2026 Books I Love

Close-up of a book cover featuring a realistic illustration of a gray tabby cat with large, bright green eyes. The cat's reflection is visible in its eyes. The book's title, 'Lucorce,' is partially visible and written in large black letters at the bottom of the cover. The author's name, Kara Lareau, and the illustrator, Kelly Murphy, are also visible.
Illustration of children reading a book outside a school, with text 'The Buddy System' and author Sam Wedlich.
Book cover illustration with a girl drawing on a branch with a dog and a bear-like plush toy sitting beside her, surrounded by green trees. The title reads "The Whole Wide World of Mabel Milligan."
Cover of a children's book titled "While We're Here" with an illustration of two young girls surrounded by lush green leaves. One girl is holding a red balloon, and the other is being held in her arms, both smiling and engaging happily.
A watercolor painting of four colorful fish swimming underwater with green aquatic plants and rocks. The fish are yellow, red, and black. The title "Goodbye, Ko" is written in large white script across the top, and the author's name "Jack Wong" and a note about being an award-winning creator of "When You Can Swim" are written at the bottom.
Book cover of 'The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan' featuring a dog and a cheetah in a sunset landscape
Book cover featuring a collage of various objects including a fish, a giraffe, a snake, a lemon, a butterfly, and an open book against a blue background. The title reads 'Difty' with the author's name Brian Lies and the Caldecott Honoree designation.
Children and an elderly woman smiling and posing together in front of a sign that reads 'Here Come the Aunties!'
The image shows a child's head from the forehead upward, with text and colorful stars around the head. The text reads: 'Traci n Todd Robert F. Sibert Honor Winner' and 'Vashti Harrison Caldecott Medal Winner.' Large pink text in the center says: 'That you are here is no small thing.'
Book cover titled "Starman: The Cosmic Voyage of David Bowie" by Matthew Cordell, features a colorful illustration of David Bowie with multicolored clothing and a cosmic background with stars and planets.
Watercolor painting of a man with glasses and a beard, smiling, and a young girl with braided hair, smiling and pointing. The painting includes art supplies such as paint tubes and brushes, with a background of watercolor splotches and the text 'Two Artists, Grandad and Me'.
Cover of a book titled 'The Home We Dreamed' by Anca Sandu Budisan, featuring a colorful illustration of a house with a thatched roof, surrounded by a garden with children and adults playing, and a landscape with trees and a fence in the background.
Colorful book cover for 'Offside: Enemies, Rivals, and Now Teammates' showing diverse children with one boy with a prosthetic leg holding a soccer ball, sitting on a park bench, others standing around, some making peace signs, in a park with trees and a building in the background.
Close-up of a book cover with the title 'The Back of the Universe' in glowing yellow text, and the author's name Jessixa Bagley at the bottom in colorful text. The background features space-themed artwork with planets, stars, and cosmic elements.
An illustration of a girl with long dark hair, smiling with eyes closed, her arms raised with open hands, expressing joy or freedom. The background features a colorful, textured gradient, and above her, text reads 'hello, ocean!' with the name 'corinna luyken' below it.
Book cover titled "The Second Life of Snap" by Erin Entrada Kelly. Features an illustration of a girl sitting on a robot amid a post-apocalyptic landscape with destroyed buildings, plants, and rubble.
Illustration of a colorful house with children and adults playing outside, surrounded by hearts, ducks, and rainbow patterns, with a large
Cover of a children's book titled "A Fishboy Named Sashimi." The cover features a cartoon fishboy with large eyes, holding a fish in one hand and a key in the other, surrounded by various objects. The background is green with light circles, and a note reads, "A hilarious tale of friendship, adventure, and mystery. Sashimi is FRESH!!!" The book is titled "Lost & Found" and is awarded the National Book Award for Youngest.
A colorful illustration of two children wearing traditional Chinese costumes, holding lion masks, with strings of red firecrackers overhead. The background is polka-dotted red and yellow, with a yellow banner at the top reading 'Ling & Ting's Lunar New Year' and a large orange diamond in the center with the text 'Two Times Lucky' by Grace Lin.
