[christripp Posts: 1,216 Status: Offline WWW]

This made me think of the zen concept of having a "beginner's mind," which is to have an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions about something

Leslie, love that (just wish I still had it) and yes, Pam, I agree. The "beginning" days, prior to publication, where some of the best for me. The dream, being often times, far prettier then the reality.
Amature is also a word, much like Beginner, that may feel like a put down, yet we do not consider Olympic Athlete's to be of lesser importance then those who are Professional.

[LeslieG Posts: 174 Status: Offline WWW]

Chris, I love it too. I first heard about the concept from Steve Jobs's awesome Stanford commencement speech, when he talked about shock of being fired from Apple. As he put it, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”  I find notions like that helpful when the joy of creating for children gets crowded out by anxiety--which, of course, is totally antithetical to the playful state of mind needed to do this work in the first place!

I just started reading THE BFG (can't believe it took me this long!), and am so struck by Dahl's obvious delight in just being playful. The BFG would tell us to take any doldrum days and put them in a bunkumhouse with all those squiggling hippodumplings. Hehe! Or, as Jobs would say, "Stay hungry, stay foolish." 

[DianaM Posts: 971 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

   There are no advanced writers. Only writer's advances.

Seriously, love the Steve Jobs quotes! Very inspiring.

[AzGuy Posts: 36 Status: Offline WWW]

Kevin Henkes' Lilly books, and more recently the two Bird books by Jeremy Tankard. They're really funny. I love Dav Pilkey's Dumb Bunny books, too!

[DianaM Posts: 971 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

Thanks, Guy! I'll add those to my list.

Also, I forget if anyone mentioned Russell the Sheep, so I'll mention it just in case.

[Kimberly Lynn Posts: 63 Status: Offline]

Here are a few characters that I didn’t see mentioned in previous comments:

Louise the Big Cheese, Llama Llama, Wombat, Katy Duck, Pinkalicious, Froggy, and Pete the Cat.

My current favorite is Llama Llama Mad at Momma.  I’ve never laughed so hard reading a picture book.  My two year-old grandson can read the entire book word for word.  I kid you not!  I need to post a video.

Note:  I'd also consider Madeline modern because the series carries on with John Bemelmans Marciano.  Harry and Horsie has a second book now as well.  Need to order that soon.  LOL!:)

[DianaM Posts: 971 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

Yes, yes, and yes! Thanks for the great suggestions.

Aw, your grandson sounds cute! My kids and I love the Llama books too.

Oh, also, the "T. Rex" books by Lois Grambling. Very funny and cute.

Can't remember if someone mentioned the "David" books yet. I love David Shannon.

Going to go another book shopping spree soon!

[CarrieF Posts: 201 Status: Offline WWW]

Can't believe I forgot to mention Max and Ruby. My daughter cannot get enough of them. She's 3. My 6-year-old also enjoys them.

[ohmylorelei Posts: 123 Status: Offline http://laurelsnyder.com WWW]

Oh, man... I love Tankard's Bird.

I've been reading this thread though, and thinking about how so many books (esp series) are "character" books that don't develop much character.  It's really about the books being branded, sometimes, with the logo of that character.   I think about the early "character" books, like Frog and Toad, or Frances, and they had SO much personality.  And a lot of the books today are just imitations of those forms.  I guess some of this is just a word count issue, huh?

And not that this is always bad.  But it's something I've been thinking about.

[Abracabarbara Posts: 1,146 Status: Offline formerly AE aaa eee WWW]

My favorite character driven pictre books have real voice. Which I suppose translates to personality as Lorelei says. And as a child I always loved books that had something else to them that was interactive so that I could continually go back and look through them and make connections. I never got tired of those books. These books seem to appeal to preschoolers and early schoolers more than toddlers who prefer sound/language driven stories IMHO.

[Karen de Foy Posts: 25 Status: Offline]

I love the Minerva Louise books about the clueless chicken.

[DianaM Posts: 971 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

Carrie -- Max and Ruby slipped my mind too, I think because that series is so huge now! My daughters love them too. They play the games online.

ohmylorelei -- Thanks for the great suggestion! I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the characters not being developed though. Do you mean you find some of the stories too light? Not meaty enough?

AE -- Thanks for your insights! I agree that "voice" is a key ingredient. Interactivity is always a plus too. My daughters love books that allow them to linger on the pages.

Karen -- I just looked it up and it sounds so funny! Can't believe I haven't come across it before. Thanks!

[JennaWren Posts: 1,779 Status: Offline WWW]

Just wanted to bump up this thread to see if anyone has new titles to add that have come out in the last year? Thinking of strong characters with strong voices/personalities, solid arcs....

A couple I'm thinking of are PENGUIN AND PINECONE and VAMPIRINA BALLERINA, by BBers Salina Yoon and Anne Marie Pace, respectively. I just read (also BBer) Tammi Sauer's NUGGET AND FANG, and think it fits the bill as well.

Any more?

[tzippy Posts: 24 Status: Offline]

Christripp - I use the term "pre-published" to describe myself!  I like the optimism of it 

And for PBs that are character driven, I love Ruth Ohi's Chicken, Pig, Cow and its sequels. The last one came out in 2012.

[wolfie712 Posts: 236 Status: Offline Teacher, Writer, Up-All-Nighter WWW]

We've recently fallen in love with the Betty Bunny books.  She's so funny!

[couchmine]

Thanks for the list guys. Summary, as I've copied it:

Skippyjon Jones
Fancy Nancy
Splat the Cat
Helen Lester's Tacky the Penguin series (I heart Helen Lester!)
Jackie Urbanovic's Duck books
Olivier Dunrea's Gossie & Friends series
Russel the Sheep
Edmund and Washable by Chris Jackson
Stella (Queen of the Snow etc),
Dolores,
Blue Kangaroo (Emma Chichester Clark)
Froggy (as in Froggy gets dressed).
Charlie and Lola!
Angelina Ballerina,
Pinkalicious,
Freckleface Strawberry,
Ladybug Girl...
Karma Wilson's Bear books
Crafty Chloe
Kevin Henkes' Lilly books,
the two Bird books by Jeremy Tankard
Dav Pilkey's Dumb Bunny
Louise the Big Cheese,
Llama Llama,
Wombat,
"T. Rex" books by Lois Grambling
Minerva Louise books about the clueless chicken
Max and Ruby
PENGUIN AND PINECONE 
VAMPIRINA BALLERINA
Nugget and Fang
Ruth Ohi's Chicken, Pig, Cow
Betty Bunny

[Donna J. Shepherd Posts: 1,074 Status: Offline Ava's Secret Tea Party WWW]

Thanks for listing all the titles. Very helpful!

[DianaM Posts: 971 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

Thanks, couchmine!