A picture book is a popular form of illustrated literature—more precisely, a book with comparatively few words and at least one picture on each of its openings—popularized in the 20th century Western world.

The illustrations in picture books use a range of media from oil painting to collage to quilting, but are most commonly watercolor or pencil drawings. Picture books are most often aimed at young children, and while some may have very basic language especially designed to help children develop their reading skills, most are written with vocabulary a child can understand but not necessarily read. For this reason, picture books tend to have two functions in the lives of children: they are first read to young children by adults, and then children read them themselves once they begin to learn to read. Some picture books are also written with older children in mind, developing themes or topics that are appropriate for children even into early adolescence.

The precursors of the modern picture book were illustrated books of poems and short stories produced by English illustrators Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane, and Kate Greenaway in the latter years of the nineteenth century. These had a larger proportion of pictures to words than earlier books, and many of their pictures were in color. The first book with something like the format picture books still retain now was Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit , first published in 1902. The Caldecott Medal, named for Randolph Caldecott, is given each year by the American Library association to the illustrator of the best illustrated American book of that year.

—Excerpted from Picture books on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

Contents 1 Books, by Author 1.1 Helen Bannerman, 1862–1946 1.2 Charles Bennett, 1829–1867 1.3 Willard Bonte 1.4 L. Leslie Brooke, 1862-1940 1.5 Robert Browning, 1812-1889 1.6 William Cullen Bryant, 1794-1878 1.7 Gelett Burgess, 1866-1951 1.8 Wilhelm Busch, 1832-1908 1.9 Randolph Caldecott, 1846-1886 1.10 Valery Carrick, 1869-1942 1.11 Edward P. Cogger, 1864-1867 1.12 William Cowper, 1731-1800 1.13 Eden Coybee 1.14 Thomas Frederick Crane, 1844-1927 1.15 Walter Crane, 1845-1915 1.16 William Wallace Denslow, 1856-1915 1.17 Charles Dickens, 1812-1870 1.18 G. E. Farrow 1862-1920 1.19 Oliver Goldsmith, 1730-1774 1.20 Kate Greenaway, 1846-1901 1.21 The Brothers Grimm 1.22 Joel Chandler Harris, 1848-1908 1.23 Bret Harte, 1836-1902 1.24 Oliver Herford, 1863-1935 1.25 Charlotte B. Herr, 1875–1963 1.26 Heinrich Hoffman, 1809-1894 1.27 Washington Irving, 1783-1859 1.28 Edith Brown Kirkwood, 1875-1954 1.29 Joseph Martin Kronheim, 1810-1896 1.30 Edward Lear, 1812-1888 1.31 Miss Lovechild 1.32 Logan Marshall 1.33 Rufus Merrill, 1803-1891 1.34 George Mitchel 1.35 Clement Clarke Moore, 1779-1863 1.36 Charles Moreton 1.37 Edith Nesbit, 1858-1924 1.38 Beatrix Potter, 1866-1943 1.39 Emilie Poulsson, 1853-1939 1.40 James Whitcomb Riley, 1849-1916 1.41 William Roscoe, 1753-1831 1.42 Oliver Spafford 1791-1881 1.43 H. L. (Henry Louis) Stephens, 1824-1882 1.44 Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894 1.45 Alta Tabor 1.46 Unknown / Anonymous 2 Series 2.1 The Dumpy Books 2.2 The "Punky Dunk" Series 2.3 The "Cock Robin" Story by various Authors 2.4 "Mother Goose" by various Authors and Illustrators 3 See Also

Books, by Author

Helen Bannerman, 1862–1946

Wikipedia: Helen Bannerman

• Little Black Sambo  (English)

Illustrator: Florence White Williams, 1900-1953

• The Story of Little Black Mingo  (English)

Charles Bennett, 1829–1867

Wikipedia: Charles Bennett

• The Faithless Parrot  (English)
• A Frog Who Would a-Wooing Go  (English)

Willard Bonte

• Fun and Nonsense  (English)

L. Leslie Brooke, 1862-1940

Wikipedia: L._Leslie_Brooke

• The Golden Goose Book  (English)
• Johnny Crow's Garden  (English)
• Johnny Crow's Party  (English)
• Ring O' Roses; A Nursery Rhyme Picture Book  (English)
• The Story of the Three Little Pigs  (English)

Robert Browning, 1812-1889

Wikipedia: Robert_Browning

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin  (English) (HTML, MP3)

Illustrator: Kate Greenaway

William Cullen Bryant, 1794-1878

Wikipedia: William Cullen Bryant

• The Little People of the Snow  (English)

