Favorite Picture book 'series'

[Julie Smith]

My sons and I like reading picture books by the pile. I'm just wondering what is your favorite picture book series. To make it more difficult I want a 7 book minimum in the 'series'. My kids like saying let's read about Franklin, or Thomas, or Laura... We have read and liked:

Franklin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_%28TV_series%29) by Paulette Bourgeois
The Railway series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Series)by Rev. W. Awdry (Thomas the train)
Madeline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline) by Ludwig Bemelmans
Elliot (http://www.elliotmoose.ca/main.html)by Andrea Beck
Little House Books (http://www.littlehousebooks.com/books/search.cfm?p=2&sf=all&sb=picturebooks&ss=ORDER%20BY%20Title) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Dora the Explorer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_the_Explorer#Books) (I am the person who posted the list of books on the wiki. My first and only thing I ever put on the wiki)
Go Diego Go (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Diego_Go)

We have not liked:

Berenstain bears (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenstain_bears) by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Little Critter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Critter) by Mercer Mayer
Curious George (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curious_George)

And I haven't given Clifford the Big Red Dog (http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/) a fair try yet. So is there another Picture books series I should try out. Please. :)

[Pencil Pusher]

Hmm...I don't know how many books there are in the series, but George and Martha are my FAVORITES. They're so...witty & poignant & hilarious...in a very subtle way.

[Sue G in PA]

simply but neat. We've also enjoyed, while not a "series" persay...the Click, Clack Moo books. Let's see...oh...Corduroy! LOVE Corduroy! HTH

[Once]

Here are two I thought of.... I just posted one title not the whole series.

Harry Mac Clarry by Lynley Dodd

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr by Maj Lindman

I love reading these to my kids too!!

[LNC]

Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain, Edward Ardizonne (and many more!)
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Tim-Brave-Sea-Captain/dp/1845074564

My children had imaginary play for hours every day with these characters - for all of their preschool years! I adore this series!

[Carol in Cal.]

Frog and Toad
Amelia Bedelia
Sheep books (Sheep in a Jeep, Sheep in a Shop, etc.)
I can't remember for sure whether or not these have more than 7 books each, but they are substantial as picture books go.

For non-series books, I LOVE:
"Grandpa Bear's Fantastic Scarf"
"I Love You As Much"
"Warm as Wool"
"The Christmas Mouse"
"The Sneetches"

[Crissy]

We love Poppleton (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-5040627-8184868?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=poppleton), but we're all about pigs here. http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/animal/pig.gif (http://www.thesmilies.com)

[Brenda in FL]

Books by Virginia Burton - Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel, Katy the Steam Shovel, there's one about a trolley car, and a train as well, and I think at least one more - sorry but I don't think there are seven, but these should not be missed!

And don't forget about Richard Scarry books - these are excellent as well.

[nestof3]

I second Virginia Lee Burton

My boys also love Bill Peet, Franklin, Frank Asch, Leo Lionni, Beatrix Potter, Amelia Bedelia, and Uri Shulevitz.

[Jami]

I won't keep the 7 in the series rule probably, but some of our favorite authors:

Beatrix Potter stories (definitely more than 7!) you can get them in a one book collection or 20-some little separate books. We have both. :D

Robert McCloskey's books--One Morning in Maine, Blueberries for Sal, Lentil, Make Way for Ducklings and probably a couple others I'm forgetting.

Fairy Tales illustrated or retold by Scott Gustafson (GORGEOUS pictures) or Paul Galdone.

Francis books by Russell Hoban.

Harold and the Purple Crayon books, Ellen's Lion, and The Carrot Seed by Crockett Johnson

Cynthia Rylant's Lighthouse Family and Thimbleberry stories.

[nmoira]

Little Tim here too... I think we've got them all
anything by Martin Waddell (esp his Little Bear books)
anything by John Burningham
McDuff series by Jeffers/Wells

[Jami]

Seconding Bill Peet and Leo Lionni, I forgot those!

Also we've enjoyed many of William Steig's books like Dr. Desoto, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Yellow and Pink.

[Carol in Cal.]

but they include routine spanking threats from the parents. As someone who grew up in a corporal punishment household and chose to raise my DD differently, I found it startling how pervasive those mentions were in the Francis books. When I was a kid I didn't even notice them.

[Pencil Pusher]

The Frances books are good but they include routine spanking threats from the parents. As someone who grew up in a corporal punishment household and chose to raise my DD differently, I found it startling how pervasive those mentions were in the Francis books. When I was a kid I didn't even notice them.

Oh, I love Frances! Esp Bread & Jam for Frances--it's *so* fun to read! When I was a kid, I couldn't stand them (don't know why), but my mother *loved* them. Fwiw, dc & I both love them now. What can I say? I had poor taste as a child! I also disliked Winnie the Pooh & Little Bear.:blush:

But I haven't read all of the Frances books--maybe only 2 or 3? So I haven't encountered the spanking threats. Hm.

[Peek a Boo]

not seven, but there's 5 books in the Sir Cumference series :)

My guys like the Little Critter books, lol.
Richard Scarry is a lot of fun.

David Adler has a wonderful series of "Picture book biographies".

here's a link:
http://www.chapter-and-verse.org/index_files/Page352.html

jan Brett is another "not a series but we seek out her books" kinda thing, lol.

happy reading!

