Top 20 Read-a-Loud Countdown: #1 and #2

At my job I enjoy reading to fairly large groups of preschoolers.  Over the next few weeks I will be counting down my top 20 favorite books to read out loud to young listeners!  I have left off books that are out of print (sorry Emma Dodd's great What Pet to Get? and Julia Jarman's wonderful Big Red Tub).  I will count them two at a time.   Here are choices for #1 and #2, please scroll down the rest of the blog to see the remaining top 20.  Criteria:  the books have to work well with large groups, and invite audience participation.

1.  Where the Wild Things Are, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  This quite simply is my favorite all-time favorite picture book.  It's just beautifully illustrated--note the stunning layout when the forest grows around Max and his fantasy world starts taking over the page.  Kids in storytime love to roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth.  And ooh what a rumpus we have in the storytime program--stomping feet, howling, more roaring!  The story also has such a strong emotional resonance as Max realizes he needs to leave the land of the wild things (who will eat him up, they love him so!) and return home.  It goes without saying that the world is a better place because this book exists. 

2.  The Snowy Day, written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats.  Another timeless classic that beautifully captures and celebrates a child's-eye view of the world, a sense of wonder.  A mix of joy, sadness (those big kids won't play with Peter!), wonderment, and melancholy (that vivid dream in which all the beloved snow melts).   I love Keats' books about Peter (A Letter to Amy and Whistle for Willie are two other favorites), but there's something about this that makes it the one I love the most.  As Peter explores the winter wonderland outside, memories of my time in the snow come rushing back to me.  Snow angels, snowballs, making your footprints look really really cool as you walk, not wanting winter to end.  The dream sequence at the end is beautifully rendered, followed by a triumphant moment that makes young readers and listeners shout "hooray!" for the resourceful hero.