Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie is the first of the books in this series. If you haven’t yet read to your kids any of the other books about these two great pigs, this one is a great place to start. Readers will get a real sense of the relationship between these opposites that will set the stage for future books. And, they’ll get an understanding that it’s okay to be different than your friends, to be your own person — a theme that is repeated throughout the series.

Toot the adventurous is planning a yearlong world tour. He invites Puddle, the homebody, who demurs. So, Toot heads off alone on his trip in January, while Puddle holds down the home front. Each month, Toot sends back a post card that is reproduced over an illustration from his year-long adventure: scaling cliffs in the Alps, visiting an Italian pastry shop, taking a camel ride through Egypt.

In the meantime, Puddle is enjoying his time at home: playing in the snow, ice skating, gathering maple syrup, enjoying mud season (spring), swimming at Pocket Pond and at the beach. As the year draws to a close, Toot is missing home and his friend and Puddle looks forward to Toot’s long-awaited return. Then, the happy reunion as Toot and Puddle settle into winter once again and enjoy their time together.

Ages: 3+

Have you ever had the mopes and don’t know why? If so, you and your kids will sympathize with Toot in Holly Hobbie’s You are my Sunshine. Toot’s a pig who is friends with Puddle (also a pig). As Toot struggles through the mopes over several beautiful summer days, Puddle tries to make him happy. Puddle makes Toot’s favorite five-berry cobbler covered with whipped cream. Puddle takes the adventurous Toot on a wild river rafting trip (that just happens to terrify Puddle, but anything for friendship). Puddle organizes a summer bash. Nothing works. Toot still has the mopes. That is until a wild summer storm blows through and washes Toot’s mopes away.

I can’t think of a better book for showing kids that emotions of all kinds are okay. Sometimes we’re happy and sometimes we’re not. And, sometimes we don’t know why. And, through it all, our friends and family are there beside us to help us.

As always, Holly Hobbie’s illustrations are classics. Summer comes alive as Puddle flies a kite, rides a bike and plays hide-and-seek in the forest. And, the parallel images of Toot moping show the loneliness and yearning that are often behind a good mope.

Ages: 3+

When I first read a Toot & Puddle book by Holly Hobbie a few years ago, I was frustrated. I didn’t feel as though the text and illustrations told a coherent story. But after reading more of the books, letting go of my need for a rock-solid story and getting to know the characters, I’ve changed my mind. Maybe it’s five years of sleep deprivation and exposure to some really bad books that I’d rather not read, but that my daughter wants to read over and over again. I don’t know.

Regardless, I’m now converted. The friendship between these two opposite characters is always a pleasure and the illustrations are expressive, detailed, warm and bright. In the next few blogs I’ll run through a few of my favorites, starting with Let it Snow, a heartwarming book for Christmas.

Toot & Puddle are pigs who live in Woodcock Pocket, a wonderful little place that looks like it’s in New England somewhere. Toot is adventurous and loves to travel the world. Puddle loves the pleasures of home and is an artist. As Christmas approaches, Toot & Puddle are trying to think of the perfect gifts to give each other. Since they know each other so well and for so long, the struggle to find the perfect gift is particularly difficult. As they wait for Christmas to come, they yearn for snow.

Anticipation builds as they each work on the perfect present for the other. You’ll love their expressions as they decorate their house for Christmas and create the perfect gifts. And, everyone will learn a great lesson. As Toot says, “He knew that the best present was usually something you made yourself, a one-of-kind thingamajig, not just a whatsit anyone could buy in a store.”

The images in the book come alive and give you a real sense of winter: Puddle walks through a grey-treed forest bare of leaves and sees his breath; Toot & Puddle remember Christmases past; and, Toot & Puddle ski through a snow-covered world.

Ages: 3+

If you don’t know Frog and Toad, get thee to the bookstore now and rectify this error. The Frog and Toad series of books by Arnold Lobel are classics for kids that parents will also love to read. The four books are Frog and Toad are Friends (Caldecott honor winner), Frog and Toad Together (a Newbery Honor winner), Frog and Toad all Year, and Days with Frog and Toad. If you can, get all of them.

If you can only get one, I’d choose either Frog and Toad Together or Frog and Toad are Friends. They are quirky, neurotic, and hilarious. They are also gentle, kind and very forgiving. And, better than any other books I know, they show the true meaning of friendship. They show that friends can sometimes be grumpy with each other. That friends can be silly and annoying. And, that sometimes friends can just be together without doing much of anything and still have a great time.

Ages: 4+

Following on our theme of fun books for kids and grownups alike is Snow by Yuri Shulevitz. I love this Caldecott award winner for many reasons, but first is the hilarious contrast between adult cynicism and childish optimism. With images that are quirky, alive and fun and text that is spare and light, the author/illustrator does a wonderful job of showing how ridiculous cynics can be as they refuse to see what’s happening around them.

