Why you should read a picture book

Last week, I visited the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.

There was a long, but fascinating, video about its founder, Norton Simon, a self-made millionaire who discovered the profound beauty of art later in life.

As I watched, I found myself reflecting on my own creative journey. I’ve always loved art - drawing, painting, admiring, even coveting it.

But picture books? That was a different story.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved flipping through Miss Nelson Is Missing, Shel Silverstein collections, The Snow Queen — this was the ’70s, after all. Aside from television, there wasn’t much else visually exciting going on in my world. I enjoyed them, but I didn’t yet appreciate them, not the way I did when I later could read chapter books and novels.

It wasn’t until I began learning the art of picture book writing that I became an unabashed fan.
But I’m not here to write a complex analysis of why certain picture books are marvels of artistry, creativity, and human truth.

That would be telling, and we all know the covenant: show, don’t tell.

So instead, I’ll be blogging about One Thing I Learned from a Picture Book.

Because if everyone read a picture book — once a day, a week, or even a month — I think we’d all be in a better place.
Cliché, maybe. But I believe it.

Don’t we all need a little Frog and Toad in our lives? I know I do.