When life’s got you down and you’re in a tough spot, who you gonna call—Ghostbusters? Maybe Batman? Or perhaps Wonder Woman? No way. Make your appeal, instead, to the Emergency Kittens! Mimi, Twee-Twee and Adorbs are three dainty, dauntless, daredevil cats with starry eyes, colorful capes and a superpower purr that is totally irresistible. 

Author Jody Jensen Shaffer (Prudence the Part-Time Cow) and illustrator Dave Mottram (Wordy Birdy) have teamed up to create a winning, child-pleasing combo: superheroes and fuzzy kittens. In this Batman-meets-Fluffy tale of rescue, the Emergency Kittens bound off the page and come out victorious.

When Sheldon’s basketball gets away from him at the playground, a group of kids nabs it and starts a game of keep-away. Nearby human superheroes show up in a flash and try their best to make things right. They move bulldozers, leap in the air and tie themselves in knots, but their efforts to obtain Sheldon’s ball are fruitless. If a half-dozen superheroes can’t help him, Sheldon wonders, who can?

Help soon arrives. Mimi, Twee-Twee and Adorbs pounce to the playground, rocking their soft fur and sparkly capes. They attempt their usual antics before opening their big eyes wide and purring their superpowered purrs. Who could resist? The mean kids play with the kittens and never notice Sheldon’s ball rolling back to him.

So the next time you drop your ice-cream cone, get a bad haircut or get stuck up a tree—have no fear. The Emergency Kittens will save the day!

Over the years, an old farm truck falls into disrepair and disuse. But the truck isn’t forgotten by the farmer’s daughter, who grows up to become a skilled farmer herself and dreams of a new kind of adventure. 

The Old Truck, the debut picture book from brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, is an instant classic, updating tried and true picture book themes for a diverse modern audience. With both Pumphrey brothers acting as author and illustrator, the result is seamless storytelling through both pictures and words. Their stamped artwork is visually distinctive, with bold shapes in mellow yet colorful tones. 

The Old Truck contains no dialogue, and even the narration is restrained, almost austere in its simplicity. The story is all the more remarkable for it. Using plain, accessible language, the Pumphreys personify the truck as its exhaustion reflects that of the farmer, and its own story comes full circle. Time passes gently; seasons change, wildflowers bloom, trees grow larger, baskets overflow with the harvest, and buildings quietly age.

You’ll love everything about The Old Truck, but my favorite part is how calmly and clearly the book conveys contemporary ethical messages that other picture books frantically, sometimes ploddingly, strive to achieve. It’s all there: strong, unwavering, capable women; local farm-to-market sensibility; and the importance of repairing and recycling what we have for the next generation. 

Sorry, other books, but it’s going to take a lot to beat The Old Truck to the top of my 2020 list.

Years ago, Susan Cooper wrote a beloved poem that has remained a mainstay of John Langstaff’s phenomenal theatrical production Christmas Revels, performed each year across the country (see it if you can!). Now transformed into a picture book, The Shortest Day is a joyful and timeless celebration of the winter solstice that will surely become a classic.

Even very young children will enjoy Cooper’s splendid, stately words: “And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world / Came people singing, dancing, / To drive the dark away.” The multitalented, Caldecott Honor-winning Carson Ellis (Du Iz Tak?) is the perfect illustrator for this project, using muted colors to accentuate the changing interplay between the sun and surrounding darkness. Beginning with a scene of prehistoric people and a godlike sun figure walking the earth, Ellis echoes the sweep of ages so prevalent in Cooper's poem, showing a progression of people and homes, ending with a modern house and children. In a helpful author’s note, Cooper explains both solstice celebrations and the evolution of her poem. In her words, “Welcome Yule!”

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story From the Border is a poignant story set at the wall separating Tijuana and San Diego.

Young María and her little brother are traveling with their mother by bus. Their destination is an annual day when Border Patrol officials allow groups of people to gather in an area called the enforcement zone to talk and touch fingertips with those on the other side of the border. María and her family are going to see their Abuela, whom they haven’t seen for five years. “For a moment,” María notes, “the fences are invisible”—until she realizes her brother can’t give Abuela the drawing he made for her.

Mitali Perkins’ story is a perfect introduction for children to how borders separate families, delicately embracing the reunion’s joy and enduring sadness. Sara Palacios’ illustrations cheerfully capture the love among separated families as well as the realities of the border wall.

This superb picture book is a holiday story that deserves to be a year-round read.

