Kidfest 2026 Authors
Sara Holly Ackerman
Sara Holly Ackerman is a school librarian and children’s book author in Brooklyn, New York. Her many picture books include The Sweetest Taste, How to Hatch: A Gosling’s Guide to Breaking Free, Not Just the Driver!, Woods & Words: The Story of Poet Mary Oliver, a Stonewall Book Honor recipient, and The Gabi that Girma Wore, winner of the Children’s Africana Book Award.
Featured title: The Sweetest Taste
It’s time for Eva to begin her first year of school, but she’d much rather help Papa in the music store. She doesn’t understand the fuss at school about standing in a line and sitting in a circle when it’s much better to spin in a circle and never sit at all. But a piano in a music room reminds her of the sweet sounds of home, just as a slice of Papa’s honey cake reminds her of the sweet taste of learning. For fans of Patricia Polacco’s and Tomie dePaola’s picture books, The Sweetest Taste is a warm and satisfying story of family, tradition, and love of learning.
Sarah Albee
Sarah Albee is a New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction books for kids. Recent titles include Brontosaurus is Back: A Dinosaur’s Name and Return to Fame; Zero: The Number that Almost Wasn’t; The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington, and Bounce!: A Scientific History of Rubber. She and her husband live in New York City and have three grown children.
Featured title: Brontosaurus Is Back!
Brontosaurus? Aren’t we supposed to call it Apatosaurus? Readers can follow the history of how this dinosaur was first discovered and named and learn about the recent (2015) study that determined the two sauropods are separate genera. The theme? Science is always evolving. The conclusion? Brontosaurus is back!
Lisa Anchin
Lisa Anchin is an illustrator, author, and designer. She has long had a literary love of vampires and often ran around in a red cape and fangs as a child, not only on Halloween. She is the author-illustrator of the picture book The Little Green Girl, which won a Crystal Kite Award, and the illustrator of a number of other books for children. When not in her studio stringing words together and doodling, she loves meeting other kidlit folks and has long volunteered as the illustration coordinator for the Metro New York chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Lisa Anchin lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Featured title: Maud and the Very Eventful Week
Follow an adorable little vampire named Maud through a week of ever-so-gently-spooky adventures in this charming story. Who would have known on Monday that the week ahead would be such a busy one? Maud’s week begins with a run-in with a haunted teapot on Monday and continues with Tuesday’s “spiders and juice” stand, Wednesday’s comically brief encounter (“Maud found a tooth! What an exceptional day”), all the way through Saturday’s successful yard sale. But wait, could that be a teapot coming around again, on Sunday? In this slightly gothic tour through the days of the week, the delight is in the details as cozy limited-palette illustrations portray Maud and her family and friends among the familiar objects and activities of childhood, with a quirky twist to please the young vampire lovers among us.
Coe Booth
Coe Booth would have loved to be a member of the Baby-sitters Club! Growing up, she would consider herself a mixture of Jessi, Mallory, and Claudia—a dancing school kid who loved writing and snacks! These days, Coe is the author of several award-winning books, including Kinda Like Brothers and Caprice. Even though she was born and raised in the Bronx (and still lives there), a piece of her heart will always belong to Stoneybrook!
Featured title: Baby-Sitters Club Fan Edition: Baby-Sitters Summer
The secret is out! Peter Lerangis, bestselling adventure-series author, has been chosen as part of an all-star lineup behind series creator Ann M. Martin, for the first new Baby-Sitters Club novel in over a decade! Released in honor of the series fortieth birthday, Fan Edition: Baby-Sitters Summer tells the story of a summer to remember for The Baby-Sitters Club, with Mary Anne and Stacey staying in Stoneybrook while Kristy, Claudia, Dawn, Jessi, and Mallory head on adventures all across the map. Peter gives Dawn Schafer a summer in a theater camp, where absolutely nothing goes as planned!
Matt Burgess
Matthew Burgess is a poet, educator, and the author of many celebrated picture books, including The Bear and The Moon, Words with Wings & Magic Things, and Fireworks. He is a professor of literature and creative writing at Brooklyn College, and for over twenty years, he taught poetry programs in New York City public schools. Matthew lives in Brooklyn and Berlin.
Featured title: If The Moon
From award-winning creators Matthew Burgess and Matthew Forsythe comes a new picture book classic and an invitation to imaginative dreaming. If the Moon is the perfect lyrical bedtime book—a visual poem that soothes and smooths the transition from waking to sleeping.
If the Earth and if the moon,
if the whistling of a tune.
If you drift, if you dream,
into space, into streams…
Softly step on tender feet,
come and lift the latch of sleep.
Lindsey Daly
Lindsey Daly is a middle school social studies teacher and the author of the bestselling Would You Rather? series and card decks. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and their dog, Penny.