Gelett Burgess, 1866-1951

Wikipedia: Gelett Burgess

• The Goop Directory  (English)
• More Goops and How Not to Be Them  (English)

Wilhelm Busch, 1832-1908

Wikipedia: Wilhelm_Busch

• Max und Moritz; Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen  (German)

Randolph Caldecott, 1846-1886

Wikipedia: Randolph_Caldecott

• The Babes in the Wood  (English)
• Come Lasses and Lads  (English)
• The Farmer's Boy  (English)
• The Fox Jumps Over the Parson's Gate  (English)
• A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go  (English)
• The Great Panjandrum Himself  (English)
• Hey Diddle Diddle and Baby Bunting  (English)
• The House That Jack Built  (English)
• The Milkmaid  (English)
• The Queen of Hearts, and Sing a Song for Sixpence  (English)

R. Caldecott's First Collection of Pictures and Songs  (English) (A DP 10K title)

• Ride A Cock-Horse To Banbury Cross & A Farmer Went Trotting Upon His Grey Mare  (English)
• The Three Jovial Huntsmen  (English)

Valery Carrick, 1869-1942

• More Russian Picture Tales  (English)

Translator: Nevill Forbes, 1883-1929

Edward P. Cogger, 1864-1867

Page describing an engraving he made @ Rutgers University

• Funny Alphabet  (English)

William Cowper, 1731-1800

Wikipedia: William Cowper

• The Diverting History of John Gilpin  (English)

Illustrator: Randolph Caldecott

Eden Coybee

• The Dumpy Books for Children; No. 7. A Flower Book  (English)

Illustrator Nellie Benson

Thomas Frederick Crane, 1844-1927

• London Town  (English)

Walter Crane, 1845-1915

Wikipedia: Walter Crane

• The Absurd ABC  (English)
• An Alphabet of Old Friends  (English) (HTML, MP3)
• The Baby's Bouquet  (English) (HTML, midi)
• The Baby's Opera  (English) (HTML, midi)
• The Baby's Own Aesop  (English) (HTML)
• Eight Illustrations to Shakespeare’s Tempest  (English)
• The Frog Prince and Other Stories  (English)

Containing:

The Frog Prince

Princess Belle-Etoile

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

• The Sleeping Beauty Picture Book  (English)

Containing:

The Sleeping Beauty

Bluebeard

The Baby's Own Alphabet

• The Song of Sixpence Picture Book  (English)

Containing:

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Princess Bell Etoile

An Alphabet of Old Friends

William Wallace Denslow, 1856-1915

Wikipedia: William Wallace Denslow

• Denslow's Mother Goose  (English)

Audio, human-read 

• Denslow's Three Bears  (English)

Charles Dickens, 1812-1870

Wikipedia: Charles Dickens

The following 3 books were also published as Holiday Romance  (text version only)

• The Trial of William Tinkling  (English)

Illustrator: S. Beatrice Pearse, 1878-1980

• The Magic Fishbone  (English)

Illustrator: S. Beatrice Pearse, 1878-1980

• Captain Boldheart  (English)

Illustrator: S. Beatrice Pearse, 1878-1980

G. E. Farrow 1862-1920

Small bio @ booksellerworld.com (look in the side column) & Death date @ theweeweb.co.uk

Illustrator: Taylor, E. M.

Illustrator: Taylor, M. F.

• The Jungle Baby  (English)

Oliver Goldsmith, 1730-1774

Wikipedia: Oliver_Goldsmith

• An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog  (English)

Illustrator: Randolph Caldecott

• An Elegy on the Glory of Her Sex, Mrs. Mary Blaize  (English)

Illustrator: Randolph Caldecott

Kate Greenaway, 1846-1901

Wikipedia: Kate_Greenaway

• A Apple Pie  (English)
• Marigold Garden  (English)
• Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes  (English)

The Brothers Grimm

(Jacob Grimm, 1785-1863, & Wilhelm Grimm, 1786-1859)

Wikipedia: Jacob Grimm
Wikipedia: Wilhelm Grimm

• Household Stories  (English)

Illustrator: Walter Crane

Translator: Lucy Crane

Joel Chandler Harris, 1848-1908

Wikipedia: Joel Chandler Harris

• Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit  (English)

Bret Harte, 1836-1902

Wikipedia: Bret Harte

• The Queen of the Pirate Isle  (English)

Illustrator: Kate Greenaway

Oliver Herford, 1863-1935

Wikipedia: Oliver Herford

• An Alphabet of Celebrities  (English)
• The Kitten's Garden of Verses  (English)
• The Mythological Zoo  (English)

Charlotte B. Herr, 1875–1963

Bio @ tomfolio.com

• How Freckle Frog Made Herself Pretty  (English)
• The Wise Mamma Goose  (English)

