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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/a>1. Fix-It Duck<\/em> by Jez Alborough gets top listing as our favorite picture book! \u201cPlop! goes the drip that drops in the cup. Duck looks down and Duck looks up. ‘A leak in the roof, Oh, what bad luck! This is a job for… FIX-IT DUCK!\u201d Duck has plenty of confidence, but the more he fixes, the worse it gets. The illustrations are marvelous and the story is perfectly written, including the surprise ending. Alborough has written and illustrated many other picture books and they’re good, too, but I think this one is his masterpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>2. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie<\/em> by Laura Numeroff is perfection in a picture book. A little boy gives a mouse a cookie so the mouse asks for a glass of milk, so then he wants to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milk mustache, and then he asks for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim… It keeps going until the mouse runs his little host ragged. (The mouse may remind you of a preschooler in your life.) Felicia Bond’s illustrations are delightful. There are a number of other \u201cIf You Give a\u201d books in this series, although none of them quite measure up to the original. My favorite of the others is If You Give a Moose a Muffin<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>3. Jamberry<\/em> by Bruce Degen is just bursting with fun. As a boy and bear float down a river picking berries, the nonsensical rhymes are memorable and the illustrations leap off the page. Caution: the rhymes will stick! \u201cOne berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>4. Pancakes for Breakfast<\/em> by Tomie dePaola \u2013 We loved this little picture book, and it is truly a picture book because there are no words. Tomie dePaola illustrates the story of a lady who wants pancakes for breakfast, but everything seems to go wrong. A nice story for children to \u201cread\u201d to themselves. We still use the pancake recipe included in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>5. Fireman Small<\/em> by Wong Herbert Yee \u2013 Of all the fireman books we read, this series was the standout. \u201cIn the middle of town where buildings stand tall, there lives a little man called Fireman Small.” Kids can relate to little Fireman Small who single handedly saves the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>6. Little Bear<\/em> by Else Holmelund Minarik \u2013 The Little Bear<\/em> series is intended for early readers, but I am including it in picture books as an example of the type of early ready you can read to your children before they are able to read to themselves. My son first heard the story of Little Bear<\/em> when he was only two, and what followed is detailed in Duck’s Story<\/a>. The original is a sweet story of Little Bear’s adventures as he makes Birthday Soup and flies to the moon. We were delighted to find additional Little Bear<\/em> books that introduce more characters and are just as sweet and playful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/duckandfriendsdotcom.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/07\/fix-it-duck.jpg\")
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