Featured title: Would you Rather?: Girls Edition
What does being a girl mean to you? What are your likes and dislikes? When faced with a silly scenario, which answer would you choose? This laugh-out-loud book of 160+ “Would You Rather?” questions is designed just for girls—everything from fashion to friendships and dreams to self-discovery. Would you rather wear a fancy dress to a pajama party or pajamas to a formal party? Make an ugly, delicious cake or a gorgeous cake that tastes awful? Build a robot that cleans your room or does your laundry? Here’s your chance to say what you think!
Jacky Davis & David Soman
Jacky Davis and David Soman are the creative team behind the New York Times bestselling Ladybug Girl series and the Elvis & Romeo series.
David has written and illustrated many of his own books, as well as illustrating other picture books, and Jacky has written a number of picture books with illustrators, such as Giselle Potter, Fiona Woodcock and Jay Fleck. David teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and exhibits his critically acclaimed fine art in galleries in New York City and Hudson, New York.
Jacky, when not gardening for pollinators, works in the local independent bookstore in their hometown of Rosendale, New York.
Featured title: Yes, Elvis. No, Romeo.
Yes Elvis, No, Romeo is a board book from the Elvis & Romeo series, about a grumpy bulldog who enjoys his alone time and a very outgoing labradoodle who is up for the party.
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Diane Debrovner
Diane Debrovner is a middle grade author who writes for anyone who’s ever felt different, left out, or unsure where they belong. Before turning to fiction, she spent many years as Deputy Editor at Parents magazine, writing about child development, health, education, and books. Her novel, Roxie in Color, co-authored with Stacy Cervenka, was sparked by her article “What Blind Parents Want You to See.” Diane lives in New York City with her family.
Featured title: Roxie in Color
Roxie loves her parents, but other people can’t seem to see past the fact that they’re blind—and they don’t really see Roxie, either. To them, she’s just “the girl with the blind parents.” So when her family moves to a new town and Roxie starts seventh grade at a new school, she’s determined to be known for the other parts of who she is: an artist, an animal lover, and the kind of person who bakes cookies for people she cares about for no special reason. But that means keeping her parents’ blindness a secret from the kids at school and definitely not telling anyone that she might inherit the eye condition that caused her mother’s vision loss—at least until they get to know her.
For a while, Roxie is happier than she’s ever been. But when her lies and omissions lead to a visit from Child Protective Services, will Roxie find the courage to be fully honest with her friends, her parents, and herself? This heartfelt depiction of a girl establishing her own identity, with some chapters told from the perspective of her mother’s loyal guide dog, is an authentic portrayal of the joys, challenges, and everyday ordinariness of being raised by parents who have a disability.
Barbara Dee
Barbara Dee is the award-winning author of sixteen middle grade novels. Her books have earned several starred reviews and have been named to many best-of lists, including The Washington Post’s Best Children’s Books, ALA Notable Children’s Books, ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, School Library Journal’s Best Middle Grade Books, and the ALA Rainbow List Top Ten. Her books appear on numerous state awards lists as well.
Featured title: Nothing to See Here
After an online incident forces a student to leave their school, four students team up and start posting fake rumors as an experiment to show everyone the dangers of online gossip in this high stakes and heartfelt story from highly-acclaimed author Barbara Dee.
How far is too far?
Between her best friend ditching her and her parents taking away her phone, Winnie’s year is off to a rough start. But eighth grade gets even more complicated when she’s named on the Not Hot list by an anonymous online account.
Gia’s on the Hot list, but she’d rather not be. There’s already enough chatter about her online—how she thinks she’s smarter and better than everyone else, and lately, that she’s secretly dating Mateo.
Mateo isn’t dating Gia, but he’s had a crush on her for over a year now. But kids online are saying they have nothing in common, and he doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Mateo’s best friend Levi doesn’t mind that he’s not the one in the spotlight. He’s got enough going on at home.
And when an anonymous post takes things too far, these four very different kids team up to start their own experiment, posting fake gossip on social media to show what can happen when online rumors get out of control, in this high stakes and heartfelt story.
Beth Ferry
Beth Ferry is the author of over forty books for young readers, including Stick and Stone, The Scarecrow and Growing Home. She lives with her family by the beach in New Jersey, where she finds inspiration in the salty air. In addition to picture books, Beth writes graphic and middle grade novels.
Featured title: Flyer McTire
Flyer McTire’s home is the racetrack. It’s where he fits in and where he stands out as the fastest tire around. But racing tires don’t last long on the track and one day, Flyer McTire is retired and sent to the recycling center. Things look dire for Flyer McTire until he meets a young boy who gives him a second chance. And he discovers that maybe there’s a better race still to be won!
Julie Fogliano
Julie Fogliano is a New York Times bestselling author of And Then It’s Spring and If You Want to See a Whale and several other picture books including Just In Case You Want to Fly, When’s My Birthday, and If I Was the Sunshine. Recipient of the 2013 the Ezra Jack Keats award, her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Julie lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and three children.
