My best of 2020 | Picture Books

[ my image - South Wales December 2019 ]

I've reviewed and shared a lot of books this year.  Here, I'm going to pick out a selection of the best.  I'm not going to review them all over again for this, instead I'm going to share the brilliant cover illustrations.  You can find full reviews for all of these either on @allaboutstories on Facebook or here on the blog in my "What I read" posts from February, April, June, August and October.

I've picked this selection for several reasons.  Firstly, the climate crisis which we need to convey to our littlest citizens and future leaders, in a caring, kind way.  And this has been done in several picture books this year, including The Last Tree by Emily Haworth-Booth (Pavilion), The Blue Giant  by Katie Cottle (Pavilion books) and The Green Giant by Katie Cottle (Pavilion Books), We are all Greta, Be Inspired to Save the World by Valentina Giannella and illustrated by Manuela Marazzi (Laurence King).

Secondly, the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly been a big part of all our lives and has affected us all in many and varied ways, including the littlest children, some of whom were born in the midst if it all.  So I have chosen some books that deal with issues such as mental health and loss, in a careful, empathetic way.  These include Where is Uncle Al? by Eva Hibbs and Sarah Harrison (Action for Children), ABC of feelings by Bonnie Lui (Trigger), Puppy in my head by Elise Gravel (Trigger), the Battle by Ashling Kwok and Cara King (Exisle books), and The wolf that was not sleeping by Avril MacDonald and Tatiana Miller (Crown House)

Thirdly, the lockdown caused by the pandemic, allowed many of us to reconnect with the outdoors and to discover the benefits of the natural world.  So this little selection is about being outdoors and appreciating it in new ways.  Reclaim Early Childhood The philosophy, psychology and practice of Steiner-Waldorf Early years  by Sebastian and Tamara Suggate, Bear in the stars by Alexis Snell (Penguin Random House, Puffin Books, look out for the full review on the blog on 31st December), Leap hare leap! by Dom Conlon and Anastasia Izlesou (Graffeg, look out for the full review on the blog on 31st December), and Let's play outdoors by Carla McRae and Catherine Ard (Little Gestalten).

The last few books are especially for me and those I know.  Dilwyn the Welsh dragon by Samuel Langley-Swain and Jessica Rose (Owlet Press, see the full review here on the blog on 31st December) reminds me of holidays three times a year to Wales to visit family, and we missed this immensely this year.  The Pocket Chaotic by Ziggy Hanaor and Daniel Gray-Barnett (Cicada, see the full review here on the blog on 31st December) because I know lots of Mums just like the kangaroo Mum, and I want to tell them that they are doing an amazing job.  And finally Nimesh the Adventurer by Ranjit Singh and Mehrdokht Amini (Lantana) because he has such an amazing imagination like all of the little ones that we work with.

The following publishers must be thanked, I am extremely grateful for them giving me the opportunity to see and review some of the best picture books for children out there.

Graffeg - @graffegbooks (fb and insta), www.graffeg.com, graffeg_books (twitter)
Little Gestalten - @littlegestalten @gestaltennews @gestalten
Trigger - @TriggerPub
Laurence King - @LaurenceKingPub @lkpchildrens
Hawthorn Press - @HawthornPressUK
Exisle Books - @ExisleBooks

Crown House Publishing - @CrownHousePub
Pavilion Books - @PavilionBooks @PavilionKidsBks (twitter) @PavilionBooks (FB) @pavilionchildrens (instagram)
Cicada Books - @cicadabooks

Penguin Randon House - @PenguinUKBooks - PRH - @PuffinBooks (fb/twitter) @puffinbooksuk(insta)
@PuffinBooks - puffin

Lantana Publishing - @lantanapublishing (facebook), @lantanapub (twitter)

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