Colorful cartoon drawing of a house labeled 'THE STUFFIE STAND' with various cute stuffed animals and characters around it, smiling and posing on a bright blue sky background.
Colorful watercolor illustration of a girl with dark hair smiling, hugging a book with a fish pattern, on a bright background with splashes of paint. Spanish text reads, 'This is a story.'
Children in pajamas leaning against a tree with a starry sky and moon in the background, with text that says 'Mister in the Stars' and artist names Devon Rohana and G. Brian Karas.
Colorful children's book cover titled 'Lily-May's Joyful Day' featuring three children smiling, with butterflies flying around and rainbow colors in the background.
Book cover titled "Kiki & me" by Leo Timmers, depicting a girl riding a black horse on a grassy field.
Cover of the children's book 'Poppy' featuring an illustration of a girl with brown hair wearing a red headband, yellow coat, and blue scarf, with falling yellow ginkgo leaves and pink background.
Illustration featuring abstract, colorful, winding lines resembling a fishing net or rope, with fish drawn along the lines. Overlaid text reads, 'A RIDDL E OF EELS' and mentions Nicholas Day and Corey R. Tabor as Caldecott Honorees.
A blue book cover featuring a quote from Jeff Kinney, a crumpled piece of paper resembling a ball, a cartoon drawing of a girl with a backpack, and text that reads, 'The Year I Stopped Drawing.' The cover also includes the subtitle, 'An illustrated novel-in-verse by Grant Snider.'
A colorful illustration of a blue house with a window showing a cat on a windowsill, a balcony with a hanging wind chime, and a girl wearing a pink skirt and striped leggings running or dancing outside in a yellow glow. The sky is light blue with white clouds, and the image contains text indicating a book's title, authors, and illustrator.
A book cover titled "Wombat Waiting" by Katherine Applegates. It features an illustrated, fluffy brown wombat sitting on a wooden bench outside a building, looking upward. There are three owls inside a window and a palm tree in the background.
Cartoon illustration featuring a smiling, anthropomorphic yellow giraffe with colorful spots, holding a slice of pizza in front of a sign that reads 'Pizza Sauros.'
Book cover with an illustration of a child wearing a hat and holding a pumpkin, sitting on the ground with mountains and a flock of birds flying in the sky in the background. The title reads 'Show Goose Season' and the authors are Angela Burke Kunkel and E.B. Goodale.
Fifth grade girls' book cover with pink background, small hearts, and a large heart shape framing illustrations of a girl with dark hair in pigtails and a pig, holding a golden heart, with the title 'Love & Mercy' and a red circle in the lower right with 'Press-out Valentines Inside!'.
A young girl and an elderly man planting a young seedling together outdoors.
A mural depicting a child with a shaved head holding a large green umbrella covering part of their face, with raindrops falling around. The mural also has the text 'The Little Stone Buddha' in yellow and a smaller line of text 'Caldecott Honor Winner Grace Lin' at the bottom.
Illustration of a Japanese American family standing behind a barbed wire fence, with a sunset scenery in the background and a red sun near the horizon.
Colorful illustration of children, animals, and a woman with glasses, with text about the meaning of the name 'Jean.'
Book cover titled 'Kaleidoscope of Hope' by Miranda Paul and Hari & Deepti, featuring a colorful array of butterflies in different sizes and species, emphasizing butterfly life cycles and their reflection of our world.
A colorful illustrated book cover featuring a young girl with curly orange hair wearing a white shirt and a yellow polka dot skirt. She is holding a red shoe with a hand from an unseen person. The background has swirling colors, and the title text says 'because of a' with additional small text at the bottom.
Illustration of a child climbing a tree, with the book title 'How a Bear Became a Book' and some decorative elements like a butterfly and a bear figure made of text, with additional text indicating collaboration between Annette Bay Pimentel and Faith Pray.
Colorful illustration of a girl with large eyes, with large colorful text spelling 'LOVE' in the background and skeleton figures at the bottom, by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell.
Book cover titled 'Our Starry Starry Night' by Jimmy Liao, featuring an illustration of two children lying in a boat, floating under a starry night sky with swirling stars and glowing celestial objects.
