Publisher Preview Fall 2026/Winter 2027: Barefoot Books and Beaming Books

No time to dilly-dally, my friends! These previews are almost butting up against (or just past) their run dates, and we can’t have that, can we? So let’s get to it! All thanks to Publisher Spotlight and Ellen Myrick, here are the titles worth exploring. Forgive my brevity. I just wanted to work in a couple of these today:

---

Oops! I Just Ate You by Ævar Þór Benediktsson, ill. Joaquín Camp

ISBN: 9798888596654

Publication Date: September 1, 2026

You know you’re a good picture book creator when you can get away with writing successful books in American with the name Ævar Þór. I joke, but do you recall the utterly wonderful title Stranded: A Mostly True Story from Iceland? Same guy! Only now he’s shifted gears and instead of talking about volcanoes he’s more interested in zombies run amuck. Just one zombie, actually. One lonely lonely zombie. He’s the kind of guy who just wants to make friends… until his stomach comes up with other plans. And you can bet that when it comes to publication details, this book is going to have nice THICK die-cuts in it where you can stick your OWN head through. Love that! It’s gonna be a very fun title come this Halloween, so get yourself a copy and stat!

---

My American Blooms by Nazanin Agange Ford, illustrated by Fateme Mokhles

ISBN: 9798889833437

Publication Date: June 30, 2026

Okay, fine. This isn’t technically a fall book. Still, I’d bet good money that a bunch of you completely missed this title when it was originally released in June. Now this year we lost the incredible creator Marjane Satrapi. As such, I think I was a little poised to see something akin to a picture book version of Persepolis on the page. This is, most certainly, more about the process of a child coming to this country more than anything else, but it still speaks to that need. In the course of the storytelling, we witness the indignities the child experiences here in the U.S., along with some of the kindnesses as well. And just LOOK at that art. Incredible and visionary.

---

Dear Math We’re Not Friends by Mariana Ellery, illustrated by Clara Reschke

ISBN: 9798889835073

Publication Date: August 4, 2026

An epistolary book. When a math-phobic boy makes his situation known, a librarian suggests that he writes letters to “math” and math will become his friend in time. Silly, right? Except that the more he tells math about the ways in which he’s encountered it in the world, the more he realizes that math truly is everywhere. I used to serve on the Mathical Award committee and you can BET I’ll be recommending this book to them, and soon!

And honestly, that’s all I have for you today. A scant three titles, sure, but WHATTA three titles!

Thanks to Ellen and Publisher Spotlight for the peeks!

Filed under: Publisher Previews