2026 Picture Book Primary  Recommended Reading Awards

If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be? 

by Julie Honan Johnston, illustrated by Meg Sodano
Web of Life Children’s Books

Kani ka ʻŌpala: How Can Garbage Sing?

by Benjamin Fairfield
University of Hawaii Press

Millie Fleur Saves the Night

by Christy Mandin
Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

The Dog Who Saved the Bees

by Stephanie Gibeault, illustrated by David Hohn
Sleeping Bear Press

The Tide Is Rising, So Are We!: A Climate Movement Anthem

by Shoshana Miera Friedman, illustrated by Kiki Kita
Beaming Books

They Work: Honey Bees, Nature’s Pollinators

by June Smalls, illustrated by Yukari Mishima
Familius Publishing

Wait Like a Seed

by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson
Pajama Press

Whales in the City 

by Nancy F. Castaldo, illustrated by Chuck Groenink
FSG/MacKids