I travelled to the conference with teacher pal and partner in Yarn Colby Sharp. Shout out South Shore train line getting us into Chicago:

One highlight was facing off with author Steve Sheinkin in chess. He has a new nonfiction graphic novel coming out Sept. 8 called Mind vs. Machine: The Chess Match That Changed the World (illustrated by Thien Pham). It honestly looks great, and is at the top of my TBR pile. To celebrate, Steve was challenging folks to a chess face off. I was game.

KidLitTV made a video of the match: click here to watch it!

And I lost.

Pretty badly, actually.

We stopped for a photo booth moment at the TVS Media Group gathering, and it was great to see pal John Schu (as I stare into the soul of the camera).

ALA has been a big opportunity to get interviews for The Yarn podcast.

Yarn HQ.

All the recording gear.

We started things off with a bang: Matthew Cordell (talking about his latest, 102) and Catia Chien (talking about her Caldecott Medal winner, Fireworks).

Colby Sharp interviewed the legend herself, Lois Lowry (!), and Chanel Miller.

And over the course of the weekend I had the chance to talk with Micha Archer about While We’re Here, Angie Kang about Navigating Night . . .

. . . and Christopher Myers about Night Ride.

We also had a Norton publisher meal, where you might recognize the guests of honor:

Kate DiCamillo, who has an as yet unannounced new book with Norton, and . . .

Rex Ogle (author of Free Lunch), who was there to talk about his next book Absent, which is uniquely told in three different formats: comic, verse, and prose.

Eventually, it was time for the big event: The Newbery/Caldecott/Legacy banquet.

Before the festivities began, I got the chance to talk with authors Chris Clarkson and Winsome Bingham. Things got deep, and our convo ended up being a highlight of the whole weekend.

Then it was into the banquet hall. The Caldecott Medal winner is in charge of creating the program, and Catia Chien made something incredible:

A pinwheeling, gatefolding masterpiece. Did I carry that sucker around for the rest of the night so I could save it for later? Yes.

Then the awards and speeches commenced.

Here are the obligatory kinda blurry banquet hall shots of the 2026 Caldecott class:

And Newbery:

Then Legacy Award winner Candace Fleming closed things out:

It was truly wonderful to be among all the book people at ALA this year.

What’s the book about? This sums it up nicely:

There once was a terrible king who wanted everything. And everything he wanted, he took. So when he decided that he needed 1,000 horses, his wish was the kingdom’s command. But 1,000 horses are . . . a lot of horses. And soon the king realizes that he has more than he bargained for.

I’ll be sharing more about the book later , but for now, in case you missed it, here’s the cover. And, if you’re so inclined, the pre-order link.

It’s the 150th (!) anniversary of the American Library Association.

Upon heading into the exhibit hall, I played a little (and very UNcomprehensive) game of Who Has the Most Stars?

First up, LATE TODAY from Eerdmans, with some starred reviews and best of the year lists.

Next up, GOLDFINCHES, with 5 stars.

Deborah Marcero’s THE GREAT ESCAPE, coming in with six stars.

Then NAVIGATING NIGHT, also with six.

After that, I spotted a couple books that I love, but haven’t talked about on the blog yet . . .

ALL THE ICE CREAM IN THE LAND by Emmy Kastner. I can’t wait to read this with students this coming school year.

I also spotted ROOHI AND NATE ARE NOT ON THE SAME PAGE by middle grade dream team Supriya Kelkar and Jarrett Lerner (and you know I grabbed the I (Heart) My School Library bumper sticker to the left).

During ALA I was also on the lookout for some of the most beautifully illustrated picture books of 2026 . . .

Oh man. You really are going to have to see this book. NIGHT RIDE is a wordless book illustrated completely illustrated in stained glass – yes, you heard that right. Christopher Myers worked in collaboration with stained glass artisans to make this book a reality.

Not to be topped, Jillian Tamaki’s latest, YOUNG CAT, OLD CAT is illustrated on fabric with elements of embroidery. Seeing this book up close is a must.

Kate Beaton has a book with illustrator Sydney Smith that’s as stunning as you might expect.

And Jason Griffin has an upcoming book with Winsome Bingham that will knock your socks off.