Book cover titled "What Will We Find in This Box?" by Mo Willems. Features a cartoon rabbit character and a cartoon snake character examining a cardboard box.
A book cover titled "It's My Birthday!" with a cartoon character wearing a colorful party hat, a yellow beak, a white face, and big black eyes. The background is light green with purple polka dots, and there are speech bubbles with text about the event.
Book cover for 'A Kid Like Me' by Norm Feuti featuring a young boy sitting on a park bench with a backpack at his feet, a fence behind him, and a food stand in the background, with clouds and utility poles in a light blue sky.
Children in a library holding books, with a woman at the center holding a large stack of books and smiling, surrounded by bookshelves and children reading or with books in hand.
Book cover for 'The Last Resort: The Claiming' by Jasmine Warga. Features a person holding a lit candle in front of their face in a dark, eerie forest with a creepy house in the background. Contains a speech bubble saying, 'Talk to ghosts. Crack the puzzles. Solve the mystery!'.
Illustration of a milk carton with a unicorn's head, with colorful background and text that reads "Flowers for Mama" and "Deborah Freedman".
Cover illustration for the book 'Mixed Feelings' featuring a group of children and a woman sitting on a couch, engaging in various emotions and activities, with the title in large yellow and purple text at the top and the Scholastic logo at the bottom.
Colorful children's book cover titled 'Kindergarten Gets Ready' with illustrations of a student tying his shoe, a toy rocket, and toy animals in a classroom setting.
The cover of a children's book titled "Orris and Tumble Star Stories" by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Carmen Mok. It features an illustration of a large white owl with a small mouse riding on its back, set against a starry night sky with a town below.
Colorful children's book cover titled 'Splendidly Sansan,' featuring a girl with dark hair in a blue dress, smiling and reaching forward, surrounded by stars, a sun, a rainbow, and various doodles.
Cover of a children's book titled 'Just Right' by Torrey Maldonado, illustrated by Teresa Martinez, showing a happy man with a child on his shoulders in a garage with a green car, an orange traffic cone, and tools.
Drawing of a person with blond hair, wearing round glasses, and a red scarf, with a monster shadow above and the text 'Maybe Monsters' and the author's name 'Jaime Zollars'.
Cover of a children's book titled 'The Mighty Macy', illustrated by Kitt Thomas. The cover features a smiling young girl with curly hair, wearing a white shirt and colorful jewelry, making a peace sign with her fingers. There are books, a zebra plush, and cityscape silhouettes at the bottom. The background is yellow with musical notes and stars.
A child with a dog in a green wheelbarrow outside, watering a tree with a red apple. In the background, a yellow house and a boy in a striped shirt are visible. The sky is blue with some clouds. The text 'nice work' is at the top, and 'Nicholas Day & Hala Tahboub' is at the bottom.
Colorful book cover with a central illustration of a woman in traditional Ukrainian attire, with long brown hair, holding a paintbrush. The cover features vibrant patterns and colors, with the title and author names prominently displayed.
Cover of a children's book titled 'Sidekicks: Thick as Thieves' by Dan Santat, featuring cartoon characters including a green chameleon, an orange feline with hearts, a robot dog, a rabbit with a suit, and a superhero dog in a costume, with a background of a burning building labeled 'Snacks' and a cable car.
Cover of a children's book titled 'Clay Date' with colorful, cartoon clay characters of a blue dragon holding a spoon and an orange egg-like character with purple shoes and yellow hair. The subtitle reads 'A Playdate with the Claymates'. The bottom credits read 'Written by Dev Petty' and 'Illustrated by Lauren Eldridge'.
Cover of a children's book titled 'One Whole Hippopotamus' featuring colorful illustrations of a watermelon slice, an orange slice, a cut watermelon, and a purple hippopotamus.
Illustration of a young girl with curly hair lying on a pink pillow, resting her head on her arms, surrounded by nature and whimsical elements like leaves, flowers, insects, a house, a dog, a bear, a mushroom, a tree stump, and a person running with a scarf, with the title 'where do stories live?' and the author's name 'Meenal Patel' at the bottom.
