The world really is a wonderful place, if we just decide to get beyond ourselves and see it. Huynh Kim Lien, NY: Make Me A World, 2021). Round it out with the lush adventure of a child in Vietnam on his own eager and expectant hero journey down the Mekong River, My First Day (Phung Nguyen Quang illus. Viviane Schwarz, about an egg who is convinced she is the only thing in the world (and thus the entire world is only about her) until she pecks her way free and excitedly ventures forth to discover what wonders the world will bring.

The illustrations are warm acrylics and digital painting, with textured photos of woven wool blankets as endpapers. The second person narrator includes us all, telling us we are loved, that we must be careful, that we must go forth, that we are not alone, that we are a “bright star inside our hearts.” Peppered with Spanish, the story could also read as about border migration in all its varied levels of risk and meaning the rhythmic words beat as a chant of encouragement and hope. A fawn is born and takes her first steps, into light that is bright and beautiful. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world, and it starts at the very beginning. NY: Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, 2021. You’ll be hooked, so be sure to also snag her Moon Pops (Berkeley, CA: Owlkids Books, 2021), a twist on a traditional Korean folktale in which the moon begins to melt away. Baek is a stupendous artist and storyteller. He talks to his dog, his father, even his passed-away grandmother. Tong Tong’s facial expressions are molded into incredible expressions of joy and shock. The sofa would really, really like the remote removed from her sides because she is starting to ache.

In Magic Candies, Tong Tong looks for some marbles and ends up with candies, candies that allow him to hear the secret words of whatever and whomever. She is a meticulous miniaturist and collage artist, and creates whole quirky environments that feel like film sets to tell her stories. With thirteen titles under her belt in her native South Korea, this is her first picture book translated into English, and it is magnificent. Baek is the 2020 winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and amazingly, deservedly, so.

The Sea by Piret Raud