@ebrown p,
with no kids of my own, i'm thing back to when i was a kid(i was also a young reader, but that was well over 40 years ago)
some more faves
Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston, Massachusetts.
Blueberries for Sal (1948) is a children's picture book by Caldecott Medal-winning author Robert McCloskey.
The book deals with Little Sal, who is going blueberry picking with her mother. The story is of a little girl Sal and her mother as they go out into the country to pick blueberries for winter, and a bear and his mother as they go to eat berries for winter from the other side of the same hill. Set in a small town in Maine this picture book piece that uses a single dark blue color and block printing for the illustrations.
Paddle-to-the-Sea is a 1941 children's book, written and illustrated by American author and artist Holling C. Holling. It was recognized as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1942.
At Lake Nipigon, Canada, a boy carves a wooden model of an Indian in a canoe and sets it free to travel the Great Lakes to the Atlantic ocean. The story follows the progress of the little wooden Indian on its journey through all five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. People carve in the bottom of the boat where he has been and then they put him in the water again