#mustreadin2026

I'm pleased to be participating in the must read fun again this year!  All the books on my list are new 2026 releases (see publishing dates for each book listed below).  I hope this reading goal motivates me to read more books throughout the year so I can introduce these new titles to my students.  I'll provide updates on my reading in April, September, and December.  Below are my lists of new picture books and chapters books to read in 2026:

PICTURE BOOK RELEASE DATES:

2/3/26 - I'm So Happy You're Here by Mychal Threets

2/24/26 - Forty the Fortune Teller by Drew Daywalt

3/3/26 - The Future Book by Mac Barnett & Shawn Harris

3/3/26 - Goodnight, Bruce by Ryan Higgins

3/17/26 - The Littlest Elephant by Katherine Applegate

3/31/26 - Shrinking Violet by Laurel Snyder

3/31/26 - It's My Bird-Day! by Mo Willems

4/14/26 - 102 by Matthew Cordell

4/21/26 - The Whale's Tale & the Otter's Side of the Story by Kate Messner

5/12/26 - Dad by Christian Robinson

CHAPTER BOOK RELEASE DATES:

2/3/26 - The Lion's Run by Sara Pennypacker

2/3/26 - A Scar Like a River by Lisa Graff

3/3/26 - The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan by Jasmine Warga

3/3/26 - When Tomorrow Burns by Tae Keller

4/3/26 - The Greenies by Emma Mills

4/14/26 - Sashimi by Dan Santat

5/5/26 - Wombat Waiting by Katherine Applegate

5/12/26 - The Second Life of Snap by Erin Entrada Kelly

7/7/26 - Sleepless by Gordon Korman

7/21/26 - Fatal Glitch: Camp Zero by Eliot Schrefer & Erin Entrada Kelly