[Peek a Boo]

and here's another one: about pirates :-)

I had to search for it cuz i remembered seeing it in the library but couldn't remember the title, lol!

and there are seven in the series :)
http://www.gregoryandcompany.co.uk/pages/authors/index.asp?AuthorID=32

[Peek a Boo]

OH!! and a favorite around here:

Carl the Dog :D

practically wordless, but OH such story telling!!

http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2192/Day-Alexandra-1941.html

[Peek a Boo]

and they might be a little young for Magic School Bus, but that'll be next :)

[Peek a Boo]

::sifting through the bazillion books on our shelves::

there's Max Lucado's Hermie series, but that caterpillar kinda creeps me out.....
:shiver:

http://hermieandfriends.com/index.asp?view=books

{{I still recommend Carl the Dog as your next try!!}}

[DawnUK]

All of my children love the Toot and Puddle books. There are about ten of them, and they are about two pigs that live together. One of them likes to travel all over the world, while the other prefers to stay home. It's cute...when we travel my kids tell me that they are feeling a little like a Toot this day, but they were feeling a little more Puddle yesterday or etc...

--Dawn

[Virginia Dawn]

There are the Frances books by Lillian Hoban and Lyle the Crocodile books by Bernard Waber and Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish.

[Closeacademy]

Mo Williams--you have got to try the pigeon books.

There are:

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Pigeons Have Feelings Too!
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.
Pigeon Likes Things That Go
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!

We also like his KnuffleBunny books but there are only two of them.

This is a new find for us and we are having a ton of fun with them.:lol:

[mellifera]

My kids and I enjoy the Eloise books. My kids get a big kick out of her antics.

[Tarheel Heather]

When you give a mouse a cookie, moose a muffin, pig a pancake books? Can't remember the author there in the basket downstairs. There's only three and fun to read.

[Tarheel Heather]

The Billy and Blaze books.

[Jvander]

Mr. Putter and Tabby books are about an elderly man and his adventures with his elderly cat and their odd, but kind, neighbors. The illustrations are well done. My dd4 and ds6 enjoy them very much.

Henry and Mudge books are about a boy and his really large dog, Mudge. I enjoy them much more than Clifford stories.

[Jenny in Atl]

There are the Frances books by Lillian Hoban and Lyle the Crocodile books by Bernard Waber and Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish.

I loved Lyle as a kid... still have all my picture bks, crayon marks and all. I have never limited our reading to series picture bks. We have a small (well really not so small) children's picture library. I have a ton that are my favs but few are part of a series.

[3littlekeets]

My kiddos have always loved Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, and Olivia by Ian Falconer.

[Stacia]

Mr. Putter and Tabby

Yep, we love those too! I was just opening this thread to recommend those & see that they've already been recommended. :-)

And, I'm a huge Richard Scarry fan.

One thing my dd has always liked is various Cinderella tales from around the world. They're not a series, specifically, but if you search, you can find things like the Korean Cinderella, the Persian Cinderella, etc.... We've actually done this w/ lots of different 'classic' fairy or folk tales (Puss 'n Boots, Rumplestiltskin, Johnny Appleseed, ...) -- checked out different variations of the same story to see what's the same & what's different.

Oh, and Stephen Kellog's American Tall Tales are fun -- Mike Fink, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett, Paul Bunyan, etc....

[Alice]

We've liked a lot of the ones already mentioned, especially the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant. For his 4th birthday my son requested a Henry and Mudge birthday party. Not a theme party but he wanted a party that replicated Henry's in one of the books.

Another thing we've done that works is to have an author birthday party every month. I pick a different author or illustrator and get a big stack of books out of the library by them. We sit and read through the pile and then we usually have some kind of special treat to celebrate their birthday. It's not necessarily a "series" of books but it's fun to see the similarities in the books when you're looking at all one author. I have a book that lists authors birthdays but I've also found some by just typing in something like "March author birthday" to google.

In writing about the author birthdays I remembered that Ezra Jack Keats has a lot of the same characters in his books. It's not a true series but the kids are the same.

Oh...a few more series that are fun. The Miss Bindergarten....Kindergarten books by Joseph Slate. And the Froggy books by Jonathan London are fun. Kevin Henkes also has a lot of fun sweet books...also not a true series but a lot of repeating characters.

[lovemyboys]

We love Jane Hissey's books "Old Bear," "Little Bear's Trousers," "Jolly Tall," etc. They're beautifully illustrated and sweet stories about the animals in the playroom who have adventures.

[nmoira]

But I haven't read all of the Frances books--maybe only 2 or 3? So I haven't encountered the spanking threats. Hm.The only threat I recall is in Bedtime for Frances. We are a non-spanking family, but I did read this one, each time explaining that we weren't a family that believed in spanking, and why.

[Brenda in FL]

I just remembered the Babar (the elephant) books and Olivia (the pig) books, and books by Todd Parr.

[Mrs. Readsalot]

We especially like the Mr. Putter series by Cynthia Rylant.

[Laura in VA]

I believe there are only 4, but they are so fun!
Harry the Dirty Dog
Harry by the Sea
Harry and the Lady Next Door
No Roses for Harry

[astrid]

OH!! and a favorite around here:

Carl the Dog :D

practically wordless, but OH such story telling!!

http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2192/Day-Alexandra-1941.html

`

[Julie Smith]

Thank you. I found a lot of books that look good. Just using the recommendations on the first page filled up my alloted number of holds at the library.

I have coming to me most or all the books in "George and Martha", "Gossie and Gertie", "Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain".

When I have more space at the library I will look at the other pages in detail.

It is just so nice and easy to find one book, and then check out lots just like it. :)

[EKS]

There's Arthur, Henry and Mudge, and Mr Putter and Tabby.

[Jean in Newcastle]

We love the Snipp, Snapp, Snurr books by Maj Lindman - also by her, a series with 3 girls - Flicka, Ricka and Dicka.