Kirkus Prize Finalists Announced!
The Kirkus Prize, sporting one of the biggest monetary awards in literature, has announced their group of 2026 Finalists. There are three children’s book categories:
Picture Books
Navigating Night, written by Julie Leung and illustrated by Angie Kang, and Electric Birds of Pothakudi, written by Karthika Naïr and illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet.
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I already love Navigating Night, and now I’m looking forward to seeing Electric Birds, which I’v never read. I love it when awards season points out books I’ve missed.
Middle Grade
The Lovely Dark by Matthew Fox and This Is a Door by Daniel Nayeri
Consider me very curious about both these books, especially Nayeri’s uniquely visual hero’s journey.
Young Adult
Anger Is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo and When It’s Your Turn for Midnight by Blessing Musariri
On October 7th, one of the above books will win the Kirkus Prize in the Children’s category. The announcement will be livestreamed on Kirkus’ YouTube channel at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
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About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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