10 Great New Children’s Books Out in August 2026

When the legendary children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom, who worked with luminaries like Maurice Sendak and E.B. White, was challenged about her qualifications to publish children’s books, she replied, “Well, I am a former child, and I haven’t forgotten a thing.” I once gave more or less the same answer (less imposingly, more abashedly) to a neighbor who asked me how I dared to write books for children, and I’ve come to believe that the artists who create work for young people are all particularly qualified to do that work not because they have taught kids, raised kids, or studied kids, but because they were kids, and they remember the emotional experience of childhood with astonishing clarity. In a successful book for children, no matter what outlandish stuff might be happening on the page, young readers will see their real emotions faithfully represented there—and older readers will be reminded of what it felt like to be a child who was lonely, anxious, playful, ambitious, left out, angry, open-hearted, and loved.

Here are ten excellent new books that reflect the ups and downs of young readers’ emotional lives, from toddlerhood to the teenage years.

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Dan Yaccarino, I Am Murphy and I Am Waiting
Henry Holt and Co., August 25
recommended for ages 4-8

Murphy, a French bulldog, is about to become readers’ new best friend: He’s got a mischievous streak, an Eloise-esque knack for describing his day, and an abiding love for his boy, who has been taken away by a big yellow bus to parts unknown. Now, Murphy must wait for his boy to come home. He passes the time in a number of practical ways, like exercising with the toilet paper roll and searching for his boy inside a bag of flour. Dan Yaccarino brings his canine hero to loveable life with illustrations that will make kids laugh and long to give Murphy a hug as big as the one he receives when his boy finally comes home.

Adrienne Thurman, The Brunch Shift
illustrated by Mags DeRoma
Random House Studio, August 25
recommended for ages 4-8

I love this warm-hearted picture book about a little girl who wakes up early on Saturday mornings to accompany her mother to work at a restaurant, where Mama waits tables during the “egg-crackin’, pancake-flippin’, orange-juicin’ brunch shift.” Waiting patiently through a long day of bus rides, kitchen cleanup, and watching other kids enjoy time with their parents, the narrator wishes that Saturdays could be reserved for the fun, relaxing things she’d really like to do with Mama. But Mama’s imagination helps the time pass more quickly, and the duo become brave knights protecting from a dragon from a prince, or heroes capturing art thieves at a museum. The bright artwork and friendly prose capture the complexities of kids’ emotions and celebrate the fun that a loving caregiver and child can have together even when life feels tough.

Margarita Engle, Wifredo’s Jungle: The Power of Wifredo Lam’s Art
illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara
Abrams, August 25
recommended for ages 6-8

In this excellent picture book biography, award-winning writer Margarita Engle and illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara introduce readers to the early 20th-century Cuban painter Wifredo Lam. Young Wifredo loved drawing images from his dreams and was later sent to art school to study the work of the European masters. As an adult, Wifredo became acquainted with other working artists like Picasso and Miró, and his work developed to reflect the influences not only of his visionary friends but also of his Cuban, Chinese, and African heritage and of a society thrown into turmoil by World War II. With fresh prose and exquisite drawings set on brown and black paper backgrounds, Wifredo’s Jungle is a worthy read for art and history lovers of all ages.

Eiko Kadono, Kiki and the New Magic (Kiki’s Delivery Service #2)
illustrated by Yuta Onoda, translated by Emily Balistrieri
Delacorte, August 25
recommended for ages 8-12

Before Kiki’s Delivery Service became a beloved Studio Ghibli animated film about a young witch honing her powers, it was an equally beloved novel by Eiko Kadono, published in Japan in 1985 and followed by a number of sequels. Delacorte Press published a new English edition of the first book in 2020, translated by Emily Balistrieri and illustrated by Yuta Onoda. This month, the same team brings the second book in the series to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Kiki is now one year into her life as an established witch in a seaside village, living above a bakery and delivering items around town on her broomstick. As in the first book, each chapter recounts a new adventure in Kiki’s life. She delivers a hippo to a veterinarian, learns to hear the music of trees, and contemplates challenges of friendship, newfound fame, and growing up.

