While not all of these picture books were published in 2021, they are newer titles (published within the last 5 years or so) and are stand-out books based on artwork, humor, theme or general story. Here are my favorites of 2021 in no particular order!
One day, a strange red ball falls into the garden. "What is it?", the vegetables ask. It's decided that the red ball is an alien tomato but Ground Hog isn't convinced.
Although this book has too much dialogue for me to pull off during a storytime, it's too cute not to share. This book is an attention-grabber on the display shelf
While on a Subway train, young Milo observes the people around him.
Who are the other passengers? Where are they coming from? Where do they go once they leave the Subway station? Milo imagines what what their lives are like.
This is a story about not judging other based on appearances.
3. Randy, The Badly Drawn Horse by T. L. McBeth
This book makes me SO happy because one of my take-aways was a message about self-inflicted insults, which is a personal pet peeve.
The story is simple but the message does it for me!
4. One Red Sock by Jennifer Sattler
This short book goes through different colors and because it rhymes, kids can guess what color sock she will try on before turning the page. That makes this a good choice to include in a storytime if you enjoy opportunities for kids to interact with you while reading!
In the back of the book, Sattler explains a connection to the story of perseverance.
This could be used in a toddler storytime as well.
5. Nesting by Henry Cole
Black and white line drawing, sparsely accompanied by robin's egg blue. Henry Cole's illustrations are always impressive and so true to nature.
Nesting goes through the process of bird life, beginning with a male and female robin laying eggs, guarding the nest against predators, taking care of the babies and them leaving the nest.
If looking to read/teach about seasons of the year, I would recommend reading this.
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When Bear wakes up from his hibernation, he can't remember what type of animal he is!
Is he a bird? A fox? A moose?!
The text of this short rhyming book sings off the page! 
7. Every Little Letter by Deborah Underwood
Every letter has their own city. Each city is surrounded by walls and many letters live in each city.
The walls were built to protect the letters but when a little "h" finds an opening in the wall, he meets a little "i". They want to be friends, even though they live in separate cities.
Despite what the other H's say, little h is is determined to be little i's friend. And soon, they want to be friends with all the other letters of the alphabet.
This will appeal to beginning readers who'll enjoy finding words in the illustrations. It also has a good theme about togetherness.
🦇 LAUGH OUT LOUD ALERT 🦇
When Bat loses his home, he decides to move into Squirrel's home. Squirrel doesn't want Bat to live with her. Because they have different sleep patterns, they can only communicate by leaving notes for each other which are continuously misread, which is where the humor lies.
This book has a strong message of the importance of good communication. Also, making new friends despite differences.
It's a quiet afternoon on the farm. Or it would be if Duck wasn't running and yelling!
Duck continues to rush around and scream "DUCK!" to all the other farm animals would agree with Duck that yes, he is a duck.
His fellow farm animals are getting very frustrated with him when they realize that Duck has been trying to tell them something else entirely!
I won't spoil this one for you but I will say this: After I read this, I went back and paid more attention to the illustrations.
10. No Hugs! by Deirdre A. Prischman
Alice loves hugs. Zara doesn't.
In No Hugs!, the two girls are find a compromise to show they care for each other in a way that makes them both comfortable.
This book is perfect for starting up conversations about consent and boundaries with little ones.
The artwork is simple and little readers will easily see the emotions of Alice and Zara as Alice repeatedly asks for hugs.
I would recommend this to counselors, preschool teachers and anyone working with littles.
11. Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings
Arfy is a street dog, ready to find a family and he knows just who he wants - the Honeywell's.
He writes a letter to the family asking, "can I be your dog?" When they respond to his letter and explain how they can't help him, Arfy sends a letter to a different family.
And then another and another and another, as none of the families on his street can take him in. It has a happy ending though.
Similar to The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, this book is written through a series of letters.
Illustrations are eye catching and colorful. Read this in a storytime and my kids loved it!
12. I Am A Tiger by Karl Newson
A delusional little mouse thinks he is a tiger.
His friends, Raccoon, Fox and Snake attempt to convince Mouse that he is a mouse and not a tiger: Mouse doesn't have stripes, is not ferocious and does not climb. Mouse has responses to all of their arguments and is not swayed.
Soon, a real tiger comes along who also tries to set the record straight, Mouse still stands firm in his beliefs.
When Mouse goes to lunch he sees his reflection and comes to a different realization.
Bold, colorful, simple illustrations. This is a very good read aloud for groups if you're concerned about everyone being able to see the pictures.
13. Pop! by Karen Kilpatrick
Otto is super excited for Pop Day - the day where he leaves his jar and goes to the microwave, where he'll become popcorn.
The moment arrives and suddenly, all his friends are popping. Everyone is transforming from kernel to popcorn except for him.
When Otto makes friends with other kernels who also never popped, he learns that it is okay to not be like the others.
Similar to Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus.
14. This Is A Taco! by Andrew Cangelose
Do you like squirrel facts?
Yes? Read on. No? Read on anyway.
This book begins with our narrator giving facts about squirrels like an easy reader expository nonfiction. On the other side of the spread, is a squirrel named Taco who is reacting to the facts.
Over the course of the story, Taco continues to react to the facts and is even able to change some facts so he is able to eat tacos.
It's a cute, silly book. And like others, it's only 30 pages, but I wouldn't have been upset if it were longer.
15. The Day Punctuation Came To Town
What a neat book to introduce and define punctuation!
The Punctuation family have just moved to town and the kids are about to start a new school.
Exclamation Mark, Period and Question Mark fit in well with the letters at school but Comma feels left out. All Comma does is slow things down and get in the way.
But when the letters begin to get too jumbled up, they discover how important Comma is and she learns where she belongs.
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