By Cyrisse Jaffee

Three new picture books offer help for kids wanting to be perfect, giving feedback, and finding your place in the world.

Not Perfect by Maya Myers. Pictures by Hyewon Yum. Holiday House, 2024

Don’t Ask Cat by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Albert Whitman & Co., 2024

Desert Song by Laekan Zea Kemo. Illustrations by Beatriz Gutiérrez Hernández. Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, 2024

The main character in Not Perfect is Dot, a little girl with her hair gathered up in a messy bun. She is good at a lot of things. But the rest of her family is perfect at doing this or that. Dot desperately wants to be perfect at something. She tries making cupcakes, a goal at soccer, and a song on the piano — all good, but not perfect. When she decides to draw a picture of her best friend Sam (who is also sort of perfect) for a school project, she is so frustrated that she cries “mad tears.” To her surprise, Sam’s picture of her isn’t, in fact, perfect. “A person I admire,” says Sam, “is my friend Dot, because she is brave, she is funny, and she never, ever stops trying.” Encouraged, Dot shares her picture of Sam, which she has made with all the tiny pieces she previously tore up. He likes it and together they admire each other’s efforts.

While the message of the book is obvious — you don’t have to be perfect, just try your best — it’s told in a completely relatable and reassuring manner, with pencil illustrations that capture Dot’s emotional ups and downs. And it’s nice to see how friends can validate you, even when your family might be a little oblivious.

It’s important to be honest, of course. But can you ever be too honest? In Don’t Ask Cat, we meet Cat, who “is always quick to say what’s on his mind.” Sometimes, his remarks sting. Pig’s new outfit is “ridiculous.” His friends’ ballgame is boring, a new baby “stinks like poop!” and so on. Soon, “no one wants to be around Cat.” A little bird suggests that he “slow down and look closer” before he responds. This helps Cat thread the thin (and often tricky) line between honesty and tact, a much-needed social skill that young kids often have a hard time learning. Luckily, Cat is a fast learner.

Cocca-Leffler, who has written over 70 books for kids, uses brightly colored and lively illustrations, plus simple, large-type text, to convey the book’s message. Kids will understand Cat’s dilemma instantly and may find the little bird’s advice helpful in their own lives. It’s an ideal read-aloud book for laps or preschool classrooms, and adults may be surprised at the discussions it provokes.

A sense of belonging is so important for kids to feel good about themselves and others. With painterly illustrations and poetic text, Desert Song describes how family traditions keep us anchored in a big, wide world. The sun may rule the desert, but when night comes, “so do the coyotes, the cicadas, and the giant barn owls. They howl and buzz and hoot — a chorus in need of a band.” So the family joins in: Uncle Eduardo taps his hands on his “dusty jeans”; Aunt Ofelia plays the ocarina (flute), “calling down the wind”; cousin Thiago beats a hand drum; sister Esme shakes the maracas; Grandfather plays el güiro (percussion); Grandma plays the vihuela (guitar), teaching our young narrator along the way. Father hums and Mami sings.

Each musician mimics and echoes the sounds of nature all around them and evokes the family’s past with the instruments they play and the songs they sing. “We play to the glittering sky overhead,” says the narrator, “an audience of our ancestors.”

Each stunning spread is saturated in color and imagery — animals, insects, ancestors, moonlight, a stormy sky. The vivid sense of place and the deep colors enhance the book’s tone of contemplation coupled with joyfulness. One of the author’s goals in writing stories is to celebrate “Chicane grit, resilience, and creativity.” Here she does that memorably, expressing the love, unity, and warmth of a family who are “in tune” with the world around them and with each other. Set in the Southwest, the book occasionally uses Spanish words that are not defined in the text or a glossary. If these words are unfamiliar, you can expand your own cultural knowledge as you look up their meanings.

Cyrisse Jaffee is a former children’s and YA librarian, children’s book editor, and a creator of educational materials for WGBH. She holds a master’s degree in Library Science from Simmons College and lives in Newton, MA.