At a time when the world seems both very distant from the United States, due to the current administration’s xenophobic foreign policy, it also seems closer than ever, due to the spread of Covid-19 around the globe. As the pandemic and climate change have made abundantly clear, our children are growing up in a world of porous borders, and inculcating in them an understanding of the myriad cultures that share our globe is an imperative. What better way to begin to do this than through a book that offers a peek into a sensibility from far away?

A number of our Best Picture Books of 2020 originated abroad, including There Must Be More Than That by Shinsuke Yoshitake, translated from the Japanese (Chronicle, Oct. 6); Migrants, a wordless book by Peruvian creator Issa Watanabe (Gecko Press, Oct. 6); and Letters From Bear by Gauthier David, illustrated by Marie Caudry and translated from the French by Sarah Ardizzone (Eerdmans, March 24). But there were so many more, so please join me in one more look.

From the Netherlands comes Little Wise Wolf by Gijs van der Hammen, illustrated by Hanneke Siemensma and translated by Laura Watkinson (Kids Can, Sept. 1). The titular lupine protagonist holes himself up in a little cottage in the forest, accumulating wisdom but rebuffing the questions of the neighboring animals. When the king summons Little Wise Wolf, he pulls on his red rubber boots and sets off on a lengthy and arduous journey, eventually becoming lost—and is then rescued by his neighbors, whose kindness and compassion teach Little Wise Wolf a lesson he accepts gracefully.

The Spanish import Grandparents, by Chema Heras, illustrated by Rosa Osuna and translated by Elisa Amado (Aldana Libros/Greystone Kids, May 5), offers children a radical story in its centering of an elderly couple. Learning of a dance, Manuel insists that they attend while Manuela protests that she has no intention of going—but gets ready anyway. Their loving banter combines with Osuna’s whimsical touch to present characters that will have children seeing their elders with new eyes: as individuals with rich, full stories of their own.

Spare, striking illustrations help children through a highly metaphorical conversation about loss in Argentine author/illustrator María Wernicke’s book Some Days, translated from the Spanish by Lawrence Schimel (Amazon Crossing Kids, Sept. 29). As a mother and child hang out laundry, the child imagines that a sheet tightly twisted around their body becomes a passageway to another place, one where “there’s no danger” and a figure in a homburg awaits a hug. Careful use of negative space helps child readers to an intuitive understanding of the grief mother and child share.

Imported from China, Lemon Butterfly, by Chinese author Cao Wenxuan and Brazilian illustrator Roger Mello (Reycraft Books, Sept. 30), also uses negative space to depict metaphor. It tells the story of the titular butterfly, which embarks on a transformative journey across dazzlingly abstract landscapes that are by turns tantalizing and frightening. Over a river, a mountain, and a city it goes only to discover the field of flowers it has sought is now submerged—and its sudden, unexpected metamorphosis into a butterfly fish beckons readers to imagine startling possible futures for themselves.

These are among the many picture books that have made their way to the U.S. from abroad this year; when shared with children, they will bring the world a little closer.

Vicky Smith is a young readers’ editor.