Bank Street College of Education recently released the 2026 edition of the Best Children's Books of the Year. The list includes more than 600 titles deemed the best of the best published in 2025. The Children's Book Committee considers literary quality and excellence of presentation, as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. A number of titles by Canadian authors and illustrators were selected by the committee for the 2026 list. They are listed below.
FOR AGES 5 AND UNDER
Aggie and the Ghost, written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe (Beach Lane Books)
Island Storm, written by Brian Floca, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books)
Mrs. Nobody, written by Y.S. Lee, illustrated by Marie Lafrance (Groundwood Books)
One Two, Granda Loves You, written by Shelly Becker, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (Abrams Appleseed)
Concept Books
Your Places series: Your Farm and Your Forest, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)
Humour
The Bear Out There, written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan (Quill Tree Books)
Vampire Jam Sandwich, written and Casey Lyall, illustrated by Nici Gregory (Tundra Books)
Poetry
Gather Grateful, written by Megan Litwan, illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey (Candlewick Press)
Social-Emotional Learning
Anything, written by Rebecca Stead, illustrated by Gracey Zhang (Chronicle Books)
Colette: The Solitary Bee, written by Jean-François Sénéchal, illustrated by Pascale Bonenfant, translated by Nick Frost and Catherine Ostiguy (Milky Way Picture Books)
More or Less, written by Alison Hughes, illustrated by Oge Mora (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
The Rainbow Sheep, written and illustrated by David Hayward (Beaming Books)
Shy Me, written by Sandra V. Feder, illustrated by Ashley Barron (Groundwood Books)
FICTION FOR AGES 5-9
Adventure and Mystery
Hide & Seek with Clyde & Monique: Clyde in Plain Sight, written and illustrated by Graham Annable (HarperAlley)
Beginning Readers
Orris and Timble: Lost and Found, written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Carmen Mok (Candlewick Press)
Family and Community
Across the Ice: How We Saved the Ojibwe Horse, written by Darcy Whitecrow and Heather M. O'Connor, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (Candlewick Press)
The Couch in the Yard, written by Kate Hoefler, illustrated by Dena Seiferling (Neal Porter Books)
The House That Floated, storyline and illustrations by Guojing (Random House Studio)
The Interpreter, written by Olivia Abtahi, illustrated by Monica Arnaldo (Kokila)
The Jade Bracelet, written by Hà Dinh, illustrated by Yong Ling Kang (Random House Studio)
My Sister the Apple Tree: A Refugee Story of Hope and Resilience, written by Jordan Scott and Jamal Saeed, illustrated by Zahra Marwan (Random House Studio)
The One About the Blackbird, written by Melanie Florence, illustrated by Matt James (Tundra Books)
The Pink Pajamas: A Story About Love and Loss, written and illustrated by Charlene Chua (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Fantasy
Shark Girl, written and illustrated by Kate Beaton (Roaring Brook Press)
The Trickster Shadow, written and illustrated by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Folklore and Fairy Tales
The Animal People Choose a Leader, written by Richard Waganese, illustrated by Bridget George (Douglas & McIntyre)
Historical Fiction
Chidori: A Story of One Thousand Birds, written by Jennifer Maruno, illustrated by Miki Sato (Pajama Press)
Holidays and Religion
The Remembering Candle, written by Alison Goldberg, illustrated by Selina Alko (Barefoot Books)
Humour
The Richest Cow in the World, written and illustrated by Barroux (Kids Can Press)
Steve: A Rare Egg, written and illustrated by Kelly Collier (Kids Can Press)
School
Brianna Banana: Helper of the Day, written by Lana Button, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa (Orca Book Publishers)
Social-Emotional Learning
The Language of Birds, written by Jon-Erik Lappano, illustrated by Zach Manbeck (Random House Studio)
