Picturebooks are a unique and complex art form that combines both visual and textual elements. Based on Kohlberg’s Cognitive Development Theory and Social Gender Theory, young children’s perceptions are likely influenced by portrayals of mothers in picturebooks. Therefore, this content analysis examined both the text and the visual portrayals of mothers in 53 bestselling picturebooks from China between 2019 and 2022, related to the portrayals of mothers. The results revealed a wide and diverse range of representations of the mother’s role through both illustrations and text in these popular picturebooks, contributing to the replacement of persistent gender stereotypes. Illustrations revealed patterns related to anthromorphic characters in about 66% of analyzed books as well as patterns related to gendered clothing, accessories, and scene placements, such as the aprons or the kitchen. Additionally, themes of the Caring Mother, Intelligent Mother, All-powerful Supermom, and Defective Mother emerged through our analysis based on the text. Finally, aligned within the Chinese sociocultural context and with Social Gender Theory, the paper provides authors, illustrators, educators, teachers, and parents with recommendations for creating, selecting, and leveraging picturebooks to serve as positive portrayals of mothers for young readers.