Penguin Random House Canada Unveils Spring 2026 Kids’ & YA Lineup

TORONTO — Penguin Random House Canada is giving readers an early look at its Spring 2026 children’s and young adult list, sharing a season-long slate of picture books, middle grade titles and YA releases scheduled from January through April 2026. The preview includes new work from internationally acclaimed creators, fresh voices in Canadian publishing and a strong focus on representation, mental health, identity and family.

The highlights, drawn from Tundra Book Group and several U.S. imprints distributed in Canada, are organized by age category and pub date, with a mix of illustrated debuts, graphic novels and new titles by bestselling authors. The publisher has made advance PDFs available to media and reviewers, with additional ARCs to follow as more files are finalized.

Picture books: identity, heritage and humour

The picture book list opens on January 6, 2026, with a cluster of new titles.

• Hello Baby, It’s Me, Alfie by Maggie Hutchings and illustrated by Dawn Lo follows a big sibling tracking a baby’s growth week by week, using fruit-and-vegetable comparisons and a growth chart on the jacket.

• Bored by Felicita Sala turns a child’s boredom into an imaginative daydream about what might happen if every bored person in the world ended up on the same bus.

• The Wildest Thing by Emily Winfield Martin explores a child finding their “wild” self and embracing imagination and individuality.

• You and Me, Baby by Aisha Saeed and Ebony Glenn celebrates the bond between moms and babies as they grow and learn together.

Several picture books centre Black, Indigenous and other underrepresented voices.

• A Black Girl and Her Braids by Jaylene Clark Owens and Brittney Bond, based on a viral poem, honours Black braiding traditions and the cultural and personal meaning of braids across ages and styles.

• We Are Who We Are: An Ode to Indigenous Heroes Past and Present by Wab Kinew, illustrated by Janine Gibbons (February 17, 2026), profiles 13 Indigenous heroes and encourages young readers to embrace their authentic selves.

• Canada: We Are the Story by the late Ojibway author Richard Wagamese, illustrated by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (March 17, 2026), adapts a poem into a picture book about pride, belonging and Indigenous perspectives on what it means to live in the place now called Canada.

Food, faith and folklore also feature strongly.

• Gwei, the Hungry Ghost by Emeline Lee and Basia Tran (January 13, 2026) follows a picky ghost who roams the living world during the Hungry Ghost Festival in search of the perfect meal, with backmatter on Chinese mythology.

• Ramadan Rain by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Aliaa Betawi (March 10, 2026) traces a rainy Ramadan day that shifts a child’s wishes from material things to deeper spiritual and community connections.

• Bing’s Cherries by Livia Blackburne and Julia Kuo (March 10, 2026) revisits the story of Ah Bing, the Chinese American immigrant behind the Bing cherry, blending history and reimagined folktale.

Canadian creators are prominent throughout the list.

• Sarabeth’s Garage by Melanie Florence and Nadia Alam (February 10, 2026) follows a girl who loves working on cars in her dad’s garage, challenging her grandmother’s expectations about what girls “should” do.

• The Bear Fairy by Paul Coccia and Fred Blunt (February 17, 2026) uses humour and a decidedly non-traditional fairy to tackle body image, self-acceptance and standing up for friends.

Other notable names include Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris with The Future Book (March 3, 2026); Drew Daywalt with Forty, the Fortune Teller (February 24, 2026); and a new board book quartet The Now I See series by Barnett and Jon Klassen (April 7, 2026), each volume using identical text with season-specific art.

Music, sport and libraries also get the spotlight with titles such as Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae and Gillian Eilidh O’Mara (March 3, 2026), Better than a Touchdown by NFL quarterback Jalen Hurts and Nneka Myers (March 10, 2026), and I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy by librarian and new Reading Rainbow host Mychal Threets with illustrator Lorraine Nam (February 3, 2026).

Middle grade: screens, mental health and graphic storytelling

The Spring 2026 middle grade slate, beginning December 30, 2025, includes non-fiction and graphic formats aimed at tech-aware readers.

• The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price (December 30, 2025) adapts Haidt’s The Anxious Generation for ages 9–12, urging kids and early teens to rethink smartphone and social media habits and choose offline experiences that foster confidence and well-being.

• Unfairies (A Graphic Novel) by Huw Aaron (January 6, 2026) introduces a chaotic, humour-driven fairy world in which power struggles, ancient prophecies and acorn-based warfare collide.

• X Marks the Haunt by Lindsay Currie (January 6, 2026) combines genealogy, graveyards and suspense in a middle-grade mystery about a missing crypt key and a growing supernatural threat.

The middle grade list also features contemporary realism and memoir.

• A Moon without Stars by Chanel Miller (January 13, 2026) follows a seventh grader navigating popularity, friendship and selfhood after a zine project unexpectedly takes off.

• Wallflower (A Graphic Novel) by Iasmin Omar Ata (January 13, 2026) centres a girl who sees flowers representing people’s emotions and the complicated relationship that grows when she meets someone who can see them too.

• Oh Brother: A Graphic Memoir by Georgina Chadderton (February 10, 2026) reflects on growing up with a nonverbal autistic brother, balancing care, self-discovery and family love.

Additional middle grade highlights include Fantastic Frog and the Amazing Tad Lad by Brandon Reese (February 3, 2026), a superhero swamp adventure; Unstoppable Us, Volume 3: How Enemies Become Friends by Yuval Noah Harari (February 3, 2026), which explores how early civilizations connected and clashed; and Reach by Celesa Rimington (January 27, 2026), a magical realist story about family, regret and responsibility.

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