling narration for your child. The illustrations are good cues to help children tell the story while reading the text.
Also look for Duck’s Key Where Can It Be? by this same author. The text rhymes and it's fun to lift the flaps!
Byron Barton
Byron Barton writes in simple text with simple illustrations. Look for his versions of the classic stories The Little Red Hen and The Three Bears. He also wrote Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs and Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones for all those young dinosaur lovers. These two books would be great to read before and/or after a visit to the Museum of Nature and Science to make connections to the museum experience. In addition, Barton wrote Machines at Work and My Car, which are both big hits with boys who are fascinated with vehicles. Building a House is a great springboard for discussions on the process of raising a house from start to finish.
Keith Faulkner
All young children like three-dimensional pop-up books and Faulkner does a good job of providing these for them. When reading pop-up books with small ones, it is a good time to talk about care for these special books in order for the pop-ups to continue working. I always tell the children that all they need to do is open and close the book to make the pop-ups work and to use gentle hands. Look for The Giraffe Who Cock-a-Doodle-Doo’d, The Hiccuping Hippo, The Long-Nosed Pig and The Wide-Mouthed Frog.
Jan Thomas
Reading books by this author is fun because the humor is so conspicuous! The illustrations are cartoon style and the story line is fun for both kids and adults alike. Children will want to read these books over and over again especially if you use your voice to dramatize the story and model expression. Don’t miss reading A Birthday for Cow!, The Doghouse, and What Will Fat Cat Sit On?
Whenever you read a book your child seems to favor, check to see if there are other books written by the same author. It is great to familiarize your child with a body of work by different authors. Children will soon recognize their style.
Ask librarians to recommend their favorite children’s authors and learn about new books to read with your kids!
By Mollie Hayes, Outreach Librarian, Central Children's Library, The Denver Public Library
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