Forest Xiao’s 2025 picture book Seven Babies is lovely.
The premise is simple, and very picture book: one morning, “a box of babies arrives at this door.” The illustration shows a cardboard box overflowing with babies, one of which is reaching up to poke the doorbell with a stick. “DING-DONG!”
A couple opens the door, wonders at the beautiful surprise, and welcomes the babies into their home. Friends come over to meet (and wonder at) these lovely, round-faced babies, the babies have a day of playing at the home (and a playground), get dirty, get clean, get tired, and get tucked into bed and read to at the end of the day. And then they move on, carrying the box to their next family adventure.
The end.
The babies are never explained, and neither is their family to family migration. Instead, this is a book of love and wonder, modeling the joy (and disruption) babies can bring to a family, and how to respond to new babies in a family and friend group.
And the babies crawling through the living room or pawing and staring at a washing machine are charming.
This book won the 2026 Klaus Flugge Prize, which is given to a debut picture book illustrator.
