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In the Spotlight
 Middle Grade Is Down but Never OutThe now-familiar tale of the middle grade market has many alarming plot strands, including declining sales, encroaching censorship, unstable school and library funding, and dips in children’s reading scores, as well as kids’ time spent reading. We asked agents about trends they are seeing in the category, and how they persevere in a tough climate. more   Spooky Middle Grade Still SellsWith editors looking for shorter, more plot-driven middle grade projects these days, agents have noticed an uptick in the horror genre for younger readers. more  New Group Aims to “Save Middle Grade”As a former content specialist and copywriter at Barnes & Noble in New York City, Josh Sippie had a front-row seat to how middle grade books were performing at retail. It wasn’t a pretty picture, so he decided to do something about it. more Awards News
 2025 NBA Longlist for Young People’s Literature Announced The National Book Foundation has revealed the 2025 National Book Award longlist for Young People’s Literature. The five finalists will be named on October 7, and the winner will be announced during the 76th awards ceremony on November 19 in New York City. more
In the News
 National Book Festival Crowds Out Troubling TimesThe Library of Congress’s 25th annual event on Saturday drew tens of thousands of book lovers, perhaps distracting momentarily from the political pressures facing the world’s largest library. more  Global Illiteracy Is On the Rise, New Report FindsIn the last two years, global illiteracy rates have increased by an average of 2.2%, with 773 million people worldwide unable to read a single word, according to the World Literacy Foundation. more  BolognaFiere China to Host Inaugural Illustration Event BolognaFiere’s Chinese subsidiary has announced the launch of the Shanghai Illustration & Pop Show, a new event dedicated to illustration and inspired by the 60-year legacy of the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The event’s inaugural edition will be held from May 29 to 31, 2026, at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, and is expected to host more than 300 exhibitors from 10 countries and regions. MORE
Book News
 Union Square & Co. Reveals 11th Pigeon Picture Book as Mo Willems Brand ExpandsUnion Square & Co. today announced a new Mo Willems picture book, It’s My Bird-Day!, which will release on March 31, 2026. The 11th picture book to star the Pigeon, it will be accompanied by gift and stationery items, YouTube content, and consumer products from Willems’s growing list of licensees. more   Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales Adds Lucky #13 With good reason, Nathan Hale could refute the age-old superstition that the number 13 portends bad luck. Thirteen years after the debut of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, the author-illustrator has added volume 13 to the series with Bones and Berserkers:13 True Tales of Terror from American History. more Four Questions
 Hyewon YumHyewon Yum has written and illustrated 12 picture books, and illustrated more than a dozen more by other authors. Her new picture book A Spoonful of the Sea examines the Korean tradition of miyeok-guk, a seaweed soup that’s served to nursing mothers the month after they give birth, and to children as birthday soup. We spoke with Yum about her latest book, the mother-child bond, and her own memories of birthday soup. Q: As a child eating miyeok-guk, what did you think of it, and did you know its origin story? A: I didn’t like miyeok-guk at all when I was a kid. Just like the child [in the book], I found it hot and smelly with a very slippery texture. I never thought about why we eat miyeok-guk for our birthdays, or why women eat it after giving birth. I wasn’t interested in the story behind it until after I had a child in the U.S. I became curious: how do we have this tradition, and where did it come from? Now, whenever I cook it, I remember those days with heartfelt joy. more  Rights Report
 Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster has acquired North American rights to two books by Morgan Matson. Who Dunne It?, pitched as a YA Knives Out, is a murder mystery following college freshman Elliot, who accepts an invitation to spend Thanksgiving with her crush on his family's private island in Maine. But she soon realizes it isn't about getting the guy—it's getting out alive. And Lucky & Gertrude is a sixth-grade adventure highlighting the importance of family, full of magic tricks, long cons, and shortcuts. Publication is set for fall 2027 and spring 2028 respectively; Emily van Beek at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management did the two-book deal.  Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends has bought Daughters of Misery by Judy I. Lin, a dark fantasy that launches a new duology set in the same world as Song of the Six Realms. It follows three demon sisters who concoct a plot to save themselves from the ambitions of their father's new wife and the intrigue of the demon court, but when their plans go awry, they have to use all of their wits, connections, and magical prowess to survive. Publication is slated for winter 2027 and winter 2028; Rachel Brooks at BookEnds Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.  Ben Rosenthal at Stonefruit Studio has acquired Born Lucky, a YA memoir by Lucky Karim (l.), written with Jessica Olney, which tells the story of the stateless Rohingya genocide victims of Myanmar, through the author's own story of persecution, survival, and resilience while living in the world's largest refugee camp. Publication is scheduled for fall 2027; Eric Smith at Neighborhood Literary brokered the deal for world rights.  Kelly Delaney at Crown has bought world rights to Nine Months by Karina Manta (l.), illustrated by Lilith Wu, a YA graphic novel about a young woman's decision to have an abortion and all the different ways a person can change in nine months. Publication is planned for summer 2027; Jessica Regel at Helm Literary represented the author, and Victoria Wells Arms and Wendi Gu at HG Literary represented the illustrator.  Polo Orozco at Putnam has acquired The Great Ramzys by Nedda Lewers (Daughters of the Lamp), a middle grade mystery pitched as The Swifts meets The Westing Game. The story follows an 11-year-old girl who must unmask which of the famed Egyptologists gathered at her grandmother's Luxor mansion has stolen Nefertiti's legendary bust. Publication is slated for spring 2027; Kelly Dyksterhouse at Tobias Literary Agency sold world English rights.  Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Young Readers has bought world English rights to The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie (The Mystery of Locked Rooms). In this middle grade mystery, four close friends are trapped in a book-themed lodge during an ice storm and must use each of their special skills, as well as a few tips from an armchair-detective Grandma, to figure out who killed one of the regular customers. Publication is set for fall 2026, with an untitled second novel to follow in 2027; Shannon Hassan at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency did the two-book deal.  Andrew Arnold at HarperAlley has acquired The Acacia Tree by Chamisa Kellogg, a middle grade graphic novel about a trio of girls who form a coven and begin to uncover the long-slumbering secrets of their magical town. Publication is scheduled for fall 2028; Claire Morance at Painted Words sold world rights.  Tom Russell at Bright Matter Books has bought, at auction, American Revolutionaries, a middle-grade narrative nonfiction book by Ilyon Woo, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning adult title Master Slave Husband Wife. It's a retelling of the story of Ellen and William Craft, a married enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848 in disguise—Ellen as a rich white man and William as "his" slave. Publication is planned for fall 2027; Faye Bender at the Book Group did the deal for North American rights.  Siobhan Ciminera at Simon Spotlight has acquired two Ready-to-Read titles by Michael Rex: Step, Kick, Spin!, about two dancers who spin, slide, and turn together; and Pile of Pizzas, about whether a little monster and a big monster can eat a huge stack of pizzas. Karen Nagel will edit; publication of the first book is slated for fall 2026; Timothy Travaglini at Transatlantic Agency sold world rights.  Caitlyn Dlouhy at Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books has bought North American English rights to a debut picture book by Rocky Callen (l.), illustrated by Eisner Award nominee Sonia Sánchez, tentatively titled Hope Is, which explores in poetic prose how hope finds its way into our lives, even in its darkest moments. Publication is set for spring 2027; Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties represented the author, and Teresa Kietlinski at Bookmark Literary represented the illustrator.  Kathleen Keenan at Kids Can Press has acquired world rights to Vida Wishes by Paola Santos (l.), illustrated by Marianne Ferrer, a picture book about Vida, whose father has left their country of Venezuela to find a new home for the family, and the wishes Vida has for her family and country. Publication is scheduled for spring 2027; Jennifer Rofé represented the author, and the illustrator was unagented.  Carolyn Yoder at Astra/Calkins Creek has bought, in an exclusive submission, world rights to The Forgotten: Patriots of Color at Lexington and Concord by Ray Anthony Shepard (Runaway; A Long Time Coming), illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, an historical fiction picture book that gives voice to the Black and Brown men and women who participated in the events at Lexington and Concord in the first battles of the American Revolution. Publication is planned for 2027; Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the author, and the illustrator represented himself.  