A Superhero Dog Pack, a Clueless Birthday Cake, and an Artist Who Can Only Draw Worms: 20 New and Notable Picture Books

I Can Only Draw Worms, by Will Mabbitt
Never has there been a book with a more charmingly on-the-nose title. As the title declares, Mabbitt is indeed a picture book author who can only draw worms. Somehow, this is enough to create a very strange, totally hilarious book about counting. Mabbitt introduces ten worms, each of which look pretty much the same. One worm thinks he’s the boss, another worm is feeling sick, but both are wriggly and pink. Readers will love giggling about the author’s limited artistic skills as they count along.

Birds, by Carme Lemniscates
As Carme Lemniscates reminds us in her latest picture book, the skies are filled with birds of all sizes and colors. There are large birds like eagles and small ones like hummingbirds. There are showy birds like peacocks and shy ones like owls. Some birds sing “sweet and tender songs” that sound like “the loving words of a friend.” Birds is a thoughtful celebration of our feathery friends in the sky, one which delights in nature and urges readers to do the same.

Cake, by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet
Cake is so excited. He’s just been invited to a party. But what to wear? Cake tries on feather boas, capes, masks, and pirate costumes. Nothing feels quite right. In the end, Cake settles on something classic: candles and frosting.

Clackety Track: Poems about Trains, by Skila Brown and Jamey Christoph
There’s something about trains. Those who love them, really love them. This seems to be especially true of young train enthusiasts. Kids who love trains want to know everything they can about them. If that’s your kid, Skila Brown’s Clackety Track will be a welcome addition to your picture book library.

Steel Drums (Made by Hand), by Patricia Lakin and Glenn Rowsey
Lakin’s Steel Drums is a compelling tribute to one of the world’s most unique instruments. A relatively recent invention, the steel drum is the only “nonelectric instrument… created in the twentieth century.” Much of the book focuses on the history, cultural impact, and craftsmanship of the steel drum. Readers will learn about Ellie Mannette, the Father of the Modern Steel Drum. Mannette built the first concave steel drum in Trinidad when he was just 19. Readers will also get incredibly detailed lessons on how to shape, cut, buff, and tune steel drums.

B Is for Baby, by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank
Atinuke’s B is for Baby tells the story of a young stowaway. Set in West Africa, a baby hidden in her brother’s bike basket watches as the world flies by. She sees many things that start with the letter b. There are bananas, baobab trees, birds, baboons, buses and bridges. It isn’t until her brother reaches his destination, that baby is discovered inside the basket. Atinuke’s enchanting picture book concludes with a recap of the things baby saw on her journey.

The Night Flower: The Blooming of the Saguaro Cactus, by Lara Hawthorne
Lara Hawthorne’s picture book focuses on the magic of desert wildlife. On one night each year the saguaro cactus blooms with strong-scented white flowers. Creatures of all kinds await the blooming of the cactus. There are birds, butterflies, squirrels, bats, and lizards. The Night Flower takes place over a single day in the Sonoran Desert, where the saguaro cactus is a native plant. Hawthorne completes the book with engaging infographics that detail key features of the plant as well as its life cycle.

Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish, by Beth Ferry and Tom Lichtenheld
This is definitely a favorite new picture book release. On one hand, Ferry and Lichtenheld’s birthday rules are fairly straightforward. It must be your birthday, there must be singing and you must close your eyes when you make a wish. But within each rule, there are endless silly caveats. For example, balloons are a must unless you are a rhinoceros, swordfish, or “pointy in any way” as pointy creatures tend to pop balloons. And it must be your birthday unless “your life cycle is a month, a week, or sniff, sniff, only a single day.” In that case, the authors urge you to “celebrate immediately!” Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish is a wonderfully funny and immensely inventive picture book. Highly recommended.

A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon, by Suzanne Slade and Veronica Miller Jamison
As anyone who has seen the movie Hidden Figures knows, Katherine Johnson led an incredible life. She was a math prodigy who skipped grades and began attending high school at 10. She worked at NASA as a computer, calculating the flight paths of some of the most important space missions of all time. Suzanne Slade’s work is the perfect picture book tribute to a woman who helped put humans in space and on the moon.