Heinrich Hoffman, 1809-1894

Wikipedia: Heinrich Hoffman

• Slovenly Betsy  (English)
• Struwwelpeter: Merry Stories and Funny Pictures  (English)
• Der Struwwelpeter oder lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder  (German)

Washington Irving, 1783-1859

Pen names:

Geoffrey Crayon

Diedrich Knickerbocker

Jonathan Oldstyle

Wikipedia: Washington Irving

• Old Christmas From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving  (English)

Illustrator: Randolph Caldecott

Edith Brown Kirkwood, 1875-1954

• Animal Children; The Friends of the Forest and the Plain  (English)

Joseph Martin Kronheim, 1810-1896

• My First Picture Book; With Thirty-six Pages of Pictures Printed in Colours by Kronheim  (English)

Edward Lear, 1812-1888

Wikipedia: Edward_Lear

• A Book of Nonsense  (English)
• More Nonsense  (English)
• Nonsense Books  (English)
• Nonsense Drolleries: The Owl & The Pussy-Cat—The Duck & The Kangaroo.  (English)
• Nonsense Songs  (English)

Miss Lovechild

Pen name of Eleanor Fenn or Sarah Trimmer.

• The Ladder to Learning  (English)

Logan Marshall

• Favorite Fairy Tales  (English)

Rufus Merrill, 1803-1891

• Book about Animals  (English)

George Mitchel

• Kernel Cob And Little Miss Sweetclover  (English)

Clement Clarke Moore, 1779-1863

Wikipedia: Clement Clarke Moore

• Twas the Night before Christmas; A Visit from St. Nicholas  (English)

Illustrator: Jessie Willcox Smith, 1863-1935

• A Visit From Saint Nicholas  (English)

Illustrator: Felix Octavius Carr Darley, 1821-1888

Charles Moreton

• The Maid and the Magpie  (English)

Edith Nesbit, 1858-1924

Wikipedia: Edith Nesbit

• All Round the Year  (English)

with Saretta Nesbit (AKA Caris Brooke)

Illustrator: Hugh Bellingham-Smith

• Landscape and Song  (English) ("selected and arranged by E. Nesbit")

Beatrix Potter, 1866-1943

Wikipedia: Beatrix_Potter

• Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes  (English)
• A Collection of Beatrix Potter Stories  (English)
• The Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter  (English)
• Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter  (English, human read)
• The Story of Miss Moppet  (English)
• The Tailor of Gloucester  (English)
• The Tale of Benjamin Bunny  (English)
• The Tale of Ginger and Pickles  (English)
• The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck  (English)
• The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse  (English)
• The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher  (English)
• The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle  (English)
• The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle  (English)
• The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse  (English)
• The Tale of Mr. Tod  (English)
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit  (English, human read)
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit  (English)
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit  (English)
• The Tale of Samuel Whiskers; The Roly-Poly Pudding  (English)
• The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin  (English)
• The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies  (English)
• The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan  (English)
• The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes  (English)
• The Tale of Tom Kitten  (English)

Emilie Poulsson, 1853-1939

• Finger Plays for Nursery and Kindergarten  (English) (includes midis)

Illustrator: L. J. (Lewis Jesse) Bridgman, 1857-1931

James Whitcomb Riley, 1849-1916

Wikipedia: James Whitcomb Riley

• A Defective Santa Claus  (English)

Illustrator: C. M. (Charles Mark) Relyea, 1863-1932

Illustrator: Will Vawter

William Roscoe, 1753-1831

Wikipedia: William Roscoe

• The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast  (English)
• The Butterfly's Funeral  (English)

(Note: title page shows author as "J. L. B." but it is commonly attributed to Roscoe.)

• The Peacock 'At Home' AND The Butterfly's Ball AND The Fancy Fair  (English)

Oliver Spafford 1791-1881

HISTORICAL SKETCHES of the TOWN OF PORTLAND from a genealogical site (contains a few sentences bio of Spafford, with vital dates) (this may not be the right man)

• The Picture Alphabet  (English)

H. L. (Henry Louis) Stephens, 1824-1882

• Death and Burial of Poor Cock Robin  (English)

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894

Wikipedia: Robert Louis Stevenson

• A Child's Garden of Verses  (English)

Illustrator: Myrtle Sheldon

Alta Tabor

• Willie Mouse  (English)

