Welcome to our revamped Bookmark column! Instead of themed book lists (which you can always find in the CCBC's Resource Library), we’re dedicating this space to showcasing the latest and soon-to-be-released Canadian books for young readers. It’s our way of championing the amazing work Canadian publishers are putting into the hands of kids and teens everywhere.
Picture Books
The Explorers
written by Dee Hahn
illustrated by Ashlyn Anstee
Dial Books, 2026
IL: Ages 3-7 RL: Grades 2-3
Etta and her Grandma Maisie are explorers! Every day they gear up with hiking boots, floppy hats, and super special adventure snacks, eager to take on the world. Etta’s mom and dad don’t quite get their love of earthworm castles and pickle-and-cheese sandwiches, but Grandma Maisie and Etta understand each other perfectly.
When Etta heads off to school and Grandma Maisie moves into a seniors’ residence, the explorers face their biggest adventure yet: a day apart! This sweet and silly story is for anyone facing a big life change, whether you’re five or seventy-five.
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The House with Nobody In It
written and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press, 2026
IL: Ages 3-7 RL: Grades 2-3
Here are the things in this house: a chair, a clock on the wall, a stool, a lamp. And more. What’s missing from this house? Somebody. This is the house with nobody in it. Well, there might be something . . .
Designed as a sturdy keepsake to read, play with, and treasure, The House with Nobody in It takes readers through a recognizable, cozy house, while layered die-cut doors and windows throughout introduce a hint of intrigue. This is the house with nobody in it—or is it?
Pairing the familiar with a touch of mystery, Jon Klassen proves once again to be a master of breaking the mold, playing with expectations... and delighting even the youngest of readers.
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Loons on the Lake
written by Eric Watling
illustrated by Jaimie Shelton
Monster House Publishing, 2026
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
In this gentle story, a son visits a cabin with his father and witnesses the beautiful call of the loon along with other exciting animal encounters for the first time. Loons on the Lake perfectly captures the majesty of the wilderness and the joy of experiencing nature in all its splendour.
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Love, Panda
written by Elaine Su
illustrated by Charlene Chua
Orchard Books, 2026
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Meet Panda: she’s grumpy, she’s snarky, she’s a ball of mischief, and… she’s been abandoned in the BABY’S room! Follow along as cheeky Panda the stuffy writes letters to Benny, her owner and the big brother, pleading to be rescued from the drooly, boring (…and kinda cute?) baby.
Librarian and educator Elaine Su's debut picture book tells the story of a snarky, witty Panda who is eager to get back to her owner, Benny, but finds herself begrudingly warming up to the drooly and excitable Baby. Award-winning illustrator Charlene Chua's irresistibly cute art and clever background details are sure to make every reread feel new! Perfect for little siblings, big siblings, and clever pandas.
Mother Boo: Poems from Spookytown
written by Vicki VanSickle
illustrated by Jennica Lounsbury
Tundra Books, 2026
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Deep in October County is a magical place called Spookytown, where the leaves are always bright, the air is always crisp, and the pumpkins are always in their prime. When it’s time for a story or a poem, the little witches, ghosts and goblins of Spookytown love to snuggle up with this collection, compiled by Mother Boo—the oldest ghost in town. Discover the secret to flying, join a pumpkin parade and dance with werewolves in this collection of Halloween poems inspired by Mother Goose. From silly to spine-tingling, there is something for everyone to enjoy!
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The Skeleton and the Cat
written and illustrated by Brandon James Scott
HarperCollins, 2026
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Skeleton lives alone in lonesome bliss. She reads books, drinks tea, and tends to her garden. It’s simple and peaceful. Until one day, a cat knocks on Skeleton’s door…
“Can I come in?” asks the Cat.
Readers and cat lovers of all ages will adore this surprising duo who is sure to convince you that skeletons are gardeners, cats tell good-ish jokes, and, together, they make the best of friends.
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Stinkerella: A Modern Princess Story
written by Brenden Bott
illustrated by Dong Hoon Kim
Arete Books, 2026
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
In this upside-down fairy tale, you are invited into one -of the most unexpected and unforgettable rags-to-royalty stories ever told. Your family will burst with laughter while also being challenged to consider what happens when someone thinks only of herself—and what makes a princess worthy of her royal title. Sometimes the greatest lessons come from the greatest disasters.
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Middle Grade Fiction
Autumn Antics
(Froggy, Book 2)
written and illustrated by Paige Walshe
Flying Eye Books, 2026
IL: Ages 7-9 RL: Grades 2-3
Froggy is back for another series of little adventures, but this time, it’s a whole lot chillier—which for Froggy just means cozy fires, playing in leaves and being his usual curious but slimy self! Winter is approaching at the pond, and Froggy is gearing up for all the fun that autumn and winter bring. Soup! Reading books in front of the fire! Snowball fights! Leaf fights! Mud fights! But he’s noticed that his pond friends seem to be slowing down and getting ready to sleep through all the fun. Will he get lonely when they all go to sleep, or will he find more mischief to get into?