Robin Easter, Middle School Monsters
Little, Brown Ink, August 4
recommended for ages 8-12

Middle school can be tough for any kid, but it’s even harder when you’re a werewolf. In Robin Easter’s new graphic novel, monster-loving Jamie moves to a new town and tries to find her place in the school’s social ecosystem. Jamie loves scary movies and likes to imagine herself as her werewolf alter ego, Scout, but she wouldn’t dream of revealing her true personality to the “normal” girls who’ve taken her under their wing. They’ve already warned her to steer clear of Vera, a loner who’s rumored to be a vampire. When Jamie realizes that Vera is the only kid at school who seems to like Jamie for who she truly is, she has to decide whether she’s willing to risk social ostracism for the sake of a genuine friendship. The monsters are mostly metaphorical in this book, but the middle school emotions are vividly real.

Tiffany D. Jackson, Ghost in the Night
Scholastic, August 4
recommended for ages 9-12

Readers who enjoyed Tiffany D. Jackson’s 2025 novel Blood in the Water will be thrilled to get their hands on Ghost in the Night, Jackson’s newest mystery for the middle grade set. Twelve-year-old Harmony is fascinated by ghosts and determined to photograph one. When she accompanies her blues guitarist dad on a trip to the notoriously haunted city of Savannah, Georgia, Harmony signs up for a ghost tour and snaps an otherworldly photo. But is the spirit she captures on camera real? Could it lead Harmony and her new friends to the truth behind a modern crime? Award-winning author Jackson delivers clever characters, atmospheric settings, and plenty of thrills to mystery-loving fans.

Andrea Beatriz Arango, No Place on Earth
Random House, August 25
recommended for ages 10 and up

This month brings a new middle grade novel from Andrea Beatriz Arango, who won a Newbery Honor for her 2022 book Iveliz Explains It All. In No Place on Earth, readers meet sixth grader Gustavo, who’s on the verge of a big life change: His parents are undergoing a trial separation, and while he’d prefer to stay in Puerto Rico with Pa, it’s been decided that he’ll move three thousand miles away to Yellowstone National Park, where Ma has accepted a new job. Gustavo has always struggled with panic attacks and bad dreams, but after the move, things get strange when he meets his new classmate Kordell inside his dream. Told in prose, poetry, and text messages, this novel employs the fantastic to take a thoughtful, honest look at kids’ experiences with anxiety.

Billie Jean King with Liz Robbins, See It To Be It: Eleven Champions Leading Women’s Sports Today
Calkins Creek, August 11
recommended for ages 12 and up

Everyone watches women’s sports, and this inspiring new collection will give young readers more reasons to keep watching, playing, and making their own marks on the world. In engaging profiles, tennis legend Billie Jean King and journalist Liz Robbins write about eleven different players making waves in women’s sports, focusing not only on their athletic accomplishments but also on the ways they’ve broken barriers, stood up against injustice, and fought for the causes they believe in. The range of athletes interviewed in the collection is refreshingly diverse, including household names like Caitlin Clark and Naomi Osaka alongside impressive champions from the worlds of flag football, volleyball, track, Paralympic swimming, and more.

Jessica Spotswood, The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls
Henry Holt and Co., August 25
recommended for ages 14-18

Two of my favorite authors working in young adult fiction have new novels coming out this month, and I can’t wait to read both. The first is The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood, author of the Cahill Witch Chronicles fantasy trilogy. Set in the 1940s, The Harrow Home is historical fiction with a supernatural gothic edge: At an estate where young unwed mothers used to be sent during their pregnancies, the caretaker’s daughter, Grace, is haunted by the angry ghost of a girl who never left the Harrow Home. Rose, the daughter of the estate’s wealthy new owner, can sense the ghost, too. Together, Grace and Rose must uncover the Harrow Home’s secrets and seek justice—or ghostly vengeance—for the young women who suffered there.

Rae Carson, Monster, Monarch, Maiden
Greenwillow, August 25
recommended for ages 14 and up

The second young adult novel I can’t wait to read is Monster, Monarch, Maiden by speculative fiction writer Rae Carson (The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy), who has a gift for creating immersive fantasy worlds and populating them with bold, likable heroines. Seventeen-year-old Bria spends her days working at her family’s inn and wishing her magical Gift weren’t utterly useless. But Bria’s life as she knows it is overturned when raiders attack the inn, killing her family members and taking her captive. The raiders’ prisoners are saved by Titus, a young man on a mysterious quest of his own, but once Bria is freed from captivity, Titus leaves her to fend for herself in the wilderness. Bria quickly realizes that in order to survive, she’s got to attach herself to Titus and accompany him on his quest—regardless of what Titus might have to say about it.