Featured title: Because of a Shoe
Even when it’s time to put on our favorite shoes and leave the house, and even when that time turns into a tantrum where someone can’t stop screaming, or flopping on the floor, or throwing a shoe across the room, and someone is making their maddest face and everyone else is waiting . . . Even then, nothing can come between the loving bond of a mother and their child. Not even a shoe.
With expressive text from bestselling author Julie Fogliano and timeless art from three-time Caldecott honor medalist Marla Frazee, here is a story that takes readers through a downward spiral of a shoe-inspired tantrum and is a reminder that even in moments of frustration, we are always our most loveable selves
Shauna J. Grant
Shauna J. Grant is the creator of the critically acclaimed Mimi series and of the graphic novel adaptation of Karen’s Prize by Ann M. Martin. Her work has appeared in the anthologies Black Comix Returns, Noisemakers, and The Secret Loves of Geeks. She loves all things pink and magical and enjoys creating stories that feature Black girls as the heroines of their own adventures. When Shauna isn’t making comics, she likes to daydream, read Korean comics, and play with her dog, Sugarpaws. Shauna lives near New York City.
Featured title: Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen’s Surprise
Karen and her classmates are putting on a play about a grand Thanksgiving feast. She wants the starring role, of course, but she is given the worst part of all — the Thanksgiving turkey! All she gets to do is walk across the stage in a big brown costume and say one or two lines.
Will everyone laugh at Karen the Turkey? Not when they see her big surprise!
Dan Gutman
Dan Gutman was born in a log cabin in Illinois and used to write by candlelight with a piece of chalk on a shovel. Oh, wait. That was Abraham Lincoln.
Actually, Dan has written 200 books for beginning readers (Rappy the Raptor), young readers (My Weird School), and advanced readers (The Genius Files, The Picasso Curse). Dan lives in New York City.
Featured title: My Weirdtastic School: Mrs. Towne is a Clown
A.J. and his friends may have thought Ella Mentry School was weird, but they’re in for a big surprise. Principal Stoker has to choose two students to send to Ella Mentry’s rival school—Dirk School—for a month. Guess who she picks?
Now, A.J. and Andrea are learning from Mrs. Towne, who is a real-life clown! But what can they do if Mrs. Towne isn’t as happy as her makeup—and joking around—makes her seem?
Raj Halder
Also known by his stage name Lushlife, Raj Haldar is an American rapper, composer, and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He’s also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of P Is for Pterodactyl.
Featured title: What Rhymes with Pterodactyl?: The Worst Rhyming Book Ever
The book is a hilarious fresh look at the English language. Get ready to make the most unrhymable words rhyme and form the basis for rap.
Ptolemy the Pterodactyl loves to write rhyming poetry and rap. He’s discovered that there are lots of tricky words in the English language like orange, gulf, and circus that don’t rhyme with anything. But, using slant rhyme and internal rhyme, Ptolemy and his crew of hip-hop word nerds have figured out how to make the most unrhymable words rhyme. When you read this book, be sure to make up some zany rhymes of your own, and you’ll be a rapper too!
Alan Katz
Alan Katz has written more than fifty highly acclaimed books for kids, including Take Me Out of the Bathtub (now in its 25th year!), Got Your Nose!, Oops!, Zooloween, and The Funniest Joke Book Ever series. Alan is also a six-time Emmy-nominated writer for television series including The Rosie O’Donnell Show, animated shows including Taz-Mania, Pinkalicious and Goof Troop, numerous trading card sets, and more. He and his journalist wife (co-author of their upcoming poetry book!) Rose Horowitz live in Connecticut.
Featured title: The Funniest Animal Joke Book Ever for Kids
Alan Katz Presents the Funniest Animal Joke Book Ever for Kids is the second in a series of outrageous jokes, riddles, poems activities, and stories from funnyman Alan Katz. Get ready to roar with laughter…and maybe ever bark out loud with these hilarious animal jokes that you can share with friends, family members, classmates and your favorite pets!
Erin Entrada Kelly
Erin Entrada Kelly is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time Newbery Medalist,
National Book Award Finalist, and Newbery Honoree. Her work has been translated into more
than a dozen languages. Estrada has written for The New York Times, Political Research Associates, Writers Digest, People, and others. She has an M.F.A. from Rosemont College and is on the faculty of the Hamline University M.F.A. program in writing for children and young adults. She lives in Delaware.
Featured title: Fatal Glitch
Black Mirror meets Goosebumps in this fast-paced middle-grade horror series featuring tales of technology gone wrong. In this standalone installment, AI has infiltrated the newest toy craze—a stuffed animal with spooky capabilities and more sinister intentions.
