10 to Note: Fall Preview 2026

This one was the most challenging yet.

In trying to highlight the 10 books I’m most excited about this fall, I left out so many good ones. I’m probably going to do a “10 to (Also) Note” follow-up tomorrow with a photo dump of all the great books not on the list today.

All of the following books will arrive in September, October, and November.

Picture Books

Whatever You Do by Luke Pearson

September 29 | Tundra Books | Grades K-2

The creator of the Hilda comics series tries his hand at picture books and . . . it turns out he’s good at that too. A funny, chaotic delight that I can’t wait to read with students.

The Pizza Brothers by Lian Cho

October 13 | HarperCollins | Grades K-2

Three bros plan to make the biggest pizza ever. I love large food books. And I think kids will love this one.

The Wishing Well by Gideon Sterer, illustrated by Emily Hughes

September 1 | Union Square Kids | Grades K-2

When it comes to Emily Hughes, I’m an OG supporter. This time out, she pairs with the excellent Gideon Sterer for a story about a wishing well monster who longs to escape.

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Early Reader

What Will We Find In This Box? (A Snake & Bat Book) by Mo Willems

September 1 | Union Square Kids | Grades K-2

I would be completely shirking my librarian duties if I failed to bring your attention to this book. Elephant & Piggie side characters Snake and Brian Bat step into the limelight for their own new series.

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Middle Grade Fiction

This Is a Door by Daniel Nayeri

October 27 | Stonefruit Studio | Grades 3-6

The ever-inventive Daniel Nayeri brings us a middle grade novel about a boy named Nothing on a hero’s journey. The text breaks all the rules, hop, skip, and exploding across the pages. Sporting four starred reviews and counting.

The Year I Stopped Drawing: An Illustrated Novel-In-Verse by Grant Snider

November 10 | Amulet Books (Abrams) | Grades 3-7

Another inventively visual middle grade novel – this time from Poetry Comics creator (and illustrator of Blue Floats Away) Grant Snider. This novel-in-verse follows Adam – a middle school artist who has lost his love of drawing amid some big life changes and challenges.

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Graphic Novels

Don’t Be Scared by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Shadia Amin

September 8 | First Second (Macmillan) | Grades 4-7

Is “Horror with Heart” a genre? Because this book makes a strong case that it should be. Riz and his film club are creating a documentary about a local haunted mansion, but Riz’s dad is not very supportive of his filmmaker dreams.

Moonie & Junie: Interstellar Pen Pals by Katie Kordesh

October 20 | HarperAlley | Grades 3-6

Moonie lives on (you guessed it) the Moon. Junie is on Mars. Moonie’s interstellar message in a bottle kicks of a budding epistolatory friendship between the two. But can interplanetary friendship even work?

Mexikid Dreams by Pedro Martín

September 1 | Dial Books (Penguin) | Grades 4-7

This book is currently at the tippy-top of my to-read pile. The first Mexikid was fantastic – one of my favorite comics of the decade (and a Newbery Honor winner). Martín continues to mine his family history for this story about the not-so-easy path to freedom.

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Nonfiction

Mind vs. Machine: The Chess Match That Changed the World by Steve Sheinkin and Maurice Ashley, illustrated by Thien Pham

September 8 | Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan) | Grades 3-6

I remember chess master Garry Kasparov’s 1997 match against IBM’s Deep Blue computer. It was big news at the time and gave us a glimpse into the future of computing. Nonfiction master Sheinkin tells this gripping story like few can, and Thien Pham’s illustrations bring it to life.

Filed under: Previews