Noah Builds an Ark, by Kate Banks and John Rocco
In a modern retelling of the classic Bible story, Kate Banks recasts Noah as a young boy living in the city. The boy and his family are preparing for a giant storm. While Noah’s parents board up the house and gather supplies, he builds a miniature ark for birds, insects, and rodents. Using a little red wagon and a few planks of wood, Noah creates a safe haven for the small creatures. The ark keeps the animals safe while Noah and his family wait out the storm inside. Once the storm passes, a rainbow stretches across the sky.

The Cat Who Lived with Anne Frank, by David Lee Miller, Steven Jay Rubin and Elizabeth Baddeley
It’s difficult to imagine how a picture book could depict the tragedy of Anne Frank’s life. But somehow, David Lee Miller and Stephen Jay Rubin are able to tell Anne’s story in a way that was both accurate and appropriate for its audience. The book is told from the perspective of Mouschi, a cat who lived with Anne. Mouschi describes living in the secret annex with Anne and seven others, cramped into a hidden space behind a bookcase. The cat watches as Anne writes in her diary, and peaks through curtains at the Black Spider soldiers. At the end of the book, Mouschi dreams that Anne’s words and “kind and gentle spirit” will light up “the world forever.”

Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope, by Mara Rockliff and Zosia Dzierzawska
Rockliff tells the little-known story of Leyzer Zamenhof, a Polish-Jewish boy who grew up surrounded by many languages. Zamenof longed to create a language that would be understood by all people. Zamenof studied many languages and decided that his new language would built on the similarities between languages. In this way, Zamenof designed Esperanto, a new tongue that would speak to the world. Though there have been other constructed languages before and since, Esperanto remains the most widely spoken.

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems, by Paul B. Janeczko and Richard Jones
Though they may vary in tone and subject, each poem in this collection is fantastically first-rate. The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog is a compilation of how-to poems which include instructions on how to tell goblins from elves, how to be a snowflake, how to build a poem, and how to say a prayer. Contributors include authors past and present such as Kwame Alexander, Robert Louis Stevenson, Margarita Engle, and Christina Rossetti.

Beware of the Crocodile, by Martin Jenkins and Satoshi Kitamura
Crocodiles are terribly dangerous. They have about a zillion pointy teeth and are surprisingly fast. They attack their prey with quick lunges and gigantic splashes. But, as Martin Jenkins proves, there’s “more to crocodiles than SPLASH, snap, twirl, swallow.”

Angry Cookie, by Laura Dockrill and Maria Karipidou
Angry Cookie does not want you to read his book. By opening the book, the reader has invaded Cookie’s space. Calling the reader a “nosy noodle,” the angry treat insists again and again that the reader stop reading. Readers will adore disobeying Cookie.

Poetree, by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds and Shahrzad Maydani
Sylvia, a young girl inspired by spring, writes a poem and ties it to a birch tree. The next day, there’s a new poem on the tree. Has the tree written back?

Smile: How Young Charlie Chaplin Taught the World to Laugh (and Cry), by Gary Golio and Ed Young
Gary Golio has authored many picture books about famous artists. Some of his subjects include Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, and Jimi Hendrix. In his latest picture book, Golio focuses on one of the silent era’s greatest stars, Charlie Chaplin.

Superpower Dogs, by Cosmic
Superpower Dogs has one of the craziest picture book covers I’ve ever seen. There’s a dog surfing, a dog leaping through the clouds, and another dog barreling down a mountain. It’s a lot, but I love it!

Baby Day, by Jane Godwin, Davina Bell, and Freya Blackwood
It’s baby’s birthday and it’s time to celebrate with a bunch of baby friends. At the party there are all kinds of babies. There are strong babies, lazy babies, dancing babies, and even twin babies. If you’re hunting for a picture book featuring adorable babies in endless silly poses, look no further. Baby Day is the book for you!

The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle, by David Litchfield
The follow-up to The Bear and the Piano, Litchfield’s latest introduces a new animal musician—Hugo, a fiddle-playing dog. When the book begins, Hugo is merely a fan of music. It’s his best friend Hector who plays the fiddle. But when Hector retires, Hugo misses the melodies. The dog takes to the fiddle.