Lewis’s big hope for his first day at a new school is to make a friend. He never expected that friend to wind up being a hyper-intelligent cuddly panda bear. A gift from his dad, his Panda Mo Nium is an exclusive kids-only AI toy and communication device with big ideas of his own. After other students at his school get their own robot pandas, Lewis suddenly has a friend group. When Mo begins asking Lewis to perform risky and bloody tasks, Lewis goes along despite his nerves…until the line between cute and creepy blurs and he senses evil intentions behind his AI friend’s glowing eyes. What does this robot panda really want from him and the other kids? The truth might be more frightening than Lewis ever imagined.
Peter Lerangis
Peter Lerangis’s award-winning books have sold nearly seven million copies and been translated into thirty-five languages. His nine New York Times bestsellers include the entire Seven Wonders fantasy series and his 39 Clues books. His latest include a graphic novel adaptation of The Sword Thief; the hilarious Beasties, about five friends who become animals on a field trip; Throwback, a time-travel trilogy, and the Max Tilt adventures. He is a contributor to the new Fan Edition: Baby-Sitters Summer. He’s also performed on Broadway, run a marathon, rock-climbed during a 6.1 magnitude earthquake, and graduated Harvard with a degree in biochemistry.
Featured title: Baby-Sitters Club Fan Edition: Baby-Sitters Summer
The secret is out! Peter Lerangis, bestselling adventure-series author, has been chosen as part of an all-star lineup behind series creator Ann M. Martin, for the first new Baby-Sitters Club novel in over a decade! Released in honor of the series fortieth birthday, Fan Edition: Baby-Sitters Summer tells the story of a summer to remember for The Baby-Sitters Club, with Mary Anne and Stacey staying in Stoneybrook while Kristy, Claudia, Dawn, Jessi, and Mallory head on adventures all across the map. Peter gives Dawn Schafer a summer in a theater camp, where absolutely nothing goes as planned!
Kristine A. Lombardi
Kristine A. Lombardi has written and illustrated several books for children, including Crouton, Lovey Bunny, Mr. Biddles, My Wish for the World and The Grumpy Pets, which garnered an International Literacy Association Children’s Choice Selection. She loves quirky characters and tender stories written with lots of heart. She lives and works in Montclair, New Jersey. When she is not working, Kristine can be found taking long walks, antiquing for vintage ephemera and curiosities, riding waves at the beach, or swimming laps at her favorite pool.
Featured title: Crouton
Join Crouton, a lovable shelter cat, as she searches for her perfect person—because not everyone would be the right fit. But wait! Who is that over there? This heartwarming adoption story playfully told from the pet’s perspective celebrates the joy of finding a furever home.
Each day I watch people walk by my crate.
I am always on the lookout for my person.
Crouton is starting to wonder if her person is out there… But wait! Who is that adorable little girl? All the other animals are trying to adopt her!
When Crouton finally takes the little girl home, she makes sure she is well-fed, well-groomed—she even helps her focus on her homework and lets her know when it’s time to take a break!
Perfect for cat lovers or anyone who has ever adopted a pet, this simple story told from Crouton’s perspective will inspire readers to see the world through the eyes of the pets that chose them.
Daniel J. Mahoney
Award-winning author and illustrator Daniel J. Mahoney has been drawing since he was old enough to hold a crayon. When he’s not creating books for young readers, such as We Don’t Eat Our Neighbors, Monstergarten, A Really Good Snowman, and The Saturday Escape, he can be found riding his bike, chasing waterfalls, with his hiking club, and zapping people with x-rays at the hospital where he works. Daniel creates art traditionally using a variety of mediums including watercolor, acrylic, acrylic gouache, gouache, micron markers, and pen and ink. He grew up in Albany, New York, and currently resides on a cozy street in the country with his amazing daughter.
Featured title: My Cat is a Secret Agent
My Cat is a Secret Agent is a humorous children’s picture book about a girl named Samantha who tries to convince her parents that her cat, Walter (codename “Agent Kitty Pants”), is a secret spy. The question is, will this undercover feline prove his impressive espionage skills battling foes, including a butt-sniffing pup, a wild-haired kitty, and a band of mischievous mice, or will he find his missions compromised? With Samantha’s help, perhaps Walter can show that there’s a bit of secret agent in all of us. The book follows Walter’s “missions,” which include battling mice and a neighborhood cat, as he uses spy gadgets and secret agent moves to prove his skills, much to the exasperation of his owners. It is praised for its funny, offbeat illustrations and is compared to the work of James Marshall and Adam Rubin.
Pooja Makhijani
Pooja Makhijani is a writer, mother, and baker. She is the author of the picture books Mama’s Saris and Bread Is Love, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Teen Vogue, Real Simple, Publisher’s Weekly and Bon Appétit among others. She holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Rutgers University and has twice been in residence at SPACE on Ryder Farm. She lives in Central New Jersey with her daughter.