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The Farouk Forgery
(Mystery at The Biltmore, Book 4)
written by Colleen Nelson
illustrated by Peggy Collins
Pajama Press, 2026
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
A high-profile art theft grabs the attention of the famed Mr. and Mrs. LaRue, but this time they have a sidekick...Elodie herself! Can Elodie measure up in the high-profile world of art crime, or will she struggle to see the big picture.
Biltmore residents Mr. and Mrs. Farouk have spent millions renovating their apartment and now it’s finally ready for their feature in the New York Times Style Magazine. But when they discover the centerpiece of the apartment–their new $7 million Jackson Pollock painting–is a fake, what are they to do? With the Farouk’s desperate for the help of a LaRue, Elodie and Co. take on the case. Can the LaRue Detective Agency foil the forger in time for the magazine shoot? Or will Elodie’s self-doubt overshadow them all?
Full-color illustrations throughout by award-winning artist Peggy Collins bring additional humor to the cast of quirky characters and enhancing the reading experience for new independent readers.
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Last Year with Maddy
written by Anna Rosner
Yellow Dog, 2026
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Twelve-year-olds Maddy Li-Quinn and Aviva Adelman are the best of friends, innately connected through their love of the arts: Aviva loves to read poetry and Maddy is a gifted violinist. However, over the course of a painful year, very different family struggles drive the two girls apart. Maddy encounters violence in the home, and Aviva’s baby brother faces a difficult diagnosis.
To cope with the stress, Aviva’s mother suggests she write a book about her friendship with Maddy. In an attempt to heal through the written word, Aviva becomes the funny, feisty protagonist of her own book, reflecting back on her life, and realizing that she, too, has made many mistakes along the way.
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Sleepless
written by Gordon Korman
Scholastic Canada, 2026
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
There's not enough time in the day. How often have Mickey, Skye, Levi, Cyrus, and Thea thought that? Well, now they have plenty of extra time... because they no longer need to sleep. None of them knows why this is happening to them. All they know is that they have to keep it a secret from their families and their friends. And while they keep it a secret, they can use their extra hours to become better than everyone else. Each of them thinks they're alone in their sleeplessness. But once they find each other, they know it can't be just an accident. Suddenly they're forced to ask: What's keeping them awake at night?
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Surviving Summer Camp
written by Paul Breau
TKI Productions, Inc., 2026
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Eddy had the perfect summer planned: Comic books, video games, and junk food. But one “tiny” mistake ruins everything, and now he’s being shipped off to summer camp with his bossy older brother and his annoyingly cheerful younger brother. Then, the nightmare gets worse.
When an overnight hike goes horribly wrong, the brothers are separated from the group and lost deep in the wilderness. No map. No cell service. To survive, Eddy will have to dig deep and become something he’s never been before: A hero.
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Twice the Trouble
(Spirit Service, Book 2)
written by Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2026
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Spirit Service is booming, and with “Holloween” night approaching, guiding spirits to the afterlife has never been easier. But all is not well. Raveena Gill and her besties have come across an impossible creation: another phantom phone! Worse, this phone belongs to a boys-only anti-paranormal league, and the boys seem bent on trapping spirits for their own gains.
To keep the copycat phone out of the boys’ hands, Raveena proposes a wager. The first to vanquish fifty spirits by Holloween will get to keep both phones. If Raveena fails, she’ll lose Spirit Service; if she succeeds, she’ll stop the twin phone from being used for evil.
As tensions between and within the clubs rise, a sinister threat stirs in the shadows. To stop it, they will have to band together to uncover the darker origins of the phones themselves…and this time, both the lands of the living and the dead are at stake.
Young Adult Fiction
A Clash of Carnivores
(Mastery of Monsters Trilogy, Book 2)
written by Liselle Sambury
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2026
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
August Black risked everything to find her brother, joining a deadly secret society protecting the chilling truth that monsters are very, very real. She thought that when she found him, she would leave the society behind.
Instead, she fought and bled to bond herself to a Monster for life.
Now, despite her efforts to stay unattached, her connection to her Monster partner, Virgil, continues to grow. She can’t stop replaying the memory of their forbidden kiss that Virgil wants to pretend never happened.
Their strained bond is put to the test as they prepare for the Monster’s Ball, a brutal tournament where pairs battle for the coveted title of Master. But despite the danger of the contest, August is consumed with finding her mom’s killer and getting revenge. Her vendetta leads to her accidentally forming a rare second bond with Nolan, a Wild Monster who wants nothing to do with her. And if the three of them can’t work together, they’ll be kicked out of the tournament before it even begins.
But August can’t pull her focus away from revenge—even if it means becoming the worst sort of monster herself. She believes that vengeance will cure her grief, but it may just be the thing that breaks her bonds for good.
