10 Great New Children’s Books Out in October 2026

I recently decided to sort through my overstuffed shelves in search of books to give away: the ones I’m not likely to read again, the ones my kids aren’t interested in reading, the ones I was never all that fond of in the first place. My family alleges that I own too many books, and I admit they have a strong case. I didn’t think it would be too hard to find a few dozen titles to donate to a worthy cause.

I also didn’t think that I would end up wild-eyed in the stacks, waving a dust jacket at my sweet husband like a battle flag, shouting, “We will give away Miss Rumphius over my dead body!”

But of course this is what happened! Because stories are more than clutter. When we fall in love with a good book, it becomes an essential part of us. And to my family’s dismay, more good books are being published every week. To maintain household harmony, I am going to try not to purchase all ten of these lovely new titles for kids and young adults, but you certainly shouldn’t hold back.

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Risa Kusumoto, Which One Can You Eat?

Chronicle, October 20
Recommended for ages 0-3

If you have read dozens of concept books to your baby and are looking for a change of pace from the familiar ABCs and 123s, you’ll appreciate this funny, whimsical new board book. Artist Risa Kusumoto presents pairs of lookalike objects, one edible and one inedible, and asks readers to consider the question that babies have been contemplating for generations: Should I put it in my mouth? The illustrated object pairs are clever and often very funny (a grandma and a cabbage, an avocado and a T. rex), and the book’s brightly colored design is deliciously appealing. A companion title, Which One Can You Hug?, also publishes this month.

E.B. Goodale, Robin and the Moon

Abrams, October 13
Recommended for ages 3-6

A charming follow-up to Robin and the Stick, E.B. Goodale’s new picture book Robin and the Moon follows a curious young child on a night when the full moon shines in the winter sky. Robin pretends to play with the moon but becomes worried when the moon gets stuck in a tree. Even Robin’s breath won’t blow it free. In Robin’s imagination, the moon grows large and then pops like a ballon, leaving Robin and readers alike in awe of the world’s small moments of magic. I particularly love the handmade, nostalgic quality of Goodale’s monoprint illustrations: They make the whole book feel cozy and comfortable, like a story half-remembered from childhood.

Alessandra Requena, I Don’t Care What Simon Says

Illustrated by Aki
Tundra, October 20
Recommended for ages 3-7

One day at recess, Fifi discovers that everyone else on the playground is playing a strange game. A kid at the front of the group tells the others to do something, claiming the authority of an unseen figure named Simon, and everyone obeys! Fifi’s never seen anything like it, but Simon’s obvious power appeals to her right away, and she quickly takes over the game. “Simon says bring me cake!” she cries, and the other kids all hustle to procure ice cream cakes and wedding cakes. Fifi’s demands for puppies and a fortress from which she can rule the playground are similarly successful—but how long can her power trip last? This laugh-out-loud picture book will delight young readers (and anyone else who’d like several hundred puppies).

Mary E. Cronin, Trucks, Boots, and Bells: Firehouse Poems

Illustrated by Aaron Marin
Holiday House, October 6
Recommended for ages 4-8

For children who love to walk past the fire station, never miss a touch-a-truck event, and race around the house with vocal sirens blaring, this new poetry collection all about firefighters will be an enormous hit. Poet Mary E. Cronin, the daughter of a firefighter, takes young readers into the firehouse and along for the ride with vivid, kid-friendly verses about pulling on boots, zooming through traffic, fighting the flames, and gathering for a quick dinner between calls. In colorful illustrations that are just as energetic and immersive as the text, Aaron Marin pulls the whole adventure together. Even more facts about firefighting are included in the endmatter.

Nour Ferwana and Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, Under the Olive Moon

Illustrated by Raahat Kaduji
Candlewick, October 13
Recommended for ages 5-7

Under the Olive Moon is an illustrated collection of Palestinian fables co-written by Spanish children’s author Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Palestinian mom Nour Ferwana. Living in Gaza, Ferwana has passed these fables down to her own young children to remind them that “kindness and courage always exist, even when the world feels hard.” In one story, a little boy discovers a magical garden that appears only on the darkest nights; in another, two sisters use the moon as a boat and sail into the sky. The short, gentle tales and Raahat Kaduji’s peaceful full-color illustrations offer comfort and hope to young readers, wherever they are in the world.