Featured title: Together for Mama
Asha becomes a big sister and a big help to her parents when Mama struggles to find energy after the baby’s birth. This touching and meaningful story will reassure families who are experiencing the hardship of postpartum depression. Asha loves baby Maya, and she’s so happy to be a big sister. But Mama seems sad. Asha hears her whisper to Papa, “I can’t do this” and hears Papa on the phone to Dadi and Nani, asking them to come. The next day, the two grandmothers arrive, ready to tidy and cook and comfort. “Will Mama feel better?” Asha asks Nani. “I believe she will,” Nani answers. “Especially with our help.” This honest and empathetic story sheds light on a common challenge, providing young children and their parents with the knowledge and reassurance they need.
Kate Milford
Kate Milford is the New York Times bestselling author of the Edgar Award–winning, National Book Award nominee Greenglass House, as well as Ghosts of Greenglass House, Bluecrowne, The Thief Knot, The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book, and many more. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
Featured title: Rialto
Ivy and Dahlia Vicar know this summer’s trip to visit friends in Rialto, Missouri, is going to be different from their usual family vacations.
Twelve-year-old Dahlia, an artist who lives with anxiety, is looking forward to something new. Rialto, after all, has its own abandoned theme park! But mystery-loving, fourteen-year-old Ivy is struggling with how to be the right kind of big sister to Dahlia, and longs for the way things—especially vacations—were when they were younger.
In Rialto, it quickly becomes clear that this vacation will also be different in totally unexpected ways. For one thing, the town stands in the middle of an improbable forest that, according to local legend, swallowed it overnight decades before. Then there are Dahlia’s even more improbable sightings of impossible creatures—a giraffe with antlers and a leopard with wings. And there’s their new friend Remy, whose family inherited the house they’re all staying in from an aunt who left bequests for local friends that Remy must personally distribute.
When he enlists Ivy and Dahlia to help deliver these gifts, they find themselves drawn into a mystery going back to the time when Rialto Park was still open. And it begins to seem that, if they are going to help Remy solve it, they will have to find a way to believe in magic.
Themes of friendship, family, mental health, and resilience are expertly woven through this magical, richly imagined story of two sisters and an enigmatic town that transforms everyone who visits it.
Kayla Miller
Kayla Miller is the New York Times bestselling creator of the graphic novels Click, Camp, Act, Clash, Crunch, Break, and Stuck and the co-author of the Besties series from the World of Click. An author-illustrator and cartoonist with a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Kayla currently lives and works in New York state and when not writing or drawing they enjoy watching bad movies, trying to cook new recipes, playing board games, and reading other people’s graphic novels.
Featured title: Besties
School’s out and Trent and Sawyer have their eyes on the prize: To be kings of the ring toss, achieve winter carnival glory, and bring home the coveted “Big Banana.” After hours of practice, nothing can get in their way… until they start going their separate ways. Sawyer is hurt by his best friend’s changing priorities when Trent catches feelings for a classmate’s visiting cousin. While Trent splits his time between old friends and new, Sawyer grumpily doubles down on Mission: Big Banana – with or without his partner in carnival crime. Is their epic best friendship headed for a breakdown…or a breakthrough?
Janice Milusich
Janice Milusich is a children’s author and a teacher for the visually impaired, presently working with preschool students. She has an M.S. degree in Education for the Visually Impaired/Blind from Hunter, and her students and their experiences are often the inspiration for her writing. A graduate of Stony Brook’s Children’s Literature Fellowship and Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Lab, her works for children include picture books and the chapter book series, Cleo’s Big Ideas. She lives in Port Jefferson, New York with her family.
Featured title: I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea
Neveah is blind, but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy each of the four wondrous seasons of the year.
She knows it’s winter when her boots go scruuunch in the snow and cold flakes land softly on her tongue. She knows spring has come by the smell of hyacinths, the bzzzz of a bee in her ear.
Summer is a trip to the beach, where she can hear the crash of ocean waves and the keowww of seagulls overhead. And when Neveah’s rake goes scritch scratch over fallen leaves and the air turns brisk, she knows it’s autumn. Soon the cycle of seasons will begin anew.
In this poetic story, join Neveah as she uses her senses of touch, taste, hearing, and smell to vividly describe the changing seasons and the unique delights they each have to offer.
Roxie Munro
Roxie is the author-illustrator of more than fifty-five nonfiction books for children, many using “gamification” to encourage reading, learning, and engagement. Awards include the New York Times Best Illustrated and Smithsonian’s Best Science Book. Her books have been translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese. Roxie has been an artist all her life. Fourteen of her paintings have been published as covers of The New Yorker. She freelanced as a television courtroom artist in Washington D.C. Clients included CBS, The Washington Post, and Associated Press. Her art is exhibited in the United States in galleries and museums, and is in numerous private, public, and corporate collections. Roxie studied at the University of Maryland, Maryland Institute College of Art, University of Hawaii (B.F.A. in Painting), graduate school at Ohio University (Athens), and received a Yaddo Fellowship in Painting.
