Picture Books With Purpose - Part 2

 

PICTURE BOOKS WITH PURPOSE

USING TRADE PICTURE BOOKS TO SHARE VALUES, MORALS, AND FAITH

MARILYN A. HUDSON, MLIS

Many of the books listed here are considered ‘classics’ and can be found reprinted repeatedly for schools, libraries and home use. Some may be accessible only via Inter-library loan locally or purchase from a distributer of books. The list, however, can serve as a starting place in reviewing donations, used bookshelves, and family collections for titles most useful for classrooms and children’s outreach and ministry.

Ackerman, Karen. Song and dance man. Illus. by Stephen Gamell.1988. NY: Knopf. Families, Old Age, Memories.

Bang, Molly. When Sophie gets angry – really, really, angry. NY: Blue S, 1999. Anger, consequences, kindness, tolerance.

Bardhan-Quallen, Supidita. The Mine-O-Saur. Sharing, Selfishness, Friendship, Caring.

Barton, Byron. Buzz, buzz, buzz. NY: Macmillan.  Consequences, Actions, Cause and effect.

Berger, Lisa T. God Gave us Families. Families, love, acceptance, kindness.

Bernstein, Robin. Terrible, Terrible!: A folktale retold. Illus. Shawna Mooney Kawasaki. Rockville, MD, Kar-Ben Copies, 1998. Complaining, adjusting, uncomfortable circumstances. Folktale often found under the title “It Could Be Worse!” by other authors.

Brown, Marc Tolan. Arthur’s Nose. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976. Self-acceptance, diversity.

Bunting, Eve. Power Garden. NY: Harcourt –Brace Javonovich, 1994. Kindness, love, families, mothers and daughters.

Carle, Eric. The Very Busy Spider. NY: Philomel, 1986. Friendship, working, families, relationships.

Carle, Eric. The Very Lonely Firefly, ibid, 1995. Friendship, loneliness, making friends.

Christiansen, Candace. The Mitten Tree. Gold, CO: Fulcrum Kids. Helping others, friendship, kindness, being a neighbor, serving others.

Cooper, Irene. The Golden Rule. Kindness, Tolerance, Golden Rule, Interpersonal Relationships, Diversity (Religious Views).

Davis, Aubrey. The Enormous Potato. Buffalo, NY: Kids Can. There are many variations of this featuring a variety of vegetables (pumpkins, turnips, etc.). Team work, sharing, helping.

Emberly. Go Away, big green monster. Fear.

Ericsson, Jennifer, A. She did it! NY: Farrar Strauss & Giroux, 2002. Taking responsibility for actions, helping, apologies, getting along.

Holsonback. Monkey see, Monkey do. Following, leading.

Henkes, Kevin. Lilly’s purple plastic purse. NY: Greenwillow, 1996. A girl won’t stop playing with the things in her purse. Attention, following through with promises, obeying.

Hoffman, Mary. Amazing Grace. Abilities, Effort, Courage, Achievement, Diversity.

Hutchins, Pat. The Doorbell rang. NY: Greenwillow, 1986. Generosity, kindness, neighbors, helping.

James.  Flashlight.  Fear.

Kelly, Marby. The rules. Madison, WI: Zino, 2000.

Leaf, Munro. The Story of Ferdinand. Individuality, being different, self awareness, diversity.

Lester, Helen. Tacky the Penguin. Being Different, Self-Acceptance, Making Friends.

Lucado, Max. The Boy and the Ocean. Nature, God’s Love.

McDonald, Amy. Cousin Ruth’s tooth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. Helping, families, lost and found, teeth.

McCloud, Carol. Have you filled a bucket today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness. Helping others, being kind, happiness.

McCully, Emily Arnold. Mouse practice. NY: Arthur Levine, 1999. Practice, making an effort, determination.

McGovern, Ann. Stone Soup. Several versions available by different authors. Sharing, participating, giving, working together, friendship.

Meus, Mr. The Blankful Heart. Gratitude, Blessings, Happiness.

Meyer, Eleanor Walsh. The Keeper of Ugly Sounds. Winslow, 1998.

Milway, Katie Smith. One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Difference.  True Story. Village life, Loans, Family Life, Giving, Making a difference.

Numeroff, Laura J. If you give a mouse a cookie. NY: Harper, 1985.

Oppenheim, Joanne. Left and Right. Harcourt. Working together, partnerships, getting along.

Pfister, Marcus. The Rainbow Fish. 1992. Sharing, Pride, Caring, Helping others.

Polacco, Patricia. Thunder Cake. Families, Fear, Storms.

Robberecht, Thierry. Sam Tells Stories. Truthfulness, Being true to yourself, making friends, School life.

Santoro, Scott. The Little Skyscraper. NY: Price Steine Sloan, 2001. Self-acceptance, diversity, comparisons.

Seuss. Dr. Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are.   Focusing on what on has (Contentment), Gratitude, Blessings

Shannon, David. A Bad Case of Stripes.  Disobedience/Obedience.

Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree. NY: Harper, 1964. Giving, loving, generosity, aging.

Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. Vanity, Acceptance, Beauty, Pride, Humility.

Stevens, Janet. Tortoise and the Hare: An Aesop’s Fable. NY: Holiday, 1984. Goals, effort, achievement.

Sturgis, Philemon. The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza). NY: Dutton, 1999. Helping, taking part, etc. Many versions of this story of the Little Red Hen.

Turner, Matthew Paul. When God Made You. Self-acceptance, uniqueness, diversity, God-Created.

Tutu, Desmond. God’s Dream. Peace, Cooperation, Compassion, Unity, Tolerance, Love.

Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. NY: Athenaeum, 1972.  Tempers, facing difficulties, dealing with circumstances.

Waddell, Martin. Farmer Duck. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 1992. Sharing the work,  helping, supporting one another.

Walton, Rich. How Can You Dance? 2001. Turning obstacles into opportunities.

Williams, Vera. A Chair for My Mother. Generosity, Crisis Times, Fires, Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters, Thinking of others.

Zemke, Deborah. The Way it Happened. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. Gossip, Truthfulness.

 

 Online resources:

Mom Life Today

https://momlifetoday.com/2011/04/picture-books-that-teach-values-a-beginning-list/

GoodNet: Gateway to Doing Good.

https://www.goodnet.org/articles/25-childrens-books-that-teach-kids-meaningful-values