Not-for-Children Picture Books
As a children’s librarian, I live in a world of picture books. The glossy pages, great illustrations, and simple text found in picture books are great for young readers, and even better for paren'ts to read to children at bedtime.
But how about after your child has gone to bed? Don’t have the energy for a novel? Not a problem… Here are a few of my favourite spinoff picture books that are meant for an adult audience:
Goodnight Ipad: A parody of the famous Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown), this is a modern bedtime story about bidding our gadgets goodnight. Don’t worry, though. They’ll be waiting for us, fully charged, in the morning. If you like this one, check out the Toronto Reference Library's copy of Goodnight Bush, a spoof that celebrates George W. Bush’s exit from the Oval Office.
Go the **** to sleep: The early-reader parody by Adam Mansbach is one of the most popular adult picture books, well suited for paren'ts frustrated with putting their little one to sleep. Profane and radically honest, this one is definitely not for the kids!
B is for Beer: Follow kindergartner Gracie as she decides to find out just what beer is and why her father likes it so much. Robbins combines his simple narrative with interesting beer facts (36 billion gallons sold each year worldwide!) and a lot of humor.
I am a Pole (and so can you!): The late Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, said about this book: “the sad thing is, I like it”. The story follows a wide-eyed pole as it seeks out a purpose in life, along the way experimenting with a variety of different career choices.
You can place a hold on any of these books through our website. And remember: these ones aren’t for the kids!
2 thoughts on “Not-for-Children Picture Books”
Thanks for sharing these!
As a writer and illustrator I will be checking these out.
D.R.
Thanks. I have collection with a similar theme – books by authors who normally write for adults (and so many of them don’t succeed with books for children!).