Collectors of Christmas tales mustn’t miss Dasher, Matt Tavares’ exhilarating chronicle of how Santa went from a single horse to a team of flying reindeer pulling his sleigh. Determined Dasher is the star of this show, escaping from a difficult life in a traveling circus and doggedly finding her way to the North Pole.

Tavares excels at Christmas stories (Red & Lulu, The Gingerbread Pirates), and young readers are apt to inhale every word of this yarn. As an illustrator, Tavares is a master of dramatic light, emotion and mood, as well as deep, vibrant color, whether he’s depicting Dasher’s family penned in at the circus or Santa’s sleigh magically lifting up into the air.

Dasher is sure to join the stacks of enduring Christmas favorites read by families year after year.

The font colors of the title on this book’s cover—monochromatic letters, save for the rainbow-hued letters in the word “gray”—gives readers an indication of the colorful adventure in store.

Two friends stare out the window on a snowy winter’s day, donning their coats, hats and earmuffs. “This day is so gray,” says the glass-half-empty girl, whose optimistic friend disagrees—and then proceeds, as they head outside, to point out all the colors of winter. There are actually “shining” blues in the puddles, she notes, as well as yellow rays of sunlight, “dots of orange” in flowers still blooming, “stomps of green” in the surviving grass underneath the snow and much more. The petulant friend, her brow often furrowed and arms sometimes crossed, stubbornly clings to a dimmer view of things, but when they head inside, her attitude seems to change, thanks to her friend’s sunny outlook.

At its core this story, told entirely in dialogue, is not just about gratitude. It’s about the virtues of slowing down to notice the world around us. In enumerating all the colors she sees in winter, the optimist is able to appreciate what nature has to offer and extend that gift to her friend. Illustrator Alea Marley’s colors pop off the page, particularly in the snowy outdoor spreads, and when the friends head inside, she builds a cozy, intimate world of soft pet cats, steaming cocoa and warm blankets.

“Boring” and bleak become colorful when it is beauty you seek.

It’s Saturday, and Ava and her mother are “all smiles.” Ava’s mother works every other day of the week, so this is their “cherished” day of adventure together, as evidenced by the marked-up calendars featured on the endpapers. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned: Storytime is canceled, and Ava’s mother discovers she has left their tickets to the puppet show at home.

This bighearted ode to parent-child bonding comes from Oge Mora, who was awarded a Caldecott Honor for 2018’s Thank You, Omu! Mora uses repetition to build excitement (“Today will be special. Today will be splendid. Today is SATURDAY!”), as well as to accentuate the book’s themes of togetherness and coping when things go awry. Both mother and daughter often pause to “let out a deep breath” when facing ruined plans. (“Whew!”)

Mother and daughter make for an indelible duo in Mora’s collage illustrations, dominated by cool turquoise, olive and teal hues offset by warm shades of pink. The two are such bodies in motion—the book’s page turns are compelled by curiosity at their next activity, and  “ZOOM!” becomes a refrain as they embark on each adventure—that when they slow down for a hug, it’s all the more touching. Tenderly, Ava tells her mother the day was still splendid because it was time spent with her.

Peek beneath the dust jacket for a scrapbook-style illustration of a photo of mother and daughter, complete with a white Polaroid-esque frame and pieces of tape. It’s clear that, although their plans for the day were thwarted, they formed memories that will last a lifetime. Zoom!

In Kevin Noble Maillard’s Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a family gathers to prepare a traditional Native American fry bread meal. For each step—mixing, frying and waiting—the bread represents an important aspect of their heritage. They may be making fry bread, but what they are truly creating is family, tradition and abiding pride in both.

Deftly illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, every page of Fry Bread is imbued with Native American history and culture. Echoes of ancient cave art, symbolic tattoos, handmade baskets and ceremonial designs tell a story of tradition. Family names (written by the illustrator’s children) and an image of the author’s aunt (who taught him to make fry bread) give Fry Bread an incredibly personal, cherished feel. Soft and subdued, Fry Bread is warm, inviting and uplifting.

Although Fry Bread’s narrative stands on its own, its message continues in a comprehensive author’s note. Over several pages, Maillard details the origins of fry bread as well as the complicated and often overlooked history of Native Americans in the United States. Maillard, who is an enrolled citizen of the Seminole Nation, also raises current issues, including health and medical care, racial diversity within today’s Native communities and the continuing struggle for recognition. With a list of additional references and resources, Fry Bread’s backmatter serves as an accessible resource tucked inside a children’s picture book.

Rich with smells and sounds, Fry Bread radiates with Native American pride, the sharing of traditions and the love of family.