Illustrator: Florence White Williams, 1900-1953

Unknown / Anonymous

• The Adventures of the Little Woman, Her Dog and the Pedlar  (English)
• The Anti-Slavery Alphabet  (English)
• Aunt Mary's Primer  (English)
• Baseball ABC  (English)
• A Bit of Sunshine  (English)
• Child's First Picture Book  (English)
• Children's Hour with Red Riding Hood and Other Stories  (English)
• The Circus Procession  (English)
• The Courtship, Marriage, and Pic-Nic Dinner of Cock Robin & Jenny Wren  (English)
• Dame Duck's First Lecture on Education  (English)
• Dame Wonder's Picture Alphabet  (English)
• The Death and Burial of Poor Cock Robin  (English)
• The Emperor's Rout  (English)
• The Entertaining History of Jobson & Nell  (English)
• An Entertaining History of Tom Thumb; William Raine's Edition  (English)
• Footsteps on the Road to Learning; The Alphabet in Rhyme  (English)
• Gems of Poetry, for Girls and Boys  (English)
• Goody Two-Shoes  (English)
• Happy and Gay Marching Away  (English)
• Harrison's New Nursery Picture Book  (English)
• Harry's Ladder to Learning  (English)
• The History of Insects  (English)
• The History of Tom Thumb and Other Stories  (English)
• The Illustrated Alphabet of Birds  (English)
• Little Cinderella  (English)
• The Little Mother Goose  (English)

Illustrator: Jessie Willcox Smith

• A Little Present for a Good Child  (English)
• The Little Red Hen; An Old English Folk Tale  (English)

Illustrator: Florence White Williams, 1900-1953

• Little Sarah  (English)
• Little Stories for Little Children  (English)
• Monkey Jack and Other Stories  (English)
• Mother Stories from the Old Testament; A Book of the Best Stories from the Old Testament that Mothers can tell their Children  (English)
• Mother Stories from the New Testament; A Book of the Best Stories from the New Testament that Mothers can tell their Children  (English)
• My Dog Tray  (English)

Illustrator: H. W. Petherick

• The National Nursery Book; With 120 illustrations  (English)
• Pages for Laughing Eyes  (English)
• Peter Prim's Profitable Present; To the little misses and masters of the United States  (English)
• Peter Pry's Puppet Show; Part the II.  (English)
• Pleasing Stories for Good Children with Pictures  (English)
• The Remarkable Adventures of an Old Woman and Her Pig  (English)
• Simple Simon; Silhouette Series  (English)
• The Story of Jack and the Giants  (English)
• Tame Animals  (English)
• The Three Bears  (English)
• The Tiny Picture Book  (English)
• The Tiny Story Book  (English)
• Tommy Tatters; Uncle Toby's Series  (English)
• The Twelve Labours of Hercules, Son of Jupiter & Alcmena  (English)
• Wee Ones' Bible Stories  (English)
• The Wonders of a Toy Shop  (English)
• The World Turned Upside Down, or, No News, and Strange News  (English)
• The Young Captives; A Narrative of the Shipwreck and Suffering of John and William Doyley  (English)

Series

The Dumpy Books

• The Dumpy Books for Children; No. 7. A Flower Book 

by Coybee, Eden

• The Motor Car Dumpy Book 

by Crosland, T. W. H. (Thomas William Hodgson), 1865-1924

• Dumpy Proverbs  (English)

by Appleton, Honor C., 1879-1951

The "Punky Dunk" Series

• Punky Dunk and the Gold Fish  (English)

by Anonymous

• Punky Dunk and the Mouse  (English)

by Anonymous

• Punky Dunk and the Spotted Pup  (English)

by Anonymous

The "Cock Robin" Story by various Authors

• Death and Burial of Poor Cock Robin  (English)

by H. L. (Henry Louis) Stephens, 1824-1882

• The Death and Burial of Poor Cock Robin  (English)

by Anonymous

• The Courtship, Marriage, and Pic-Nic Dinner of Cock Robin & Jenny Wren  (English)

by Anonymous

"Mother Goose" by various Authors and Illustrators

• The Tales of Mother Goose As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696  (English)

Translated by Welsh, Charles; Illustrated by Munro, D. J.

• Mother Goose The Original Volland Edition  (English)

by Grover, Eulalie Osgood, 1873-; Illustrated by Richardson, Frederick, 1862-1937

• Denslow's Mother Goose  (English)

Illustrated by Denslow, William Wallace, 1856-1915

• The Only True Mother Goose Melodies 
• Mother Goose in Prose , Audio  (English)

by Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank), 1856-1919

• Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes  (English)

Illustrated by Greenaway, Kate, 1846-1901

• The Little Mother Goose  (English)

Illustrated by Smith, Jessie Willcox, 1863-1935

• The Real Mother Goose  (English)

Illustrated by Wright, Blanche Fisher

See Also

• The Nursery (Bookshelf) A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers
• Christmas (Bookshelf)