The Other Side of the Rocks, written and illustrated by Nahid Kazemi (Enchanted Lion Books)
Rock, written by Laurel Croza, illustrated by Matt James (Groundwood Books)
INFORMATION BOOKS FOR AGES 5-9
Biography and Memoir
The Music Inside Us: Yo-Yo Ma & His Gifts to the World, written by James Howe, illustrated by Jack Wong (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Rewriting the Rules: How Dr. Kathleen Friel Created New Possibilities for Brain Research and Disability, written by Danna Ziegler, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon (Millbrook Press)
Ecology
Bird Brothers: A Delhi Story, written by Rina Singh, illustrated by Barkha Lohia (Orca Book Publishers)
I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive, written by Leslie Barnard Booth, illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey (Chronicle Books)
Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, written by Megan Clendenan, illustrated by Brittany Cicchese (Charlesbridge)
History
The Keeper of Stories, written by Caroline Kusin Pritchard, illustrated by Selina Alko (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
World
This Is Orange: A Field Trip Through Color, written by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Julie Morstad (Candlewick Press)
FICTION FOR AGES 9-12
Adventure and Mystery
Benny on the Case, written by Wesley King (Beach Lane Books)
Fantasy
Oasis, written and illustrated by Guojing (Godwind Books)
Folklore and Fairy Tales
Bunns Rabbit, written and illustrated by Alan Barillaro (Candlewick Press)
School
Old School, written by Gordon Korman (HarperCollins Publishers)
INFORMATION BOOKS FOR AGES 9-12
Biography and Memoir
The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape, written by Amy Alznauer, illustrated by Anna Bron (Candlewick Press)
Sports
Game Changers: Stories of Hijabi Athletes from Around the World, written by Charlene Smith, illustrated by Natalya Tariq (Orca Book Publishers)
STEM
Great Apes: Protecting Our Animal Cousins, written by Christopher Gudgeon (Orca Book Publishers)
Octopus Ocean: Geniuses of the Deep, written by Mark Leiren-Young (Orca Book Publishers)
The Secret Life of a Sea Turtle, written by Maddalena Bearzi, illustrated by Alex Boersma (Roaring Brook Press)
We Carry the Sun, written by Tae Keller, illustrated by Rachel Wada (Norton Young Readers)
FICTION FOR AGES 12-14
Adventure and Mystery
Let the Monster Out, written by Chad Lucas (Amulet Books)
Anthologies and Collections
You Were Made for This World: Celebrated Indigenous Voices Speak to Young People, edited by Stephanie Sinclair and Sara Sinclair (Tundra Books)
Coming of Age
Finding Harmony, written by Eric Walters (Orca Book Publishers)
Family and Community
No Purchase Necessary, written by Maria Marianayagam (HarperCollins Publishers)
Historical Fiction
Under Attack, written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (Scholastic Press)
Horror
Ghost Queen, written by Mahtab Narsimhan (Orca Book Publishers)
INFORMATION BOOKS FOR AGES 12-14
Biography and Memoir
Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor's Story, written by Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger, illustrated by Michelle Theodore (Annick Press)
Ours to Tell: Reclaiming Indigenous Stories, written by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger (Annick Press)
FICTION FOR AGES 14 AND UP
Adventure and Mystery
Songs for Ghosts, written by Clara Kumagai (Amulet Books/Tundra Books)
This Place Kills Me, written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux (Abrams Fanfare)
Contemporary Issues
One Kiss, written by Marthe Jocelyn (Orca Book Publishers)
Dystopian Fiction
Meet Me at Blue Hour, written by Sarah Suk (Quill Tree Books)
Fantasy
Among Ghosts, written by Rachel Hartman (Random House Books for Young Readers/Tundra Books)
Horror
A Mastery of Monsters, written by Liselle Sambury (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Romance
The History of Everything, written and illustrated by Victoria Evans (HarperAlley)
You Started It, written by Jackie Khalilieh (Tundra Books)
For the complete list, visit bankstreet.edu.