20 of the Most Beautiful Picture Books (in my personal collection)

I was intrigued the other day when I found a post called  20 Of The Most Beautiful Children's Books In The World.   Since I love picture books I had to check it out.  I owned several of the books, but there were also books I had never seen before.  Amazon here I come!  There were also books I felt belonged on the list that were missing.  So I thought...why not share with my readers my picks for the 20 Most Beautiful Picture Books?  Now, I have not finished building my picture book collection, (and I don't think I ever will!) but of the 300+ books that I have right now, I have many beautiful ones that I would love to share with you!

I buy picture books for all kinds of reasons, so if your favorite book is not here do not fear, I may still have it in my collection.  I buy picture books for the beauty of the art and the beauty of the story.  I buy them for the whimsy of the characters or the fun of the layout.  I buy the classics because they remind me of my childhood.  And I buy books from illustrators who are brand new to the scene because of their fresh take on visual storytelling.  But I have to admit, being an artist, I almost always buy them for their art:)  I also have many picture books in my collection that have been withdrawn from school or public libraries for one reason or another (you can see the tags on some of them in the picture below).  I cherish those because of the number of little hands and eyes that have enjoyed the stories and art. 

So here are the 20 Most Beautiful Picture Books (in my personal collection).  I hope you find a new one to add to your own collection!

ROW 1:
1.   Yatandou, by Gloria Whelan, illustrated by Peter Sylvada
2.   Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies
3.   Journey, by Aaron Becker
4.   The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg
5.   Der Baum der Erinnerung (Translated:  The Memory Tree), by Britta Teckentrup

ROW 2:
6.   The Umbrella, by Ingrid & Dieter Schubert
7.   The Fox and the Crow, by Manasi Subramaniam, illustrated by Culpeo S. Fox
8.   A Blue So Blue, by Jean-Francois Dumont
9.   14 Cows For America, by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
10. The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick

ROW 3:
11.  Keats's Neighborhood, by Ezra Jack Keats
12.  The Star People - A Lakota Story, by S.D. Nelson
13.  Moses - When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Nadir Nelson
14.  A Redwall Winter's Tale, by Brian Jacques, illustrated by Christopher Denise
15.  The Wind In The Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Robert Ingpen

ROW 4:
16.  The Red Tree, by Shaun Tan
17.  Flora and the Flamingo, by Molly Idle
18.  Fire on the Mountain, by Jane Kurtz, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
19.  Great Joy, by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bigram Ibatoulline
20.  Little Elephants, by Graeme Base

Tell me, what picture books you consider most beautiful?  I would love to add them to my collection!