
Lessons learned from Frog and Toad:
I’m on the road today, guest posting over at Writing for Kids.
author + illustrator Deborah Freedman

AUTUMN SALAD:
Toss together:
Season to taste with fern fronds. Serve on a bed of pine needles; garnish with feverfew, mums.
Suggested Reading, RECIPES: Mudpies and Other Recipes, by Marjorie Winslow and Erik Blegvad.
Suggested Reading, Books about LEAVES: The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger; Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert; Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson and Tiphanie Beeke; Leaves by David Ezra Stein; Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace;

Suggested Reading for Valentine’s Day: The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and the Broom Handle and Who Was in It , by Carl Sandburg and Harriet Pincus; Henry in Love, by Peter McCarty; Bloom, by Maria van Lieshout; Ooh-la-la (Max in Love), by Maira Kalman.

I know that, BLOG.
And that’s actually why I’ve been
working on a “suggested reading” list –
picture books about chickens.


Thanks a lot, Blog.
Readers… I have my favorites; what are yours?
Suggested Reading, Splashy Picture Books: Art & Max by David Wiesner, I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont and David Catrow, Mudkin by Stephen Gammell, Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth and Stephen Gammell.
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Clouds: Cloudland by John Burningham, Little Cloud by Eric Carle, The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola, Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld, The Police Cloud by Christoph Niemann.
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Water: A Drop of Water, by Walter Wick; All the Water in the World, by George Ella Lyon & Katherine Tillotson; Wave, by Suzy Lee.
Look, Blog!
Blue Chicken got it’s first review,
and it’s pretty good!

I know, but… too late to fix anything now.
It’s at the printer. And anyway, my editor seems happy…

Blog! SSHHHHH!!
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Secrets: It’s a Secret, by John Burningham; The Secret Circus, by Johanna Wright; The Secret Shortcut, by Mark Teague; The Secret Birthday Message, by Eric Carle; Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter; The Day of Ahmed’s Secret, by Florence H. Parry and Ted Lewin; The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illustrated by Robert Ingpen.
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee…
By E. E. Cummings
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About MUD: Mud Book: How to Make Pies and Cakes, by John Cage and Lois Long; Mudkin, by Stephen Gammell; Mud Pies and Other Recipes, by Marjorie Winslow & Erik Blegvad; The Piggy in the Puddle, by Charlotte Pomerantz and James Marshall.
… Then, before Lucie could stop him, Scribble scrambled into a Giant Thicket, where deep within he discovered the Princess Aurora, who had been asleep for One Hundred Years.
And when Scribble saw Aurora’s lovely, drowsy eyes and her rosy cheeks, he thought that she might be what beautiful was, and he longed to rescue her at once…
From Scribble, © Deborah Freedman 2007
Suggested Reading for Valentine’s Day, Picture Books About Love

Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Bubblegum: Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy, Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell.
© Deborah Freedman
Can you tell a story that starts with one LINE?
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Lines:
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist, Tommaso and the Missing Line by Matteo Pericoli, Lines That Wiggle by Candace Whitman, A Long Piece of String by William Wondriska, and Scribble, by me (Deborah Freedman)!
(Special p.s. to the children at McDonough School: I’m looking forward to meeting you!)
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Snow: Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton; The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats; Footprints in the Snow by Mei Matsuoka; White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin R. Tresselt Roger Duvoisin; The Snow Day by Komako Sakai; Snow by Uri Shulevitz.
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Colors:
The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown, Alice Provensen, & Martin Provensen
The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin, Rosana Faria, & Elisa Amado
Full Color by Etienne Delessert
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni, also Little Blue and Little Yellow
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin & Eric Carle
Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill & Leonard Weisgard
Red Sings From Treetops by Joyce Sidman & Pamela Zagarenski
Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vacarro Seeger
Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri
Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
I’m collecting titles… do you have any color-full suggestions to add?
Suggested Reading, Picture Books About Apples: Apples, Apples, Apples, by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace; The Apple Doll, by Elisa Kleven; How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman; Ten Apples Up On Top!, by Dr. Seuss; The Apple Pie That Papa Baked, by Lauren Thompson and Jonathan Bean; One Green Apple, by Eve Bunting and Ted Lewin; One Red Apple, by Harriet Ziefert and Karla Gudeon.

Suggested Reading, Picture Books About the Night: In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck & Tricia Tusa, Close Your Eyes by Kate Banks, It’s a Secret! by John Burningham, Moon Theater by Etienne Delessert, Little Night by Yuyi Morales, A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na, The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson & Beth Krommes, Moon Man by Tomi Ungerer.
Suggested Reading, 6 Picture Books About the Number 10: Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Suess, 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle, Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews, Ten Mice for Tet! by Pegi Deitz Shea, Cynthia Weill, To Ngoc Trang, and Pham Viet Dinh, 10 Minutes to Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann, Ten Puppies by Lynn Reiser.
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, 1878 – 1949


Suggested reading for children: Rap a Tap Tap, by Leo and Diane Dillon
…
Bee! I’m expecting you!
Was saying Yesterday
To Somebody you know
That you were due -
The frogs got home last week -
Are settled, and at work -
Birds, mostly back -
The Clover warm and thick -
You’ll get my Letter by
The seventeenth; Reply
Or better, be with me -
Yours, Fly.
Emily Dickinson
Suggested Reading, Picture Books about Emily Dickinson: Emily, by Michael Bedard, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; Emily Dickinson’s Letters to the World, by Jeanette Winter; The Mouse of Amherst, by Elizabeth Spires, illustrated by Claire Nivola; My Letter to the World, and Other Poems, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault; Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson, edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin, illustrated by Chi Chung; My Uncle Emily, by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Help! Blog! LET ME OUT!!

But you are just a BLOG, Blog.
I’M the one in charge around here!

Grrr…

Today’s reading suggestion: Golem, by David Wisniewski