Publisher Preview: Norton Young Readers (Spring 2026)

The end of November draws near and, by extension, the end of the year, but there’s still time for previews, I say! Still time for previews from smaller publishers, at that. Today is our very first from Norton* Young Readers, which is delightful to me. They recently acquired a middle grade novel from my friend James Kennedy, so I was already quite inclined to be keen on their work. James’s book won’t be out for a while, but these titles are slated for the Spring. Give them the old once over, if you’ve half a mind to. I’ll tell you what you need to know…

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The March for Hope by Valerie Bolling, ill. Monica Mikai

ISBN: 9781324053903

Publication Date: January 20, 2026

So about 15 years ago I had a friend who worked for an NYC publisher who occasionally got to go through their files to look at their older books. At one point, she found a series they’d done in the 90s called the “Coping” series. And the title that amused us the most was called Coping With Parents Who Are Activists. I thought of that title recently when I saw this image:

Aw, we feel you, kid.

Out in time for the anniversary of the Women’s March (which was the inspiration for this book) Hope and her mom are going to a protest. She’s not exactly thrilled about it. “Mama and I are on our way to the Women’s March. I wish we were going somewhere else. Some place fun.” Women-centric, the book looks at the impact women, specifically, have had in protesting over the years. Meanwhile, Hope’s been dealing with being overlooked in her own class, so what she encounters on the march (all the women along the protest route) serves to inspire her. I appreciate a book where the kid isn’t on board with something their parents is dragging them to at the start. Feels a little more real to me that way.

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Codebreakers #1: The Wish Ring Cipher by Alexandra Ott

ISBN: 9781324083559

Publication Date: February 3, 2026

See, for me, the kid you need to keep your eye on here is the one on the far far right. I don’t know that dude but he is most definitely up to something.

Here you’ll find something for you young action/adventure readers. It stars Emma Avery, a seventh grader recently diagnosed with autism. Transferred to a new school, she’s the kind of person who’s obsessed with codes. Much to her delight, she joins up with similar kids and together they find a whole other world involving ancient codes in a park nearby. Now this new team has to track down a ring that grants wishes, and they need to do it before the nefarious “Division” gets their hands on it instead. Codebreaking + magic = something I haven’t really ever seen before. Color me curious!

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La Golondrina by Sonia De Los Santos, ill. Teresa Martinez

ISBN: 9781324082767

Publication Date: February 24, 2026

One thing that I noticed in 2025 was the number of titles about the Latino experience coming out in the children’s book realm. Graphic novels, nonfiction titles, middle grade novels, they were there (and good!). This was particularly true of picture books, and it appears that 2026 is maintaining that energy. Author Sonia de los Santos is a Grammy nominated Latin singer/songwriter and this book is based on a song. The golondrina birds (swallows, in English) are known for being migratory. A girl sees this bird and sings this song to it as it migrates, even as her father migrates too. In time, she’s able to follow behind him. This book is, at its heart, about finding new homes and the travel it takes to get there. There are lyrics and sheet music with guitar and ukelele chords included. When I heard that, it reminded me of something. As it turns out, this book shares something significant with the 1950 Caldecott Award-winning Song of the Swallows. In both cases you’ve picture books that include the lyrics and sheet music to a song called “La Golondrina.” That said, I’m sure the words in both are significantly different. Might be fun to pair the two together in a school unit, though.

Now please enjoy Sonia discussing the inspiration behind the song and a performance of the song itself:

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Where I Grew by Jashar Awan, ill. Rahele Jomepour Bell

ISBN: 9781324016618

Publication Date: March 24, 2026

Oh ho! Here’s an interesting title! One written by the great Jashar Awan (he of this year’s Every Monday Mabel) but NOT illustrated by him! No no. That honor goes to the also great Rahele Jomepour Bell. This book caught my eyes because it sports a subtle migration/immigration feel , though the text is exceedingly simple. Essentially, the story follows a girl from childhood and then later as she’s an adult. The text discusses all the different places where you grow and where you establish yourself. And yes. If you’re looking at this and thinking it could potentially be a graduation picture book (which is to say, a picture book you give to a graduating senior) I doubt very much that Norton would disagree with you. It appears to be doing several things all at once.

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Ripples by Katie Yamasaki

ISBN: 9781324053941

Publication Date: April 7, 2026

And finally, what a delight to end with Ms. Katie Yamasaki. No doubt you’ve seen some of her books, like Dad Bakes, though my personal favorite was the picture book biography she made of her grandfather in Shapes, Lines and Light. Generally speaking, Katie is a celebrated muralist and in her spare time she works with incarcerated populations by doing crafts with incarcerated parents and their kids. Her latest title will be coming out just in time for Earth Day (and so it’s a perfect Blueberry book, perhaps!). This is a story about nature, sure, but also about mothering. And by that I mean, how we mother each other and how we mother the Earth. In the tale, a girl and her auntie travel down a river and say hello to people along the way, pick up trash, etc. Think Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe but with more of an environmental lilt.

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And that’s that! Many thanks to Naomi Duttweiler, Golda Rademacher, and the team at Norton for this sneak peek today.

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* I have a big backlog of images on this site, and I thought I might already have the Norton logo (I didn’t). But when I typed in “Norton” to find it, this is what I found instead. This:

And this:

And (of course) this:

Filed under: Publisher Previews