A Shimmer of Joy

Chris Loker is an antiquarian bookseller in San Francisco, specializing in antique children's books from 1750 to 1950. Loker serves on the boards of the Grolier Club, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, and Bring Me a Book. She is also the curator of "One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature," an exhibition of landmark children's books at the Grolier Club in New York City. She lives in San Francisco, California.

How do simple words and images make a children's picture book so magical that one reading can create a cherished memory for life? Here are 100 books that amply prove the picture book is an art form.

Here are books you'll remember and new gems to discover. From The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901) to Last Stop on Market Street (2015), each of the 100 books is presented with a cover and inside spread as author Chris Loker explains the qualities that combine to make a successful picture book: the interplay between words and images, the dynamic pulse of picture and narrative that compels us to turn the page and follow the story, the sometimes quirky elements that appeal to both children and adults alike. It affirms what we all instinctively know, and have known since childhood - that a picture book is literature, art, and theater all rolled into one, miraculously blended and irresistibly presented.

Additionally, A Shimmer of Joy provides an intriguing array of information, not only about the books but also about the authors, artists, publishers, and designers who created them. Along the way, the reader gains insight into the evolving eras of children's literature and book publishing in the 20th and 21st century, with fascinating stories of its publication history and biographies of the creators.

Anyone will gain a new, deeper, appreciation for the picture book while also remembering a time when, sitting in a classroom or on a lap, someone read you a book and opened up your world.

For the collector, bibliophile, or children's book enthusiast, this collection is guaranteed to provide nothing but joy.

"All spot-on choices....a shop-window of the creative versatility embedded in children's picture books over the decades."-The Book Collector

The books:

1901: The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
1908: The Hole Book by Peter Newell
1916: The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright
1922: The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (William Nicholson)
1923: ABC Book by C. B. Falls
1926: Clever Bill by William Nicholson
1928: Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
1929: The Pirate Twins by William Nicholson
1930: The Painted Pig by Elizabeth Morrow (Rene D'Harnoncourt)
1930: The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper (Lois Lenski)
1933: The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack (Kurt Wiese)
1933: The Story of Babar by Jean De Brunhoff
1936: Giant Otto by William Pène du Bois
1936: Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone
1937: Choochee Story of an Eskimo Boy by Naomi Averill
1938: Orlando the Marmalade Cat by Kathleen Hale
1938: Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor
1938: Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty
1939: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
1939: Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky
1939: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
1939: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
1939: Whistling Two Teeth and the Forty-Nine Buffalos by Naomi Averill
1940: Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
1941: Curious George by H. A. and Margaret Rey
1941: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
1945: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss (Crockett Johnson)
1947: White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt (Roger Duvoisin)
1947: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Clement Hurd)
1948: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
1950: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous
1950: Petunia by Roger Duvoisin
1951: Little Leo by Leo Politi
1952: Five Little Monkeys by Juliet Kepes
1953: Scrambled Eggs Super! by Dr. Seuss
1953: Mother Goose Riddle Rhymes by Joseph Low
1954: Aesop's Fables by Laura Harris (Tony Palazzo)
1955: Eloise by Kay Thompson
1955: Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff (Feodor Rojankovsky)
1955: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson
1958: The House that Jack Built by Antonio Frasconi
1959: Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
1959: Peter Piper's Alphabet by Marcia Brown
1959: Umbrella by Taro Yashima
1961: The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night by Peter Spier
1961: Gwendolyn the Miracle Hen by Nancy Sherman (Edward Sorel)
1962: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
1963: I Am a Bunny by Ole Risom (Richard Scarry)
1963: Gilberto and the Wind by Marie Hall Ets
1963: Swimmy by Leo Lionni
1963: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
1964: Fortunately by Remy Charlip
1966: Moon Man by Tomi Ungerer
1966: Sam Bangs and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
1967: Birds by Brian Wildsmith
1967: Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. (Eric Carle)
1968: Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins
1968: Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel (Blair Lent)
1969: Stevie by John Steptoe
1969: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
1969: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
1972: Hosie's Alphabet by Leonard Baskin
1975: Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
1975: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema (Leo and Diane Dillon)
1977: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier
1983: The Wreck of the Zephyr by Chris Van Allsburg
1983: Anno's U.S.A. by Mitsumasa Anno
1986: Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox (Patricia Mullins)
1987: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe
1987: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (John Schoenherr)
1989: We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen (Helen Oxenbury)
1989: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr (John Archambault)
1989: Feathers and Fools by Mem Fox (Nicholas Wilton)
1989: Lon Po Po by Ed Young
1989: The Mitten by Jan Brett
1989: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka (Lane Smith)
1990: Black and White by David Macaulay
1991: Tuesday by David Wiesner
1992: Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley
1992: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
1993: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
1994: Smoky Night by Eve Bunting (David Diaz)
1999: Joseph Had A Little Overoat by Simms Taback
2000: Olivia by Ian Falconer
2003: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
2003: Stone Soup by Jon Muth
2005: Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson (Hudson Talbott)
2007: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
2009: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
2010: It's a Book by Lane Smith
2012: This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
2012: Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett by Jon Klassen
2013: The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt (Oliver Jeffers)
2013: The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
2013: Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
2013: Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
2014: The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak
2015: Flutter and Hum by Julie Paschkis
2015: Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena (Christian Robinson)