Claire Lebourg, A Party for Mousse (Mousse #4)

Translated by Sophie Lewis
Transit Children’s Editions, October 20
Recommended for ages 5-8

I discovered Claire Lebourg’s Mousse series of illustrated chapter books at the library earlier this year and soon became a diehard Moussehead (I assume that’s what we fans are calling ourselves). Mousse is a striped, mouselike creature who wears little red socks and lives by the sea. At high tide, the waves wash into his living room, depositing saltwater treasures and unlikely new friends. In this fourth installment of Mousse’s adventures, Mousse has been preparing for a pleasantly solitary Christmas when he receives an invitation to spend the holiday in the bustling city with his sister and niece instead. Later on, his quiet New Year’s celebration is similarly upended by a visit from his walrus buddy, Barnacle. Although Mousse’s plans never work out exactly the way he expects them to, they are always full of fun, friendship, and surprises that will make new readers giggle.

Ming Chen and Wah Chen, The Ming & Wah Detective Agency: Summer Drama!

Illustrated by Sarah Morrissette
Tu Books, October 13
Recommended for ages 8-12

Like Encyclopedia Brown refreshingly reimagined for the 21st century, The Ming & Wah Detective Agency is a fun new series that encourages young detectives to hunt for clues, think logically, and solve neighborhood conundrums right along with the sleuths in the story. Ming and Wah are ten-year-old twins who adore a good mystery. When the twins decide to open their own detective agency in their New Jersey town, the cases come rolling in. Who stole the campaign lawn signs from their neighbors’ yards? Who’s been robbing local restaurants? Is someone cheating at horseshoes at the town Strawberry Festival? Kids will love the sheet of “notebook paper” included in each case where they can gather their own evidence and try to work out the mystery’s solution before Ming and Wah reveal the correct answer.

Kate O’Shaughnessy, Brittle Magic

Knopf, October 20
Recommended for ages 8-12

Like Mirabel in the Disney movie Encanto or Mibs in Ingrid Law’s middle grade novel Savvy, lots of kids have imagined the joy of discovering their own particular talent—or the dismay of discovering that they’re the only one in their family who doesn’t have a talent at all. In Brittle Magic, Newbery honoree Kate O’Shaughnessy introduces us to a young girl in a similar predicament. It seems to Shiloh that everyone else in her family has a magical talent. Her sister Judith can grow huge pumpkins, her twin brother Sammy can heal ailing plants, and her Auntie Dee makes pickles that can predict the future. Shiloh hasn’t discovered her own magical talent yet, but when the fortune-telling pickles tell her that her talent is somehow connected to the brother who passed away before she was born, she’s determined to find answers.

Jen Ferguson, Like Glass

Heartdrum, October 6
Recommended for ages 13 and up

Tatum, an artistic 16-year-old from Toronto, has flown all the way to the French Alps in the aftermath of a family tragedy: Her older sister Bronwyn passed away the previous winter in this mountain town. Tatum wants to understand what happened to Bronwyn, and she wants to confront her dad, an award-winning chef who’s opening a restaurant in the same town and seems to have forgotten that he’d invited Tatum to the festivities. In this place far from home, Tatum is haunted by memories of her sister, frustrations with her dad, and feedback from an art instructor who thinks her work should be more representative of her Métis heritage. But she forges new relationships, too, connecting with a friendly pickpocket named Beetle and with Agatha, a gorgeous American ski jumper training for the Olympics.

Renée Watson, Everything New Again

Bloomsbury, October 13
Recommended for ages 13 and up

Renée Watson, who won the Newbery Medal for her 2025 middle grade novel All the Blues in the Sky, returns this year with Everything New Again, a compelling contemporary YA novel about a budding romance between the book’s two narrators, Bliss and Solomon. Bliss, who is Black, lives in the tiny Oregon town of Larch Heights on the top floor of the funeral home that her parents run. She’s a serious teen who doesn’t shy away from thinking about big topics, which has given her a reputation as a death-obsessed weird kid at her mostly white school. Solomon lives in Portland with his dad, but he’s come to Larch Heights to see his estranged mom and try to understand why she’s no longer part of his life. Solomon’s dad is Black and his mom is white, which makes him feel a little out of place in Larch Heights. And when the two thoughtful outsiders meet by chance, they make an instant connection.