My New Year's resolution this year was easy.

Last year I read close to 800 books - picture books, non-fiction and novels for children and teens. I've been serving on the Notable Children's Book Committee for the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.

It's been fun - and a lot of work.

So this year, I pledge to read more pictures. Don't get me wrong. I love words and the images they conjure. But the books that truly amaze me are picture books. Often I pick up a familiar picture book and find something new in the pictures.

Some of the best picture books are almost totally wordless.

Press Here by Herve Tullet came early in the year. This clever picture book for babies whose parents play with "apps" makes anyone who picks it up smile as they press the yellow dot and manipulate the pages. It almost makes you think you really are in charge.

Another board book is What Do You See? by Martine Perrin. Framed by primary colors, patterns in the cutouts lead to a new image as the page turns.

Who would think that a dot could show emotion, but I swear the dot in Dot by Patricia Intriago does. Each double-page spread has a dot, plus its opposite. For example, just by changing the position of a speck of color, it goes from "Hurt dot" to "Heal dot." O.K. - you have to see it to believe it.

Kevin Henkes has done it again with Little White Rabbit. He uses a soft palette of green, a little pink, tints of blue and, of course, white for the bunny, in a gentle exploration of curiosity and assurance that mama's love is constant.

Without You by Genevieve Cole also features a bunny, this time with a pig. Best friends, they argue, but then realize things just aren't the same "without you." All this is told using just six to 10 words per page and some very expressive pictures.

Mine by Shutta Crum has just that one word. The story is all told by the pictures. I fell in love with this joyous and mischievous baby.

Nathan Clement's Job Site stands in bold contrast. Bright, computer-generated construction workers and big machines provide lots of detail to study.

Let's Look at Dinosaurs, a flip-the-flap book by Frances Barry, will also prompt questions. Each oversized creature is accompanied by a question: "I wonder why...." A simple answer, appropriate for the youngest paleontologist, is hidden under the sturdy flap. More information is included in a smaller font, so the adult reader can stay ahead of the preschool questioner.

Inviting us to look at the city with fresh eyes, Matt Beam's photos in City Numbers draw our attention to numbers all around us - on the side of a dumpster, in a store window, painted on a playground, on a utility box. Looking for numbers has become a game we play with the kids in our lives.

Similarly, Paul Thurlby's Alphabet plays with the form of each letter. From A is for Awesome to Z is for Zip, each letter embodies the word. My favorite is E for Embrace-with two e's locked in a three-armed hug.

Laetitia Devernay's creation is totally wordless. But read the pictures and hear the music as The Conductor makes the trees rustle, whirl and swirl in a celebration of renewal and life.

RRRALPH by Lois Ehlert is about her talking dog who answers her questions appropriately with words like "ROOF"and "BARK." Her pictures - cut paper and found objects collages - provide expressive details. Ehlert's collage style is equally successful at imparting information in Ten Little Caterpillars. The factual visual details bring new meaning to the text which Bill Martin Jr. wrote in 1967 as a simple counting book.

Speaking of resolutions, Get Happy by Malachy Doyle is full of suggestions like "Squable less. Share more!" and "Worry less. Wonder more!" Good advice for another year of good reading - words or not.

So join me. Read some picture books. The library has shelves full of them, if you need ideas. They will startle and surprise you, make you laugh, make you think, make you smile. And it's a much easier resolution to keep than giving up chocolate or coffee, exercising daily, eating healthy or getting plenty of sleep.

Patty Carleton is director of youth services at St. Louis Public Library. She has been a librarian at the library since she earned her master's in library science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1989. You can email her at news@stlmomsanddads.com.