2026 Notable Children’s Books: July 2025 Discussion

This year the 2026 Notable Children’s Book Committee will be meeting on July 22, July 23, and July 24 beginning at 2:00 pm EST for its July 2025 discussions. Register to observe the discussions here:

• July 22, 2025 @ 2pm EST – Register here
• July 23, 2025 @ 2pm EST – Register here
• July 24, 2025 @ 2pm EST – Register here

Here is the list of titles which will be discussed:

	Title	Author	Illustrator
1	All the Blues in the Sky	Watson, Renee		Fiction
2	Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped	Lukoff, Kyle	Levi Hastings	Nonfiction
3	Bad Badger: A Love Story	Wood, Maryrose	Giulia Ghigini	Fiction
4	Bear Out There, The	Hannigan, Jess	Jess Hannigan	Picture Book
5	Big Enough	Linke, Regina	Regina Linke	Picture Book
6	Black Mambas, The: The World’s First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit	Crull, Kelly		Nonfiction
7	Book of Maps for You, A	Heuer, Lourdes	Maxwell Eaton III	Picture Book
8	Botticelli’s Apprentice	Husted, Ursula Murray		Fiction
9	Candle Island	Wolk, Lauren		Fiction
10	Couch in the Yard, The	Hoefler, Kate	Dena. Seiferling	Picture Book
11	Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World)	Tabor, Corey R.	Corey R. Tabor	Picture Book
12	Don’t Trust Fish	Sharpson, Neil	Dan Santat	Picture Book
13	Every Monday Mabel	Awan, Jashar	Jashar Awan	Picture Book
14	Faith Takes the Train	Augustine, Kesi	Mokshini	Picture Book
15	Finding Forgiveness	Bartolj, Marta	Marta Bartolj	Picture Book
16	Fireworks	Burgess, Matthew	Cátia Chien	Picture Book
17	Forest Song, A	Hall, Kirsten	Evan Turk	Poetry
18	Friendship Train, The: A True Story of Helping and Healing after World War II	Levy, Debbie	Boris Kulikov	Nonfiction
19	Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon, The	Lin, Grace	Grace Lin	Fiction
20	Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer	Harris, Quartez	Gordon C. James	Nonfiction
21	Here is a Book	Cooper, Elisha		Picture Book
22	Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation, A	Cartaya, Pablo		Fiction
23	Hiding in Plain Sight: Kate Warne and the Race to Save Abraham Lincoln	Anderson, Beth	Sally Wern Comport	Nonfiction
24	History of We, The	Smith, Nikkolas	Nikkolas Smith	Nonfiction
25	House on the Canal, The : The Story of the House That Hid Anne Frank	Harding, Thomas	Britta Teckentrup	Nonfiction
26	How Sweet the Sound: A Soundtrack for America	Alexander, Kwame	Charly Palmer	Nonfiction
27	How to Draw a Secret	Chang, Cindy	Cindy Chang	Fiction
28	How to Talk to Your Succulent	Persico, Zoe	Zoe Persico	Fiction
29	I’m a Dumbo Octopus! : A Graphic Guide to Cephalopods	Lambelet, Anne	Anne Lambelet	Nonfiction
30	Interpreter, The	Abtahi, Olivia	Arnaldo, Monica	Picture Book
31	Jella Lepman and her Library of Dreams	Paterson, Katherine		Nonfiction
32	Keeper of Stories, The	Pritchard, Caroline Kusin	Selina Alko	Nonfiction
33	Let’s Be Bees	Harris, Shawn	Shawn Harris	Picture Book
34	Line Can Go Anywhere, A: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa	McAlister, Caroline	Jamie Green	Nonfiction
35	Littlest Drop, The	Alper, Sascha	Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney	Picture Book
36	Meet the Mini-Mammals: A Night at the Natural History Museum	Stewart, Melissa	Brian Lies	Nonfiction
37	Mistaco: A Tale of Tragedy y Tortillas	Kinkz, Eliza	Eliza Kinkz	Picture Book
38	Our Lake	Kang, Angie		Picture Book
39	Papilio	Clanton, Ben; Andy Chou Musser, and Corey R. Tabor	Ben Clanton, Andy Chou Musser, and Corey R. Tabor	Picture Book
40	Pencil	Kim, Hye-Eun	Hye-Eun Kim	Picture Book
41	Please Pay Attention	Sumner, Jamie		Fiction
42	Rabbit’s Feat	Saltzberg, Barney	same	Picture Book
43	Radiant	Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux		Fiction
44	Rebellion 1776	Anderson, Laurie Halse		Fiction
45	Safe Crossing	Percival, Kari	Kari Percival	Nonfiction
46	Safe Harbor	Venkatraman, Padma		Fiction
47	Seeds of Discovery: How Barbara McClintock Used Corn and Curiosity to Solve a Science Mystery and Win a Nobel Prize	Alexander, Lori	Rebecca Santo	Nonfiction
48	Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave	Beckmeyer, Drew	Drew Beckmeyer	Picture Book
49	To See an Owl	Cordell, Matthew		Picture Book
50	To Walk the Sky	Buckley, Patricia Morris		Nonfiction
51	Trouble with Heroes, The	Messner, Kate		Fiction
52	Tyger	Said, S.F.		Fiction
53	Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, The	Hartman, Aubrey		Fiction
54	Very Bad at Math	Larson, Hope	Hope Larson	Fiction
55	When Alexander Graced the Table	Smalls, Alexander and Denene Millner	Frank Morrison	Picture Book
56	When I Hear Spirituals	Hudson, Cheryl Willis	London Ladd	Picture Book
57	Will’s Race for Home	Rhodes, Jewell Parker		Fiction

Kimberly Anne Patton, chair, and the entire 2026 Notable Children’s Books committee are excited to share this opportunity to learn more about critical evaluation of children’s books and listen to their summer discussions. All are welcome.