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The Detention Crew Pt. 2
(The Detention Crew, Book 2)
written by Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska
Coloured by Matteo Lucchetti
Lettered by The Invisible Art Studio
Rippaverse, 2026
IL: Ages 13-15 RL: Grades 8-9
Midas, Witch, Cupid, Swarm, Dogma, and the rest of Death Defier's team thought they were the only kids the world was hiding. They weren't. When Mr. Wonderful and his own six prodigies—Rush, Bombshell, Harddrive, Iron Maiden, Creed, and Purge—walk into the Old Chicago museum and reveal that all of them are The Twelve, the kids' training collides with a war that's been waiting for them. Then Mr. Nightmare arrives, the sky turns red, and a dead world starts pouring into theirs. Set in New New York and Old Chicago—a corner of the Rippaverse far from Florespark.
The Detention Crew Pt. 2 moves the team from training wheels to existential threat. The cast doubles. The premise expands. The conclusion of this debut arc; the series continues into 2027.
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Why We Fight the Tide
written by Giselle Vrisen
100 Block Futures, 2026
IL: Ages 14-17 RL: Grades 9-10
After discovering she was a Godspring, Thea hoped to finally understand why she had felt out of place all her life. But as she delved deeper into her lineage, she came face to face with millennia-old predictions, riddles, and complex histories that offered no clear answers. Now, as she continues to strengthen and understand her abilities, she’s forced to deal with another problem: Malachite is losing its power—and even its rooms—now that the box has been stolen by a mysterious and obscure god.
As she tries to gain confidence in herself, Thea must reckon with the complications of a possible world-ending quest along with her confusing and sometimes thrilling emotions for Zero, a member of their rival school. Why We Fight the Tide, the first and final follow-up to Why We Play With Fire, promises to have readers on the edge of their seats as Thea navigates complicated crushes amidst world-ending stressors and grief.
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Non-Fiction
The ABCs of Black Stories in Canada - Book 2
written by Dr. Dorothy Williams
illustrated by Joseph Osei Bonsu
DC Canada Education Publishing, 2026
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Dive into 26 heartfelt stories of Black resilience, courage, and compassion, and discover the historical figures whose experiences in Canada made an impact on their lives, their communities, and even the world. Organized alphabetically by keywords, these tales underscore perseverance in the face of adversity and celebrate Black pride and accomplishments ranging from medical exploits to political advances, fearless journalism to moving musical performances.
This two-book Canadian Black history set highlights not only the sacrifices made in the quest for freedom and justice, but also the sense of kinship established between Black figures and their various triumphs in Canada and abroad.
Flying High on PEI: Prince Edward Island and Canada’s First Transatlantic Flight
written by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
illustrated by Jennifer DesRoche
Acorn Press, 2026
IL: Ages 5-9 RL: Grades 2-3
It's 1930, and kids swimming in the bay by Tea Hill, Prince Edward Island, are thrilled: An airplane just landed on the field beside them! And not just any airplane. This is the Maple Leaf, and the two men on board are planning to fly it across the ocean to England. But bad weather has forced them to land on Prince Edward Island. Where they have to wait. And wait.
The kids jump at the chance to help the flyers and ask all their questions about the upcoming trip, like "Is it safe?" and "Won't it be loud?" and "How will you go to the bathroom?" Then they follow along to find out if their new flying friends actually complete their record-breaking flight!
Full of adventure and humour, Flying High on PEI is based on the true story of Canadian pilot Erroll Boyd and American navigator Harry Connor, who flew a Bellanca monoplane across the Atlantic after being grounded on Prince Edward Island, and the Island kids who were enchanted by them. It captures the excitement and magic of a time when flight was brand new and flyers were heroes.
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Pucks, Paddles and Poutine: Canadian Jokes, Trivia and Facts
written by Pat Hancock, Marg Meikle, Kara Woodburn, Erin O'Connor, Howard Hershkowitz, Dodie McKim, Edith Fowke
illustrated By Bill Dickson, Tina Holdcroft, Dimitri Kostic, Dominique Pelletier
Scholastic Canada, 2026
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
From the funny to the fantastic, celebrate all things uniquely Canada! This beefy compilation of our best home-grown facts and fun has something for everyone – cool and kooky information, trivia, jokes, humour and more.
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Whale Man: The Story of John Lien
written by Robert Chafe
illustrated by Katie Arthur
Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides, 2026
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
When Jon and Judy Lien moved to the island of Newfoundland, they expected their new life to be an adventure—but what an adventure it became! Jon was a scientist, coming to study the storm petrel—a tiny sea bird. He made friends with fishermen, who took him out to neighbouring islands to study the local seabirds. And then, one day, a fisherman phoned him in a panic—a whale was tangled in his fishing net. Could Jon help him release the whale and save his fishing net? Jon had never attempted anything like that, but he agreed to try.
Not only did he save that whale, over the course of his life, Jon Lien went on to free more than 500 whales from fishing nets in Newfoundland and Labrador, and to teach others how to free them, too. Known as "The Whale Man," he was loved and respected throughout the province, and beyond.
This beautifully illustrated picture-book biography, written by Governor-General's award-winning playwright Robert Chafe, tells the story of Lien for young readers. Katie Arthur's gorgeous artwork brings the drama of that first release vividly to life. This is a beautiful celebration of a life well lived, sure to inspire young and old to care for and connect with the animals around them.