Featured title: Treasure Thieves on the High Seas: Pirates, Privateers, and Plunder
What was it like to live on a pirate ship? Climb aboard and set sail with acclaimed author Roxie Munro in this nonfiction picture book adventure through the ages.
Did pirates really have peg legs? Did they make captives and disobedient crew “walk the plank?” What treasures did they actually steal? Were there toilets onboard ships? Nonfiction pro Roxie Munro has the answers to kids’ questions about the real-life pirates kids love.
In this historical and scientifically-oriented approach to a popular topic, Munro invites young readers aboard to sail the seven seas with pirates of legend—Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and more! Beyond meeting the fascinating fiends of the open ocean (like the infamous Blackbeard, who relied on the power of intimidation, and Grace O’Malley, the “Pirate Queen”), readers will sail full STEAM ahead as they learn about navigation technology, the environment, economics, geology, architecture, and more. The back matter includes a glossary, information on different types of vessels, author’s note, and maps of famous captains’ routes to enable young readers to truly take their turn at the helm.
Matt Myklusch
Matt Myklusch is the author of ten books and graphic novels, including the Imagine Nation, Jack Blank, Order of the Majestic, and Seaborne series. His lifelong love of comic books and refusal to grow up have made him an expert on superheroes, robot zombies, kiteboarding pirates, magic, and other important impossibilities. When he was a kid, he wanted to be a comic book penciller. That didn’t happen, but he never stopped drawing—and now he’s writing comic books, so it all worked out. He lives in New Jersey with his family.
Featured title: Imagine Nation: The Unreachable Star
Return to the Imagine Nation – home to all things fantastic and unbelievable – from comic book superheroes to intergalactic aliens! Allegra and Jack Blank find themselves unlikely partners with a notorious space pirate, blasting off on a cosmic treasure hunt. They will travel to the very edge of the universe, fighting their way through alien war zones and flying dangerously close to deadly space anomalies. The pirate is after a priceless fortune, but Allegra is chasing something even more valuable… lost memories of her mother, who died freeing her from a Rüstov prison colony when she was just a baby.
Dan Poblocki
Dan Poblocki is an American author of mystery, horror, and adventure novels for young people. He is the co-author with Neil Patrick Harris of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Magic Misfits (writing under the pen-name Alec Azam). He’s also the author of My Brother’s Butt is Haunted, Tales to Keep You Up at Night, More Tales to Keep You Up at Night, and many more.
Featured title: Shadow Play
Fans of K.R. Alexander, Mary Downing Hahn, and India Hill Brown will flock to this spooky book that will haunt your dreams… literally. Shelby and Jane aren’t happy to be stuck with their grandparents, tucked away in the Catskills, surrounded by old, abandoned resorts. It’s like the whole town is trapped in a dream. The days seem to drag on forever. That is, until neighbors tell them the legend of the psychic who used to perform at the theater next door. To this day, if you wait until night, then shine a light on the bare brick wall, shadows play out your future. Shelby and Jane are no scaredy cats, so they go to check it out. To their horror, silhouettes appear and act out a murder. But then the silhouette of the murderer stops what he’s doing and notices them – his audience. The kids RUN. But they can’t escape the shadows that continue to haunt them in their nightmares. Will they be able to fight their fortunes, or will the nightmares become reality?
Anica Mrose Rissi
Anica Mrose Rissi is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for kids and teens, including the Anna, Banana chapter book series, the spooky middle grade collection Hide and Don’t Seek: And Other Very Scary Stories, and the YA novel Girl Reflected in Knife. Anica grew up on an island off the coast of Maine, where she read a lot of books and loved a lot of pets. She now lives in central New Jersey with her very good dog, Sweet Potato. She loves visiting schools and getting kids of all ages excited about reading and writing.
Featured title: The Teacher’s Pet
Mr. Stricter always wanted a pet. So when their class tadpoles are big enough, Mr. Stricter tells his students they can keep just one. The class chooses Bruno, the smallest of the bunch. But Bruno doesn’t stay that way for long. Soon, he’s grown into a giant, classroom-wrecking creature: he eats desks, he farts for show-and-tell, and he sneezes slime all over everything! With Mr. Stricter blinded by love for the pet, the students must step up and take matters into their own heroic hands.
Dave Roman
Dave Roman is the author-illustrator of several graphic novel series, including Unicorn Boy and Astronaut Academy. He’s worked as a writer on Teen Boat! Race for Boatlantis (with John Patrick Green) and as an illustrator for Goosebumps Graphix: Slappy’s Tales of Horror. Dave teaches at the School of Visual Arts and worked as an editor for InvestiGators by John Patrick Green, First Second’s Science Comics, and Nickelodeon Magazine. Dave draws a webcomic called Pup & Duck, lives in New York City, and is always on the lookout for the perfect waffle.
