10 Great New Children’s Books Out in May 2026

Although this is a book column and not a parenting column, I am going to take this space to own up to a parenting fail: I forgot to take my kids to an Independent Bookstore Day celebration on April 25th. Did you forget, too? It’s okay! You can join me in feeling tremendously guilty, and then all of us can make amends. Fortunately for us, tons of wonderful new children’s books land on shelves each May, making it the perfect month for a celebratory bookstore or library visit.

So choose a convenient Saturday, round up some friends or family, and take them on a book-centered outing with an optional stop for ice cream afterward (if you can keep everyone from dripping all over their new books). And while you’re out, keep your eyes peeled for these ten new titles for young readers. Some are from beloved creators, others are from exciting newer voices, and all are very much worth your time.

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Christian Robinson, Dad

Balzer + Bray, May 12
Recommended for ages 3-6

I expect that Dad will be on display in bookstores everywhere leading up to Father’s Day, but it’s not really a holiday title; it feels more like a timeless classic. Through simple text and brilliant animal illustrations reminiscent of Eric Carle’s finest, Caldecott honoree Christian Robinson presents a lovely and nuanced portrait of dads across the animal kingdom, from lions to seahorses to humans. A shark dad “needs lots of space,” an owl dad “had to go away” to find food for the family, and a porcupine dad “makes mistakes” (presumably sharp ones), but regardless of their species, the dads in this book are celebrated for their caregiving, their complexities, and their devotion to their children.

Stephen Barr, Sixteen Games of Hide and Seek

Illustrated by Steve Teare
Neal Porter Books, May 12
Recommended for ages 4-8

On the first page of this charmingly unique picture book, the narrator says, “This is me and my dad,” but readers are presented with a picture of a dad and…a potted plant? Kids will be quick to catch on that the narrator and his father are playing a game of hide and seek, occasionally roping the family dog into the fun, and giving readers a chance to play along through clever design choices and illustrations. Throughout the story, author Stephen Barr and illustrator Steve Teare get the highs and lows of childhood emotion just right: The narrator’s frustration that his dad is sometimes a little too good at finding him, followed by his worry that he won’t ever be found even in a scary thunderstorm, will ring especially true to real hide-and-seekers.

Lauren Wolk, The Outermost Mouse

Illustrated by Kristen Adam
Dutton, May 19
Recommended for ages 4-8

To imagine the opening pages of this picture book, with text by Newbery honoree Lauren Wolk and artwork by Kristen Adam, think of Miss Rumphius, and then envision its heroine as a mouse. Like Alice Rumphius before her, the Outermost Mouse has a beautiful life in a seaside cottage that she shares with an old man. But the sea is inching closer, the beach is washing away, and although the mouse tries her best, there is nothing she can do to prevent her beautiful life from changing for good. When a fierce storm arrives and even the old man evacuates the cottage, the brave mouse is determined not to give up on the things she loves most, even though she may be too small to save them.

Catharina Valckx, Edith: The Girl Who Was 100 Years Old

Translated by Antony Shugaar
Gecko Press, May 5
Recommended for ages 6-10

I really loved this delightfully quirky illustrated story, originally published in France, about a little girl named Edith who receives gifts from two fairies just after she’s born. The first fairy bestows upon Edith the gift of animation, the ability to bring objects to life. The second fairy gives Edith a slightly messier gift: eternal childhood. Then Edith grows up—but only until she’s ten years old. Ninety years later, Edith is still ten and very much over it. She wants to have friends, become an adult, and experience the rest of what life has to offer! With the help of her talking dog and an adorable lemon named Squirt, Edith sets out to find the last remaining fairy who might be able to break the spell. Edith is a great choice for a read-aloud or a gentle introduction to longer stories for kids who already enjoy short chapter books.

Goldy Moldavsky, On the Road to Happy

Quill Tree Books, May 5
Recommended for ages 8-12

When Gigi’s dad takes a summer job as a handyman at Shir Gershon, a bungalow colony in upstate New York, Gigi and her older sister Yasmin tag along with him. Not that Gigi is happy about it: She’d prefer to spend the summer at home in Brooklyn, not in the middle of the woods in a community where she feels wildly out of place. Gigi’s family is Jewish but not Orthodox like the other families, and they speak Spanish at home, not Russian. Gigi decides to run away, but her plans keep going awry—and maybe there’s more fun and friendship to be found at the bungalow colony than she thought? Author Goldy Moldavsky’s narrative voice is instantly likeable, and young readers will love getting to experience a summer of new adventures through Gigi’s eyes.

