Women make picture books too…
Sunday, November 24th, 2013Then, this morning, I noticed that the Goodreads ”Best of” is also virtually all men. In fact, Flora & the Flamingo and The Little Book of Sloth are the only books entirely by women.
And that… is more complicated. Because WE made that list. We, the readers of the world.
Now, if there weren’t a ton of amazing 2013 picture books by women, I could maybe accept this. But there TOTALLY are. Which begs the question… WHAT’S GOING ON?
Do men actually just make better picture books than women? Do men get better marketing and publicity budgets than women for picture books indiasgenerics.com? Or… as I’m beginning to fear… do we, the (largely) women who buy and blog about picture books have a tendency to elevate books by men?
I want to make a list to post today, of the 2013 BEST PICTURE BOOKS BY WOMEN. Help me out? What’s your favorite?
(and for the sake of clarity, I’m only including books with BOTH female authors and illustrators here. Though obviously I’m in support of men and women working together…)
(also, I removed all self-nominated books, including my own. For the sake of setting some guidelines)
City Cat, by Lauren Castillo
Jane, the Fox, and Me, by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault
If You Want to See a Whale, by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead
Dream Animals, by Emily Winfield Martin
How To, by Julie Morstad
Whimsy’s Heavy Things, by Julie Kraulis
How to Be a Cat, by Nikki McClure
Happy Birthday, Bunny, by Liz Garton Scanlon & Stephanie Graegin
Steadfast Tin Soldier, retold by Cynthia Rylant, art by Jen Corace
Octopus Alone, by Divya Srinivasan
Sophie’s Squash, by Pat Zietlow Miller, art by Anne Wilsdorf
The Wee Hours, by Stephanie Watson, art by Mary GrandPre
Mustache Baby, by Bridget Heos, art by Joy Ang
Nino Wrestles the World, by Yuyi Morales
God Got a Dog, Cynthia Rylant, art by Marla Frazee
Flora & the Flamingo, by Molly Idle
My Blue is Happy, by Jessica Young, art by Catia Chien
Dream Friends, You Byun
The Boy Who Loved Math, by Deborah Heiligman, art by Leuyen Pham
A Splash of Red, by Jen Bryant, art by Melissa Sweet
Wild, by Emily Hughes
The Story of Fish and Snail, by Deborah Freedman
Inside Outside, by Lizi Boyd
Fraidyzoo, by Thyra Heder
Vampirina Ballerina Hosts a Sleepover, by Anne Marie Pace, art by Leuyen Pham
Water in the Park, by Emily Jenkins, art by Stephanie Graegin.
Willow Finds a Way, by Lana Button, art by Tania Howells
Nora’s Chicks, by Patricia MacLachlan, art by Kathryn Brown
Once Upon a Northern Night, by Jean E. Pendziwol, art by Isabelle Arsenault
Read me a Story, Stella, by Marie Louise Gay
LIttle Red Writing, by Joan Holub, art by Melissa Sweet
Rock a Bye Room, by Susan Meyers, art by Amy Bates
Whale Shines, by Fiona Robinson
Miss Maple’s Seeds, by Eliza Wheeler
Bits and Pieces, by Judy Schachner
If You Hold a Seed, by Elly MacKay
Cinders, by Jan Brett
How Big Were Dinosaurs, by Lita Judge
Gifts of the Heart, by Patricia Polacco
Downpour, by Emily Martin, art by Mara Shaugnhessy
Tallulah’s Toe Shoes, by Marilyn Singer, art by ALexandra Boiger
Hank Finds an Egg, by Rebecca Dudley
Tap the Magic Tree, by Christie Matheson
Peace, Baby, by Linda Ashman, art by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
The Case of the Missing Donut, by Allison McGhee, art by Isabel Roxas
The Line, by Paula Bossio
Beatrice Spells Some Lulus and Learns to Write a Letter, by Cari Best, art by Giselle Potter
Ding Dong Gorilla, by Michelle Robinson, art by Leonie Lord
Please Bring Balloons, by Lindsay Ward
It’s a Firefly Night, by Dianne Ociltree, art by Betsy Snyder
Odd DUck, by Cecil Castelucci, art by Sarah Varon
What the Heart KNows, by Joyce Sidman, art by and Pamela Zagarenski
FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, art by Robbin Gourley
FOLLOW, FOLLOW by Marilyn Singer, art by Josée Masse
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How do we know what dinosaurs really looked like?, by Catherine Thimmesh
I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love, by Lynne Tillman
Spark, by Kallie George, art by Genevieve Cote
Time for Bed, Fred, by Yasmeen Ismail
Once Upon a Memory, by Nina Laden, art by Renata Liwska
Deep in the Sahara, by Kelly Cunnane and Hoda Hadadi
Brush of the Gods, by Lenore Look and Meilo So
Penguin Cha-cha, by Kristi Valiant
Brave Girl, by Michelle Market, art by Melissa Sweet
Open This Little Book, by Jesse Klausmeier , art by Suzy Lee
Razia’s Ray of Hope, by Elizabeth Suneby, art by Suana Verelst
Is This Panama? By Jan Thornhill, art by Soyeon Kim
Henri’s Scissors, by Jeanette Winter
Seriously, keep adding titles! We’ll make a Goodreads list later.
And I’d like to add that I’m a HUGE FAN of the books on Geek Dad’s list. These are some of my favorite authors and illustrators too. But the list is incomplete.
Let’s fix that.