Children's Book Bonanza

Since I read five or six books to my son every night before bed, I've become a connoisseur of children's books. Sometimes I'm surprised by how clever they are and sometimes I'm let down halfway through -- and that's saying a lot since these are only 20- to 30-page picture books.

When I read a book that I really like and it becomes one that my son asks for over and over again, I think maybe I should write a children's book, but I don't even know where to begin. Do you start with the story or the illustrations, because some books seem to revolve around the art?

We have two artsy pop-up books by a writer named David A. Carter called "One Red Dot" and "White Noise." The pop ups aren't animals jumping out of boxes or cars driving down a street. They're sculptural puzzles in primary colors. There are very few words, but it still takes a while to read them. In "One Red Dot" you have to find the hidden red dot in each pop-up and in "White Noise" you look for the pieces that make subtle sounds when you turn the page. In these books, the story definitely depends on the art to engage the imagination, not the words.

Maybe it's the immature teenager inside of me, but I like quirky stories, like "Walter the Farting Dog" by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray. The first few times I read that book I couldn't get through it without laughing so hard I was crying. Some of the jokes were lost on my son, but he learned that we love other people (and animals) no matter what their affliction, be it a bad and continuous case of gas or a tendency to pick their nose (oh wait, that's my son).

I used to steer away from books related to cartoons, like Nickelodeon's Diego or Backyardigans, even though my son loves them. However, Jack and I both like the Miss Spider books, which are based on the cartoon written from the original "Little Miss Spider" and "Miss Spider's Tea Party" by David Kirk. The Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child are also just as witty and cute as the cartoons on the Disney channel and vice versa.

As much as I tend to prefer books with more modern illustrations and current language, I do like new books written in a traditional style. One of our recent favorites was "Bumbletum" by Steve Smallman. It's about a new toy in the toy room called Bumbletum. All the other toys welcome him and try to figure out what he does. In the end, they decide he's a toy that's meant for hugging.

The joy of the whole experience is sharing books with my son and figuring out what he likes. So far, he has pretty good taste. Maybe one day I'll write a book for him or we can write one together. For now, we'll just keep checking out books by the dozen from our local library and searching for inspiration in the brightly colored pages.