Liv Mae Morris, The Last Dragon House

Amulet, May 12
Recommended for ages 8-12

Debut novelist Liv Mae Morris serves up just what I’m craving at the moment: dragons, and lots of them, presented in a refreshingly fun and funny middle grade package. When Olly Atwood finds a mysterious job advertisement on a notice board, he follows it to Dragon House, where Dr. Lady Abernathy cares for and protects dragons of all kinds. The need for protection becomes unfortunately clear when Dr. Lady herself is poisoned, and Olly heads off with his new dragon acquaintances to find an antidote. Meanwhile, Olly’s sister Jenny is learning that she has a few magical talents of her own. Footnotes and excerpts from imaginary texts add to the story’s worldbuilding and its charm.

Steve Sheinkin, Diamond Fever! A True Crime Story in the Wild West

Illustrated by Jon Chad
Roaring Brook Press, May 12
Recommended for ages 9-14

Children’s nonfiction fans know that a new book from Steve Sheinkin is always something to look forward to, and I’m particularly excited to read Diamond Fever!, Sheinkin’s collaboration with cartoonist and illustrator Jon Chad. In prose and comic-style panels, Sheinkin and Chad take readers back to the 1870s American West to tell the story of two men, Philip Arnold and John Slack, who claim to have discovered diamonds—and who end up defrauding many powerful people during what comes to be known as the “Great Diamond Hoax.” Young readers drawn in by the wild-but-true story and engaging artwork will end up learning more than a few fascinating things about American history along the way.

Yamile Saied Méndez, Hear Ye Mortals

Levine Querido, May 5
Recommended for ages 12-18

Like her award-winning novel Furia, Yamile Saied Méndez’s new book for young adults is set in the city of Rosario, Argentina. This time, however, an otherworldly narrator transports us from present-day Rosario to the city as it was in 1976, during the political unrest in the years following Juan Perón’s death. Brothers Daniel and Adrián Aguirre love nothing more than making music together, composing melodies and writing powerful lyrics. But under the authoritarian military regime that comes to power after a coup, being a musician is dangerous, and the Aguirres’ band, Río Babel, becomes an accidental voice of rebellion. Through the band members’ stories, Méndez guides readers expertly through a historical landscape that may be unfamiliar to them and examines thought-provoking ideas about art and protest.

Soman Chainani, Young World

Random House Books for Young Readers, May 5
Recommended for ages 14 and up

Soman Chainani is best known for his School for Good and Evil fantasy novels, but in Young World he imagines the ramifications of a more contemporary fantastic scenario: What if a high school student won the United States presidency and sparked a global youth rebellion? When Benton Young records a YouTube video demanding that young people be allowed to make real political change, he’s just trying to prove to the girl he likes that he cares about something. Then the video goes viral, the American political system can’t handle the fallout, and Benton winds up in the Oval Office. Through Benton’s journal entries and well-designed multimedia excerpts (maps, newspaper articles, social media posts, and more), Chainani encourages teen readers to ask questions about who has power and how that power could—or should—be used.

Elana K. Arnold, Holloway

Clarion, May 5
Recommended for ages 14 and up

Elana K. Arnold’s award-winning prose is on brilliant display in Holloway, a novel about a young woman named Nora who has traveled from California to Paris in August of 2021 to spread her mother Gillian’s ashes. Nora and Gillian had been “a team of two” during Nora’s childhood, navigating the landscape of Nora’s autism and the challenges of the pandemic. Now, alone, Nora intends to scatter Gillian’s ashes in a place her mother was never able to see in life. But as the novel slips into a more speculative mode, Nora is transported to an asylum in the French countryside of 1946. In this unfamiliar moment in time, as Nora forms relationships with the others at the asylum, she comes to understand more about her mother’s life and about her own place in the world.