In a world filled with grumps who can’t see that even one snowflake means it’s snowing, is one happy little boy and his dog. As the pompous naysayers stomp and clomp around in their gray world refusing to look up at the sky or acknowledge the snow that covers them, the world is transformed. And a boy and his dog play in a winter wonderland.

Ages: 3+

Great children’s books appeal not only to young audiences, but to adults as well. The writing/illustrating team of Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben, creators of The Great Blue House and The Cat Who Walked Across France are great examples. The hallmarks of the books are lyrical prose and rich, impressionistic artistry that blend together into a rich narrative.

My daughter really likes The Great Blue House and The Cat Who Walked Across France. The illustrations are rich and warm and full of detail. The stories are simple. The language is melodic. They are great bedtime books. As I said, she really likes them. But l, I LOVE both of these books.

In The Great Blue House, the author and illustrator both draw on words and images with loaded meanings. Who doesn’t yearn for a big blue summer house with a huge yard and a creek and forest nearby? The simple lines of the house and the joy that the large family takes in the simple pleasures of being there bring back memories of summers past. And, when memories fall short, they give us the promise of future summers and lazy days spent playing in the sun. The pace of the The Great Blue House is dreamlike, as the house shifts from late summer, to fall, winter, spring and then back to summer again.

And, The Cat Who Walked Across France provides the same richness. Underlying the story is a yearning for a lost home in the sun. Our hero, the cat, must leave his home in Marseille when his person dies. He’s moved to the North of France with all of the old woman’s possessions. He misses the sun, the ships in the harbor, salt in the air and the smell of lemons and decides to walk home—across France.

Just as in The Great Blue House, the story is simple, but it softly sings and, if you allow it, it lulls you into a dream-like state. The images are lovely. If you’ve ever been to France, you’re immediately transported not just to a location, but to a sense of place—with sights, smells, tastes and sounds that pull you deep into your own story of France: A walk along the Seine at sunset or a day spent bike riding in the Loire countryside. And, always, the author reminds of the cat’s yearning for home, with the repeated refrain, “the stone house by the edge of the sea.” When the cat finds its way home, settles on the couch and falls asleep with the smell of lemons in the air, we are home too.

What can I say? We love Knuffle Bunny. We bought this book when our daughter was about two. The first time we read it, my husband and I couldn’t stop laughing. Mo Willems’ portrayal of a hapless father and his daughter’s trip to the Laundromat in Brooklyn is a classic. Willems clearly loves kids and is able to laugh at his own missteps as a parent. In this case, the misstep is misinterpreting the babble of his daughter as she tries to communicate to him that they left her favorite toy behind at the Laundromat.

As the urgency of the young girl (Trixie) increases, the uncertainty, then frustration of the father grows. The miscommunication is hilariously illustrated. With a few nuanced expressions, Willems is able to convey anger, happiness, frustration, uncertainty, urgency and more. The tale ends happily as Trixie and her Knuffle Bunny are reunited. Best of all, the father gets to be the hero.

Young children will love this story and, parents will laugh as they recognize themselves. Hopefully, they’ll also learn a bit about patience and the needs of young children. As Trixie so elegantly showed her father, little girls who need to say something, but can’t talk, sometimes have to resort to desperate measures to be understood.

The illustrations are unusual. Printed on olive-green backdrops, the illustrations are a combination of muted, sepia-toned photographs upon which bright cartoon drawings of people have been superimposed.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale was a BccB Blue Ribbon Picture Book Award winner.

Audience: preschool

Kitten’s First Full Moon is a delight. The story is simple and elegant, and the artwork clean and easily understood by young children. It is the tale of a young kitten who sees its first full moon and mistakes it for a bowl of milk.

The kitten is sweet and brave and wonderful. The story follows the kitten through misadventures as it attempt to reach the bowl of milk in the sky. The kitten tries to lick the bowl and instead catches a bug on its tongue. It leaps at the bowl and tumbles to the ground. It climbs a tree and then jumps into a pond to get to the reflection of the moon. The kitten’s persistence is rewarded at the end with a bowl of milk and contented sleep.

Kevin Henkes, the author/illustrator, clearly knows cats. His spare, nuanced black drawings on thick cream paper capture the fun and fluidity of a cat on the move, but don’t overwhelm. The writing is rhythmic and a perfect complement to the artwork.

This is a great bedtime story.

Kitten’s First Full Moon was a Caldecott Medal winner in 2005.

Audience: Preschool

Why a blog about books on a pajamas website? Because we think bedtime and books are a natural fit and one of the best ways for children and their parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles to spend time together. And, since Footy Pajamas is all about getting cozy, we can’t think of anything cozier than snuggling up with a child on a cold night with a good book. Of course, everyone will feel even cozier with their toes snuggly warm inside a pair of footy pajamas.

Keep reading the blog to learn about some of our favorite books for kids big and small.