Does anyone ever really outgrow a great picture book?

Earlier this month, at the ABC Children’s Institute in San Antonio, there was a lively discussion about the unfortunate current trend to push children toward chapter books—maybe a bit too early—and away from picture books.

Lets not forget the book that makes us exclaim:  “Oh, I loved that book as a child!” Picture storybooks are a child’s first love and the books they will remember. They are the books they will return to as adults with their own children. Don’t even think of making the mistake that as soon as children learn to read we need to wean them from one of mankind’s greatest achievement—the picture book! Noting lasts longer in memory than a child’s fist love of a story. These books become their literary inheritance. Here are a list of some of my favorite picture book that will surely enchant children, and adults, of all ages.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, by Dr. Seuss
Animal Faces, by Akira Satoh and Kyoko Toda
Doctor De Soto, by William Steig
Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion

The House on East 88th Street, by Bernard Waber
Leo the Late Bloomer, by Ruth Krauss
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes
Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag

The Moon in My Room, by Uri Shulevitz
Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, by John Burningham
Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen
Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young