Featured title: Unicorn Boy and the Slumber Party of Doom
In Unicorn Boy and the Slumber Party of Doom, our hero Unicorn Boy sets out in search of deep mystical knowledge: how to fit in at a sleep-over, how to handle everyone seeming cooler than you are, and what’s up with this whole unicorn thing? Perfect for readers of Narwhal and Jelly, Grumpy Unicorn, and InvestiGators.
Brian Reyes always felt a bit different – even before growing a unicorn horn, discovering a talking muffin, and swallowing the ruler of the Underworld to save his BFF. So when he receives a mysterious invitation for a Unicorn-Only Sleepover, Brian wonders if these fellow magical creatures might help him make sense of his increasingly odd world. Held in an enchanted castle in the clouds, not everything at this glitzy, glamorous party is as it seems, and Brian will have to fend off increasing social anxiety, ignore the negative feelings in his gut, and stay true to himself if he’s going to survive the night!
With a wave of his magic pen, Dave Roman has created a cast of charming oddballs reckoning with normal, everyday problems – you know, things like heroic destinies and the fate of all magic in the universe.
Scott Rothman
Scott Rothman is a writer of picture books, screenplays, theater and humor pieces. His book Kittybunkport was featured on the Today Show and selected by Jenna Bush Hager for her Summer Reading List and his book Warm And Fuzzy received a starred review from Booklist. Screenplays and scripts he has co-written have been made into films starring Kevin Costner and Nicolas Cage. His humor writing has appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, and McSweeney’s. Scott received an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from New York University.
Featured title: I am a Squirrel
I am a Squirrel, where a kid believes he is a squirrel even though his older brother disagrees, is an ode to imaginative play that will inspire playtime and ensure both parents and children will be laughing-out-loud, too.
Claudie Rueda
Claudia Rueda is a Colombian author and New York Times bestselling illustrator of over thirty picture books. Rueda’s books have been published in the United States, Mexico and Spain and have been translated into seventeen languages for Asia and Europe. She’s been a nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards. Claudia lives in New York City and teaches picture book writing at the School of Visual Arts.
Featured title: The Smushkins: In the Snow
Join the Smushkins as they romp and play in the snow in a new board book that’s poised to be a wintertime favorite. There are so many fun things to do with the Smushkins! Join Puff, Bloo, and Tippi for some sledding (and a surprise encounter with Mr. Moose). Go snowshoeing with Opie (and make an aww-fully cute new friend). Try skiing with Iona (oops! oof!), or maybe try hot-tubbing instead. Amid a tumble of bright scarves, hats, and gloves, the adorable Smushkins return to frolic in a winter wonderland. With the gentle spirit of Lucy Cousins’s Maisy and the offbeat charm of the Moomins, the Smushkins are sure to delight the youngest of readers.
Rachel Renée Russell & Nikki Russell
Rachel Renée Russell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dork Diaries, an international blockbuster series chronicling the life and misadventures of middle school students. The Dork Diaries series has spent over 334 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and been translated into forty-five languages. The series has garnered such honors as two Children’s Choice Book Awards and an NAACP Image Award For Outstanding Literary Work For Children. Rachel is also the author of a second New York Times bestselling series, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly. She graduated from Northwestern University and practiced consumer bankruptcy law for twenty years before starting her writing career.
Rachel’s daughter, Nikki Russell, is the illustrator for both the Dork Diaries and Max Crumbly book series. Nikki graduated from the University of Michigan and is working on her own exciting book projects. The mother-daughter team has released twenty-two consecutive New York Times bestsellers with characters as diverse as the millions of tweens who read their books.
Featured title: Dork Diaries Full-Color Edition: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
In the mother-daughter team’s latest collaboration, Nikki Maxwell is starting a new school. This means a brand new diary in amazing full color! (Think gumballs, rainbows, and Skittles.)
WARNING: This diary contains drawing and drama that will cause groans, gasps, and giggles!
Meredith Rusu
Meredith Rusu is the bestselling author of more than one hundred children’s books, notably her award-winning Mighty Moods picture book series and When Auggie Learned to Play Chess. She has also written for many popular licenses including Clifford, Disney/Pixar, Star Wars, and Bluey. Meredith lives in New Jersey with her husband and two young sons and can usually be found cheering them on at the baseball field.
Featured title: The Griffin on my Back
Sprint, strike, score! This Griffin makes me soar! Robby plays soccer so well, it’s as if a mighty Griffin is lifting him to victory. He’s confident that he’s the sports star in the family. No other talent can compare! But when his sister takes the spotlight, will his Griffin learn to share? Filled with catchy rhymes and lively illustrations, this empowering story helps kids celebrate their talents while learning the importance of teamwork, respect, and cheering others on. The Mighty Moods series is a delightful collection of picture books that explores the creative ways children express big emotions.
