What qualifies as a picture story book? In picture storybooks, language and illustrations are combined to shape a narrative by creating a plot, setting, characters, mood and theme of the story. Here are three picture storybooks that I enjoyed reading!

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear
Author: Lindsay Mattick
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Won the 2015 Cladecott Medal for Illustration

Sophie Blackall used Chinese ink and watercolors to illustrate this book. Her warm illustrations and detail to the time period of the story paired well with the theme and plot of the story. Her end page in the beginning of the book is a beautifully illustrated forest and the back end pages looks like an old photo album, showing real pictures of the main character of the book, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian who went to fight in WWI. There are real pictures of him, his personal diary showing where he wrote about buying the bear for $20.00. There are real pictures of Harry, the bear, and other soldiers along with official records showing that he placed Winnie at the London Zoo. There is also a photo taken of Winnie and Christopher Robin. Christopher Robin's father, A.A. Milne was inspired to write Winnie the Poo.

The book is told by a mother, the author Lindsay Mattick, telling a story of her great-grandfather to her son. Lindsay Mattick's grandfather is Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian going off to serve in WWI. He found a bear cub at the train station in Winniepeg railway station for sale for $20.00 This is why he name her Winnie. The bear quickly becomes the mascot for the soldiers, however when the soldiers have to move to France, Harry decides to donate Winnie to the London Zoo where she will be safe and well cared for. The bear becomes a favorite attraction for many children, especially Christopher Robin, inspiring A.A. Milne to write the story of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Overall, both the story and the illustrations are well coordinated to tell a heart warming story about the worlds most famous bear.


Knuffle Bunny
Author and Illustrator: Mo Willems
Won the 2005 Caldecott Honor 

Mo Willems uses a very unique way to illustrate by using real life photographs in the background and would lay his art work over the photos of real places for the setting. The illustrations work well with the simplicity of the text and the story. This helps the reader to use their own imagination as the story unfolds.

The plot of the story is about Trixie, who can't talk goes to the laundromat with her father and took her best friend, Knuffle Bunny. Trixie helps her father load the laundry in the machine and put the money in to turn it on. On the return home, Trixie realizes she has lost Knuffle Bunny, however she is unable to explain this to her father. Trixie begins to get very frustrated and upset, causing her father to become upset. When mom realizes that Knuffle Bunny is missing, all three of them run back to the laundromat. After digging through the wet laundry, they finally find Knuffle Bunny. That's when Trixie speaks her first words.....Knuffle Bunny!!!


Olivia
Author and Illustrator: Ian Falconer
Won the 2000 Caldecott Honor

I love Ian Falconer's minimalist style of black and white images with little pops of red. Ian also inserts real artwork by famous artists such as Degas and Pollock. This book gives off a fun New York vibe.

Along with the minimalist illustrations, so too are the text as the plot of the story shows a very energetic pig named Olivia who loves to dress up, sing songs, dance, paint on walls, wear her mom out, and argue and love on her brother. She is a typical little girl with the exception of being a pig.