We are pleased that a variety of publishers’ imprints are represented on our annual Best Books for Babies list. For the 2022 list, however, one publisher is particularly well represented.

Orca Book Publishers, an independently owned Canadian publisher, has three very different books on the 2022 list. City Baby, The Night Is Deep and Wide, and My Heart Beats. Although all are board books, one features colorful collage style illustrations, one is mostly black and white pictures and the third showcases photographs of babies and their loving caregivers.

Another Canadian press, Greystone Kids, appears for the first time this year with We All Play= kimêtawânaw by Julie Flett. A beautiful bi-lingual picture book with spare, stylized illustrations, this is a title babies can enjoy that will engage older listeners as well.

Since the first Best Books for Babies list in 2000, more than two dozen titles from Candlewick Press have been selected. So it’s no surprise that books published by Candlewick are on the list once again. In Baby, Sleepy Baby by Atinuke a loving family cuddles a smiling infant. Goodnight Everyone by Chris Haughton, a brightly colored board book, features simply drawn animals in a gently humorous bedtime tale.

It’s been a while since a book by the perennially popular Sandra Boynton has been on our list. She’s back this year with Jungle Night, published by Workman. It’s a funny catalog of sleeping animals and the snorts, whistles and wheezes they make. A downloadable read-aloud version, with music by Yo-Yo Ma, is a charming bonus.

Child’s Play Books often illustrate familiar rhymes and songs. That’s the case again this year, as engaging groups of diverse and adorable babies share the fun of If You’re Happy and You Know It! and Pop a Little Pancake! These efforts ensure that contemporary families have the opportunity to enjoy traditional rhyming games and songs.

Check out the complete list of this year’s Best Books for Babies or browse previous lists here.