Steve Sheinkin
Steve Sheinkin is the acclaimed author of fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction histories, including Diamond Fever!, Fallout, Undefeated, Born to Fly, The Port Chicago 50, and Bomb. He is also the co-author, with Ruta Sepetys, of the New York Times bestselling middle grade novel, The Bletchley Riddle. His accolades include a Newbery Honor, three Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, a Sibert Medal and Honor, and three National Book Award finalist honors. He lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and two children.
Featured title: Mind vs. Machine
It’s May 1997 in Manhattan, New York. World champion Garry Kasparov is about to begin a six-game match against Deep Blue, the cutting-edge super computer developed by a team of visionaries at IBM. No machine has ever defeated a chess champion in a multi-game match.
If it happens, it will be a major turning point in human history. It will be, as Newsweek declares on its cover, “the Brain’s Last Stand.”
Will the human mind prevail? Or is this checkmate for humankind?
Told gripping storytelling and first-hand accounts from Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, with riveting illustrations by Eisner winner Thien Pham (Family Style: A Memoir), this nail-biting narrative captures the excitement and suspense of a classic sports showdown and explores thought-provoking themes about where humanity stands at the rise of AI.
Emma Straub
Emma Straub is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books for adults, most recently the novels American Fantasy and This Time Tomorrow, and the short story collection Other People We Married. She is also the author of three picture books: Gaga Mistake Day, which she co-wrote with her mother, Mama Hug, and Very Good Hats. Emma was also recently one of the co-writers for a first-of-its-kind spin off, The Baby-sitters Club Fan Edition: Baby-sitters Summer, along with creator Ann M. Martin. A Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, Emma and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn.
Featured title: Baby-Sitters Club Fan Edition: Baby-Sitters Summer
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Baby-sitters Club, The Baby-sitters Club Fan Edition: Baby-sitters Summer is a first of its kind spin-off from the original series where multiple authors – all fans of the original series – wrote their interpretation of what each Baby-sitters character might be doing for the summer. It’s a summer to remember for The Baby-sitters Club, with Mary Anne and Stacey staying in Stoneybrook while Kristy, Claudia, Dawn, Jessi, and Mallory head on adventures all across the map.
Dr. Tara Draper Stumm
Dr. Tara Draper-Stumm is a historian and Egyptologist. She lives in Sevenoaks, Kent, England with her husband, two cats (Chewy and Chloe) and a Welsh corgi named Carrie. Her writing is often inspired by her pets, travel and a deep passion for historical research and enquiry. She enjoys writing educational adventures and historical fiction that will inspire seven to eleven-year-old readers to discover history and the wonders of their local library.
Featured title: Carrie the Corgi and the Pets of Destiny
Carrie the Corgi has questions about her magical coin and its eternal symbol, the Ouroboros. Before she can question Chewy, her time travelling cat, he tells her they’re going on a school trip to Chartwell, home of Sir Winston Churchill, the great Prime Minister. Her questions will have to wait. But this is only the beginning, and they soon find themselves in war-torn London with Nelson the cat, chief mouser of 10 Downing Street. Thanks to Nelson and a chance meeting with the first royal corgi, Carrie learns about the Pets of Destiny – can loyalty and friendship be the greatest power in the universe? Can it change the course of history? Carrie and Chewy just might find out.
Rowboat Watkins
Rowboat Watkins, author of Rude Cakes and Go-Go Guys is a recipient of both the Sendak Fellowship and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award. He lives with his family in Brooklyn. He may or may not have a mustache.
Featured title: Mousestache Moosestache
From the wild imagination of Rowboat Watkins comes a riotous read-aloud book about every kind of mustache imaginable! Hip, hip, HOORAY-stache! It’s your lucky day-stache! Join Mouse and Moose in a mustache-mania world packed with silly rhymes and playful illustrations—perfect for building early reading skills, nurturing a love of language, and keeping readers laughing along the way. Sit down and stay-stache! And read this book right AWAY-stache!
Yoojin Grace Wuertz
Yoojin Grace Wuertz is the author of Everything Belongs To Us, which was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and included on Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction of 2017. Grace was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to the United States at age six. She holds a B.A. in English from Yale University and an M.F.A. in fiction from New York University. Wuertz is an acclaimed novelist making her picture book debut. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her family.
Featured title: Habbi’s Treasures
Habbi’s Treasures is a heartfelt ode to family, memory, and the stories that live in the everyday things we hold dear. During a game of hide-and-seek at his grandfather’s house, Caleb finds something unexpected—a box full of unknown treasures. Inside are old clothes: a worn school uniform, a polished naval jacket, a folded tuxedo, and a pair of grass-stained jeans. One by one, Habbi shares the story behind each treasure, passing down his life’s journey to Caleb. Inspired by her own family’s history, Wuertz’s poignant intergenerational story demonstrates the importance of resilience, gratitude, and the wisdom we pass down.
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