Recommended Children's Author: Paul Galdone

My family loves books.  My husband is in the process of cataloging his library, and is discovering that he owns hundreds of volumes.  I taught first grade for six years and collected children's books both while in college and while I was teaching.  The bookshelves in my children's rooms now house my several-hundred volume collection.  My older two children check out 6-10 books every time we go to the library, in addition to the books they get from both our church and school libraries weekly.

Visits to our local public library are frequent, but I learned pretty early on that finding quality literature by simply browsing through the library shelves is difficult.  Perhaps you live in a conservative part of the country and/or have a conservative librarian that keeps quality children's books in circulation.  However, if your library is anything like my library, discernment is key, and quality recommendations are valuable.  I would like to periodically make children's book recommendations to you via The Sisterhood.  Today's recommendation is for the children's author/illustrator Paul Galdone.

Paul Galdone was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1907 and came to the United States in 1921.  He served in the US army during WWII.  He wrote and/or illustrated more than 300 children's books.  Click on this link to see a list of Galdone's works.  His most well-known books are re-tellings of classic children's stories like "The Little Red Hen" and "The Three Bears".  Galdone died in 1986 in New York.

We get a couple Galdone books every time we go to the library.  The stories are well-written.  My 4-year old especially enjoys these books, and can "read" (quote) several of them.  Galdone's artwork is beautiful and attractive.  The pictures in these books only enhance the stories.  I enjoy pouring over the pictures with my children as we look for details.

While we are still exploring more of Galdone's books, The following are the Paul Galdone books that we have enjoyed over and over:

Henny Penny
The Gingerbread Boy
What's in Fox's Sack?
The Three Little Pigs
The Magic Porridge Pot
The Three Bears
Little Red Riding Hood
The House That Jack Built

Do you already have a favorite Paul Galdone book?  Let us know about it.  We would love to hear from you.

 

** Disclaimer** While I do appreciate Paul Galdone's work, and my children love the books we have read, I do not whole-heartedly endorse his works in their entirety.  Please use discretion.