Brian Hurley while at Little Bigfoot acquired world rights to the picture book Big Fat Bear Fight! by Brooke Hartman (l.), illustrated by Can Tuğrul. It's Fat Bear Week again in Katmai National Park, Alaska, and the whole forest is ready to see which gorged grizzly is burly enough to take home the coveted Fat Bear Week prize. Jill Saginario will edit; publication is slated for September 2026. Sera Rivers at Speilburg Literary Agency sold world rights.  Reka Simonsen at Atheneum has bought Romina Galotta's debut author-illustrated work, Orchard House, a picture book biography of American author Louisa May Alcott, told from the point of view of the home she lived in during the era that inspired her seminal work, Little Women. Publication is set for fall 2027; Christy Ewers at the CAT Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.  Jaime Gelman at Little Bee Books has acquired the picture book Nibbles vs. the Universe, written and illustrated by Kathryn Rammell. Nibbles is a class pet with a mission to keep the world spinning, by running on her hamster wheel. But when Nibbles collapses, her concerned friends help her see that she cannot protect the world alone. Publication is scheduled for spring 2027; Christie Megill at the CAT Agency sold world rights.  Nick Magliato and Celina Sun at Grosset & Dunlap have bought Un Día at Home and Un Día at the Park by Ariela Rudy Zaltzman (l.), illustrated by Peruvian-born illustration team Cocoretto. These two lift-the-flap board books introduce Spanish first words to the youngest readers. Publication is planned for summer 2027; the author and illustrators represented themselves.  Cecily Kaiser at Rise x Penguin Workshop has acquired, in an exclusive submission, Friends Belong, Friends Can, and Friends Grow, a set of three board books by Dan Saks (l.), illustrated by Delphine Lee, which explores the budding friendships of preschoolers. Publication of the first book is slated for fall 2026; Kevin O'Connor at O'Connor Literary Agency represented the author, and Aliza Hoover at the CAT Agency represented the illustrator.  Wendy McClure at Sourcebooks Jabberwocky has bought world rights to Baby Truck by JD Davis (l.), illustrated by Erica Sirotich, first in a board book series about an infant truck whose days are filled with exciting activities and fun routines as he learns how to be a big boy truck. Publication is set for fall 2026; Jennifer Newens at Martin Literary Management represented the author, and Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency represented the illustrator in the three-book deal. IN THE MEDIA
FEATURED REVIEWS
  A Knot Is Not a TangleDaniel Nayeri, illus. by Vesper Stamper. Knopf, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-5938-0969-3 Combining step-by-step details with a tender look at an elder passing on generational information, this extended account by Nayeri traces a child’s learning the art of Persian rug-making. The narrator and Grandma share breakfast on the fraying rug that she once made with her own grandmother: “And now it’s our turn.” Though told in present tense, the narration has the feel of family lore burnished by years of reflection. more  Lap CatJoren Cull. Penguin Workshop, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-593-65926-7 An opening panel illuminated with manuscript-style florals notes that it’s day 222 of Lap Cat’s “journey—nay, quest” to find the perfect lap, while the facing page shows the feline venturing along a forested trail in a Robin Hood–esque hat, chanting “Lap.” Arriving at an establishment called “Lap Mart," the protagonist rejoices until the shop owner alerts the feline to their previous destructiveness. The duo sets off to make amends, and eventually Lap Cat finds a way to a happy ending. more  XoloDonna Barba Higuera, illus. by Mariana Ruiz Johnson. Levine Querido, $19.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-6461-4702-1 After Earth “stopped spinning. All life perished, including humans,” and the immortal gods must throw themselves into a volcano to make the planet spin anew. While Quetzalcoatl, Xolo’s feathered serpent god twin brother, is the first to leap, Xolo cannot summon the courage to follow. Shunned for his cowardice, Xolo is banished to the Underworld, ruled by the god Mictlantecuhtli, who hoards the bones needed to reanimate humankind. Yearning for the return of his beloved mortals, Xolo approaches his brother with a plan: steal the bones back from Mictlantecuhtli. more  The Last EmberLily Berlin Dodd. Roaring Brook, $19.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-3743-9312-0 Twelve-year-old science-obsessed Eva’s life is thrown into chaos after she’s unknowingly given a pilfered egg from a presumed-extinct, dragonlike race of creatures called aerimanders. Attracting the attention of Eoin Parnassus, who wants the unhatched aerimanders for destructive militaristic purposes—Eva hides the egg, but it is snatched by orphaned 13-year-old thief Dusty, only to end up absconding with both egg and girl. The unwilling duo races to uncover its secret before it falls into malevolent hands. more  | ||||