Book cover of 'Bear for a Day' showing a person riding a motorcycle, with a view from the rider's perspective, including their hands on the handlebars, and a bear's face reflected in the motorcycle's mirror.
Illustration of a woodland scene with various animals gathered around a sign that reads 'School for Woodland Creatures.' The animals include an owl on a books, a fox, a rabbit, a squirrel, a raccoon, and a dog, along with birds and insects, all depicted in a playful, cartoon style.
A colorful illustrated book cover titled 'How To Have a Thought: A Walk with Charles Darwin' by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Hadley Hooper. The cover depicts a man walking with a dog in a lush, green forest with various trees.
Book cover titled 'The Gallaudet Eleven: The Story of NASA's Deaf Bioastronauts' featuring illustrations of five deaf astronauts in orange space suits with white helmets floating in space.
Yellow background with colorful cartoon-style children in hoodies and sneakers, celebrating Jashar Awan as a Geisel Honor Winner.
Book cover titled "The Rare Bird" with a painting of a white and gray cat stretching on a mountainous landscape with a pink sky and clouds in the background.
Book cover titled "Seven Million Steps" featuring an illustration of a man in running clothes, wearing a hat, running through a desert landscape with red rock formations and a blue sky.
Colorful book cover titled 'Navigating Night' illustrated by Angie Kang, authored by Julie Leung, with a background featuring a night scene with children in a car or bus.
A colorful illustrated cover of a children's book titled 'Serafina Makes Waves.' The illustration features a cartoon cat wearing sunglasses and a striped swimsuit, standing by a swimming pool with a white puppet resembling a cute cartoon dog holding a blue striped ball, in front of a backdrop of mountains and clouds.
Illustration of an orange car with a green alien-like character inside, driving on a road. The background is a gradient of green and blue. Text on the image reads "TOAD ON THE GO".
A man and a child sitting by a pond, picking grapes and smiling. The man is handing grapes to the child. The background shows a grassy field, houses, and birds in the sky with the words 'Spending Time' written at the top.
An illustrated cover of a book titled 'Thank You, School' by Louise Borden, illustrated by Paige Keiser. The cover depicts a child hanging in a tree branch, reaching for the leaves, with a school building, trees, and a playground in the background.
Cover of a book titled 'Exposures' by Lily Williams, featuring a cartoon illustration of a girl with blonde hair and a red shirt, with a background of doodles of clocks, a telephone, a brain, and other objects.
Cover of a children's book titled 'Story Rug' featuring children sitting, playing, and crafting on a colorful rug with various toys and craft supplies, with author and illustrator credit at the bottom.
Colorful book cover titled "My Subway Rides" by James Gladstone & Pierre Pratt, depicting people waiting to board a subway train, with diverse characters and a sense of community.
A young boy laying by a stream in a forest, resting his head on his folded arms. An elderly woman is sitting on the porch of a wooden cabin, drinking tea and surrounded by flowers and plants. The scene is peaceful and idyllic, with wildflowers, mushrooms, and a frog in the water.
Book cover for "The Lions' Run" by Sara Pennypacker, featuring a stylized illustration of a running lion with a small figure of a person riding on its back, surrounded by scattered leaves and dirt.
Cover of the children's book titled 'Mr. Wolf's Class' by Aron Nels Steinke, featuring animated animals in a classroom setting with a wolf as a student sitting on a desk, surrounded by other animal students, including a frog, rabbit, bear, and cat.
Children joyfully decorating a Christmas tree, with the title 'Namaste, Santa' in colorful text and star decorations, on a festive background.
Colorful book cover titled 'AWE! It's everywhere!' with illustrations of children in a field of flowers, a rainbow, fireworks, and a night sky with stars and a shooting star.
Illustration of a young girl with dark skin and black, curly hair in pigtails, smiling and pointing upward with her right hand. She is wearing an orange apron over striped shirt. The background is purple with stars and sparkles, and the text reads 'The Stories in You' with a subtitle 'Inspired by the Wisdom of Toni Morrison'.