A special day calls for a special book, but I simply couldn’t narrow down one picture book by the great Shel Silverstein.

Who among us doesn’t recall sitting down to read yet again The Missing Piece?  Didn’t we all receive The Giving Tree as a gift at some point in our lives?  And how many times did you nearly split your side laughing at his hilarious poems in Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up?  I still remember many by heart. “I cannot go to school today, said Little Peggy Anny McKay.  I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash, and purple bumps …”  I have all of my Silverstein originals, and I have slowly been passing them down to my two children who now adore them as much as I once did (and still do).

All the World

by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee

“Nanas, papas, cousins, kin
Piano, harp and violin
Babies passed from neck to knee
All the world is you and me”

A book that will charm mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and children, All the World celebrates kinship, the interconnectedness of the natural world and the domain of man, and the simple blessings of ordinary days.   The musical verse and captivating illustrations follow an extended family to a bright morning on the beach, a farmer’s market, a cozy mealtime gathering at a cafè, and a quiet night at home.  We experience along with them the cool comfort of a cleansing rain and the gentle rush of a summer wind.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

by William Steig

Yes, the author who brought us such classics as Doctor De Soto and Shrek, won the 1970 Caldecott Medal with this modern classic beloved by children everywhere.