The most unusual book I saw was courtesy of Philip Stead, who was holding THE INVISIBLE when I bumped into him. It has colored vinyl pages that reveal hidden images when turned. It kind of reminds me of WILD ABOUT ANIMALS published by Flying Eye Books from a while back.

I has the chance to read a few books that were on my radar – here are a couple that didn’t disappoint . . .

THE GREAT FROG – the debut picture book from Katie Palazzola. A librarian pal posted about this book recently and I’m glad I got a chance to see it. Oh this book was weird and wonderful (it also recently picked up a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor). It’s the very rare picture book that successfully dips its toe into the spiritual realm. It’s unlike any book I’ve read and I really hope you get a chance to read it.

Usually pourquoi stories apply a fictional narrative to something in the natural world, but what Tadgh Bentley’s INCREDIBLY FAST AND NOT AT ALL FUN (great title) does is apply the pourquoi treatment to roller coasters. It’s fantastic, and I think kids are going to love it.

Another book that I read and loved was WHO KNOWS THE WAY TO MR. GRIMLY’S CLASSROOM? A student takes an eerie trip through a (haunted?) school.

Then there were a couple books that caught my eye as I was heading out to a Simon & Schuster original art show that I didn’t get a chance to read, but jumped out.

I love Keith Negley’s past work, and THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEING A WIZARD is one I’m excited to spend some time with.

I’m excited to read Eleanor Davis’s new picture book, A VERY GOOD PARADE.

At the original art show, I heard about a few books and how the art was made:

That does it for book-related pictures in my camera roll.

Part II, coming soon, is all about the people.

In June . . .

. . . there was a dramatic cover reveal.

It was a cover reveal Q&A with John Schu and Jaime Kim for This is a Theater.

. . . I shared the most popular picture books in our school library this year.

Some I expected, others I did not.

. . . I challenged you to name three books by their LEGO-fied covers.

#3 was pretty tricky.

Creepy Carrots!, Creepy Pair of Underwear!, and Creepy Crayon! written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown, continue to be the most popular picture books in my K-3rd grade school library. In the latest episode of The Yarn podcast, we get the behind-the-scenes story of how they were made.

In this episode, I chat with Aaron Reynolds about all of the Jasper Rabbit books, including the new chapter book series. Aaron explains the inspiration for the books, the difficulty in getting Creepy Carrots! published, and how the Jasper world has expanded.

Heading to Chicago for ALA Annual 2026.

At 2:30pm on Saturday in McCormick Place W 186 ABC I’ll be taking part in a blogging session with fellow SLJ folks Edith Campbell, Betsy Bird, Renee Scott, and Colby Sharp:

Other than that, I’m going to record some episodes for The Yarn podcast, see some new and upcoming books, attend the Newbery-Caldecott banquet, and generally have a good time.

Hope to see you there!

Here’s the first one:

And the second one:

Side by side:

Any more to add to this peeking out from behind the curtain group?

Click here for more Cover Curiosity posts.

Here are all the examples from 2026 I could find.

Previously . . .

Top 10 Circulated Fiction of the ’25-’26 School Year

Top 10 Circulated Graphic Novels of the ’25-’26 School Year

Top 10 Circulated Biographies of the ’25-’26 School Year

Top 10 Circulated Picture Books of the ’25-’26 School Year

Top 10 Circulated Nonfiction of the ’25-’26 School Year

#10. Scribbles & Ink: Out of the Box by Ethan Long

#9. Biscuit Goes to School by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories

#8. The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

#7. The Great Pancake Race by Jeanette Lane

#6. Fly Guy & Fly Girl: Friendly Frenzy by Tedd Arnold

#5. The Bad Idea and Other Stories (Earl & Worm) by Greg Pizzoli

#4. Ninja vs. Ninja by Kate Howard

#3. Pete’s Big Lunch by James Dean

#2. Pete the Kitty and the Unicorn’s Missing Colors by Kimberly & James Dean

#1. Pete the Cat’s Not So Groovy Day. by Kimberly & James Dean

I know what my drafts look like, and I know what my desk looks like – if they could see those things they would take this award away immediately.

Jon Klassen is the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. He recently gave his acceptance speech and it’s as funny, wise, and heartfelt as you’d expect.