A Picture Perfect Childhood (Review)

I've been crying again.  Constantly.  At every children's book the girls and I read together.  It's starting to get embarrassing.  I'm starting to feel like a fool when Caeley says, "Stop tearing up AGAIN, Mommy!"  I can't help it, we've stumbled upon a TREASURE TROVE of books, which have come out of "A Picture Perfect Childhood" by Cay Gibson.  This woman has single-handedly taken all the guess work out of picking quality picture books to read to kids of all ages.  But this "book about books" is more than a book list.  It is inspiration to be judicious in the selection of reading material for our children.  It is inspiration to take "textbook learning" and move it into picture books.  It is a plea to keep the "old fashioned" idea of family read-aloud time, even when our children get "too old" for picture books.  Not to mention, it is full of words of wisdom:

-"Parents need to slow down and reach into their child's heart because it is our mission."
-"Words can build up or tear down.  Let us build up those tender young souls because if we do not do it, no one else will."
-"A wise man once said that children are the message we leave to a world we will not see."
-The idea that the beginning of schooling should mean the end of picture books needs to be abandoned. (paraphrase)
-"There will be no revitalization of literature if we do not show the next generation how to be still and find the solitude needed for reading and developing their inner self."

We used this book last year to find our "Read Across America" books, which is just one of the many themed book lists the author provides.  In case you are curious, other themed book lists include:
-"Let's Get Cooking With Literature" featuring books about a different cuisine each month like "Gumbos and Soups" for January, "Pancakes" for February, "Breads" for March, "Sweet to the Sweet" for April, "Apple Harvest" for September, etc.  I can only imagine some of my more culinary friends using this book list as a pre-school/home economics curriculum for their wee chefs!  (Mary Jo and Danielle, that means you!)
-"Adoption"book list full of books dealing with the subject of adoption.
-"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" about all things and players related to baseball.
-"Around the World With Cinderella" featuring different versions of the Cinderella story from all around the world.  Great for the princess in all of us.  Not bad for geography lessons either.
-"In the World of Dolls" featuring books with doll protagonists or books about dolls.
-MANY history/cultural book lists including "Civil War," "Immigration," "The Great Depression" "Pioneers and Westward Expansion," "Underground Railroad," "World War I," "World War II," and "September 11" to name a few.

There are just too many great lists in this book to include here!  My favorite part, though, is quickly becoming the title section: "A Picture Perfect Education."  This is a list, by month, of books that would pertain to ANYTHING that ever happened in that month.  Or sometimes the books are just randomly placed in that month, like the fairy tales or myths.  I decided to start requesting these books from our library for July and August, and I was NOT disappointed.  And neither were my tear ducts.  To give you a taste of just a few of the books for August:
-A book about Pompeii (buried in August?)
-A book about Esther Morris, born in August, the first woman to vote in local elections (news to me) and a notable player in the early suffragette movement.
-Other books about famous folks with August birthdays, including Annie Oakley, Sammy Lee, Roberto Clemente, the Wright Brothers, etc.
-And one book each in the following categories (these categories are included EVERY month, so even if you read only these books each month, you are still giving your kid an amazing literature experience!): Art, Music, Shakespeare, Poetry, Language Arts, Science/Nature, Geography, Fairy Tale, Myth, and Tall Tale.

Yesterday we read the Esther Morris book.  So good, so informational, so age-appropriate.  I cried.  Today we read a story called "Train to Somewhere" which dealt with the orphan trains in the late 1800s/early 1900s.  I never would've thought to request a book about this topic, since truthfully, I had never heard of these orphan trains.  The book was beautiful, poignant, sad and yet happy.  I cried.  Again.

Cay Gibson is a Charlotte Masoner at heart, believing that children should be exposed to the best of whatever you are exposing them to--whether music, art, literature, or picture books.  Her commitment to quality control is what makes this book stand out.  Sure, I could go to my local library's search engine and type in a search for books about the Civil War, and narrow it down to the ages of my children, but I doubt I would be lucky enough to stumble upon the gems that Cay has already found for me!  She has saved EVERY parent who reads to his or her children (I hope that's all of them) an invaluable amount of time and legwork.  This book is NOT just for homeschoolers (although man alive, you could build some amazing curricula around the book lists here...) and not just for those with little children.  Many of the lists obviously include subject matter that is not really for young children at all (see the historical list above).  Yet through picture books, parents have the opportunity to explore some of these really sensitive issues in a way that feels non-threatening and less scary for kids of any age.

I can't say enough nice things about this book.  If you include it on your "back to school" shopping list, and really use it this year, I imagine that you, too, will feel like you stumbled upon a gem!

(Caveat: I have noticed that there are some typos in the book.  For example, a title might be something like, "Places to Go" and Cay might put "Place to Go" or something like that.  This could be mildly or largely irritating, depending on your patience while searching for books in a search engine and how picky the engine is about spelling...I did have to cross check a few books by searching by author name, but it has not detracted at all from how much I love this book!)

(PS:  I was not in any way paid or otherwise bribed to write this review.  I just really love this book!)

(PPS:  One last thing, I promise.  For any education majors that might be out there reading this...PLEASE get this book.  Get it for yourself.  Get it for your fellow teachers.  Get one for your school's library.  In fact, parents of school kids should donate copies to their kids' school libraries....)