When the wooden Fellows embrace picturebooks for a month
A month of picturebooks with the wooden Fellows
- Frédérique and the Wooden Fellows
In 2025, we had a whole series on picturebooks, where we suggested prompts and questions to engage young children as they are read to, including some on early mathematics. This month, the wooden Fellows explored some more!
Since the beginning of 2026, the wooden Fellows and I, the human being as they call me, have been delving into themes to guide everyone to slow down and (re)connect with their inner child. Each theme is explored through our weekly notes to our followers, and at the end of each month, we share our adventures and some pictures in a blog post.
Let’s start with a simple question. When you think about picturebooks, what feelings do it bring? Have those feelings changed since you were a child? What is your favorite one?
Haven’t met the wooden Fellows yet?
Well, you will learn more about them in this post, but you can also discover who they are and where they come from here through a quick click below.
You are never too old to enjoy a picturebook
Often, people associate picturebooks with childhood, and early childhood especially. However, many are simply a piece of art any adults can truly enjoy. Picturebooks also a great way to slow down and reconnect with our inner child (so we can be curious and creative again!).
As a first step, we encourage you to simply go to a place where you can find picturebooks: a bookstore, a library, your own space. Find a set of 3 picturebooks
- One that focuses on something you enjoy doing: it could be about hiking, cooking, gardening.
- One that focuses on a difficult topic: grief, natural disaster, sickness
- One that is wordless
What do they all have in common to be attractive to you?
For instance, the wooden Fellows looked at a pop-up book. Mme Rigolotte talked about her memories about going to the circus last time she went to France, Maurice got scared of the clown, Petite Clothilde dreamed of flying with the little fairy who looked so real in 3D, and Pierre Qui Roule (and Boule de Poil) were fascinated by the horses.
Which wooden Fellows do you connect with the most today? Why? What about a young child?
Maurice's selection
Have you ever read any of the Elephant and Piggie series? Maurice spent some time with My Friend is Sad, by Mo Willems.
He was moved by Elephant’s sad face on the front cover. He needed to find out what was going on and see how he could help. A moving, yet quite funny, story about friendship.
What do you do when you simply miss a friend?
Maurice also picks After the Fall, by Dan Santat, telling how Humpty Dumpty, the famous nursery rhyme character “got back up again”. Starting from the fall, the author takes us through the process of recovering from an accident, not physically, but emotionally. Maurice could not put it down.
If you could have talked to Humpty Dumpty right after his fall, what would you have said?
Finally, Maurice decided to share When the Wind Came, by Andrews and Leung, touched by the story of a family having to take shelter as a tornado approaches.
Going through unsettling experiences as a young child can lead to childhood trauma. Talking informally about disasters through stories can help young children (and grown-ups!) cope in advance.
What difficult topic do you wish someone had talked to you about as a child?
Mme Rigolotte's selection
Mme Rigolotte stepped away library books, and went to a stack of old books her Human Friend had kept since her own childhood. And here she found one, all torn up for having been read too many times. Indeed, Il ne faut pas habiller les animaux* by Judy and Ron Barrett is still, to that day, one of her Human Friend’s favorite books.
Any torn books you still cherish?
*Animals should definitely not wear clothing
From the library few days later, Mme Rigolotte brought to the Petit Refuge The Wall in the Middle of the Book, by Jon Agee. What an intriguing title, she thought, and read it to the Bouilles. Picturebook mixing book features and stories can open the door to so many discussions, like this one with the first half of the story on one side of the book, or the wall, shall we say, and the other half on the other side. So here they were, Mme Rigolotte and the Bouilles, sharing a lovely time.
Who is the person (or who are the people!) you enjoy reading books to/with? If you have not done it in a while, grab a picturebook, grab a friend, and give it a try!
Finally, Mme Rigolotte, looking for more books mixing story and book features, found Here is a book by Elisha Cooper.
The watercolor illustrations are beautiful, and the pages provide a great example of the process of publishing a book, and how the author’s ideas come to life.
What book would you like to write?
Petite Clothilde's selection
Petite Clothilde read on her own A Parade Of Elephants by Kevin Henkes.
Not that she is into elephants (she is not a Mousse Mousse like Pierre Qui Roule!), but she was drawn to the book’s cover, its pale colors, and the watercolor drawing. Her Human Friend loved the connection to mathematics throughout, with numbers, spatial sense and patterns to notice. You never know what a book may bring!
What is the next one you picked a book by its cover, and you were completely taken by surprise?
Petite Clothilde read Night on the Sand by Monica Mayper and illustrated by Jaime Kim, a story of two siblings taking their first step as refugees.
A hopeful book to gently discuss such a heartbreaking topic.
What do you remember being told as a child about refugees? What would you wish you had heard?
Finally, Petite Clothilde read Harriet Gets Carried Away, by Jessie Sima.
Something that Petite Clothilde enjoyed in new picturebooks is noticing how diverse the world we live in. And here is the story about Harriet, who happened to be raised by two dads. Nothing about their story, just including a family structure that may be different from what our society elevates.
What is one topic you would like to find in a picturebook?
Pierre Qui Roule's selection
Pierre Qui Roule read More than a tree, by Sarah Kurpiel, but had to read it with Maurice to help him cope.
The story is about a huge oak tree that had to be cut down as it got too old and fragile. But trees hold so many memories, it is hard to let them go!
What tree do you associate with a special time?
Pierre Qui Roule also selected A Funny Little Bird, by Jennifer Yerkes, the story of a bird that is so white, that you cannot see it on the page.
He loved the concept, the sparseness of words, meaning that readers can add their own story and details as they explore the book.
What would you do if you were invisible?
A motivation to read some more!
We shared a printable to record some thoughts as you explore picturebooks with our Fellow-ers: the title, the authors and illustrators, and things you like about it. But in order to continue to nurture your imagination and your art of slowing down, we included two prompts: record the reason you read it – did you select it on your own, or was it recommended? And extend the story: you are done reading, you close the book, now close your eyes and use your imagination: What may come next?
Add a comment if you would like the pdf!
Wrapping up
Picturebooks are indeed the perfect tool to be a kid for a moment.
Please share with the wooden Fellows any of your favorites! They are always listeing!
