Crisis Averted! Sandra Boynton

When I started planning my Baby and Toddler storytimes, I wanted to incorporate an activity that I had seen done during one of my library school practicums. I picked out two board books (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton) and ordered 15 copies of each. My plan was to pass out one book to each parent and have them all read together as a group. It's a great activity to use with this age group because it really models how to read with young children. It's amazing how many parents are nervous about doing such a thing, so having practice during storytime is wonderful.

Well, my books finally arrived today. I was so excited! And then I got a phone call from my library director as she was cataloging the new books. "Sandy, did you know that we don't have copies of either of these books in the circulating collection?" What!?!? I was shocked. These are fairly prolific titles! So I wrote out cards to order these two titles. But then I got curious. Did we have other board books by these authors? We seemed OK with the Bill Martin books, but a search for books by Sandra Boynton revealed that we had only one of her board books.

Oh no! This shocked me. Sandra Boynton is one of the biggest names in the board book industry, and with good reason. There are several things that a good board book needs to be successful: 1) Quality, but simple illustrations, 2) Brief text, preferably with a good rhythm, and 3) Appeal to the sensibilities of both toddlers and adults. I have yet to see an author/illustrator achieve these goals with such flair as Sandra Boynton.

If you haven't had the opportunity to take a look at one of Sandra Boynton's books, I highly recommend that you do so now. In fact, look at several. Don't worry, I'll wait for you to finish. :) Your local public library will hopefully have copies, and even stores like Target and Wal-Mart usually have a few in stock in their book sections. Boynton's illustrations are distinctive - her characters' faces are so expressive, and the soft lines of her drawings are whimsical.

The text of her books is just about pitch perfect too. Boynton has an excellent sense of rhythm and all of her books have a good beat to them - not surprising when you remember that she has put together several collections of silly songs, several of which have been turned into board books. The sing-songy rhythm is great for babies and toddlers, who find the rhythm comforting and likewise use it to hear the distinct sounds in the words. There's just enough silliness to leave children and grown-ups alike with big grins on their faces when they are finished reading.


Sandra Boynton is the best of the best as what she does. The only good news about discovering my library's distinct lack of books penned by her? I got to spend the afternoon browsing around her website, looking at all of the wonderful books that I plan to order for the library. I can only imagine how giddy I'm going to be when the order arrives and I get to put the books on the shelves!

Overall Grade: A+

Here is just a sampling of my favorite Sandra Boynton titles. Check out her website for a complete listing of her books!

Barnyard Dance
Moo, Baa, La La La!
What's Wrong, Little Pookie?
Blue Hat, Green Hat