Among the flood of children’s books coming out this fall from independent presses, six stand out as particularly noteworthy: five picture books and an illustrated middle grade title. This comes after Mac Barnett, the 2025–2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, vowed to enlighten the industry about the importance of picture books as a literary form. Judging by the titles below, it seems like indie presses were already well aware.
The Monster in the Lake by Leo Timmers and translated from the Dutch by Bill Nagelkerke (Gecko, Sept., ages 4–6) follows Eric, a duck who fears paddling the lake because he might encounter a monster. But when he is persuaded to venture below the surface, Eric discovers an underwater wonderland teeming with fantastic creatures of all colors, sizes, and shapes. Daring to explore the unknown boosts Eric’s confidence, and as PW’s starred review promises, “Children who get their hands on this oversize, glossy delight, filled with made-to-linger details, will be lucky ducks indeed.”
Publisher-at-large Rachel Lawson describes The Monster in the Lake as “a simple story that makes for a standout picture book,” adding, “It’s got drama, a bit of a twist, an emotional hook that keeps the story going, and a denouement.” The text may be simple, but Timmers’s extraordinary attention to detail isn’t: in order to re-create the texture of water, the artist, Lawson says, “did all this experimental spraying with shapes and colors and cutouts to try and get the perfect sort of underwater bubble feel. People think he works digitally, but it’s all by hand. He’s an absolute craftsman.”
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani can surely relate to Eric’s dilemma: he must have entertained thoughts about real-life monsters coming after him during his primary campaign this year. Discussing Zohran Walks New York by Millie von Platen (Astra, Oct., ages 4–8), associate publisher Susan Dobinick says that, after Mamdani won the primary in June, “it came up, conversationally, with our president, Ben Schrank: ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have a Zohran book?’ ” Dobinick had just come from a meeting with von Platen, and “it clicked—Millie is an amazing illustrator who is excited for Zohran and has a very specific New York style. So I called her; she immediately said yes.”
Dobinick says that the project came together so quickly because Astra’s team was attending the ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia that week. “We all had a lot of time just to speak with each other, share the excitement, and talk about the possibilities.” Also, observing ALA attendees from all over the U.S. celebrating Mamdani’s victory made her and her colleagues even more committed to a project that was fast-tracked from idea to printer in eight weeks. “It’s one of those books where you feel that it’s capturing the moment,” she says, “but it also has staying power. It’s not just about Mamdani; it’s a love letter to New York City.”
Simon Boughton, publishing director of Norton Young Readers, has high hopes for the forthcoming third installment in a picture book trilogy by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey. The secret to their success: a sense of timelessness. The brothers’ The Old Sleigh (Nov., ages 4–8) follows The Old Truck (2020) and The Old Boat (2021). “There’s kind of a nostalgic feel to these books,” Boughton says, “but they don’t feel dated or old-fashioned. There’s a fresh, contemporary feel to them as well. I think the art speaks to people for that reason.” And the text, he says, is “deceptive in its simplicity: there’s a lot of depth.”
Boughton was surprised when the Pumphreys told him The Old Sleigh would be the final book in the series. “I didn’t see it coming,” he says, “but I was delighted. I could see how it could draw on some of the same themes that they had explored in the other books.” Not only that, but it was “an exciting” choice for a holiday book. The regional bookseller associations obviously agree: the front cover art for all but one of their holiday catalogs this fall will spotlight The Old Sleigh.
Enchanted Lion publisher Claudia Zoe Bedrick says that The Marginalian blogger Maria Popova’s The Coziest Place on the Moon, illustrated by Sarah Jacoby (Nov., ages 5–8), was “an immediate fit” when Popova proposed a picture book exploring loneliness and solitude. “It’s something I’ve always had in the back of my mind as a good theme for a picture book,” Bedrick says; she considers it essential to relay to children who are growing up in an age of omnipresent social media that “to be a human, to take the path of becoming fully yourself, you must engage in a dialogue with yourself.” Bedrick praises Popova’s abstract approach, saying that she writes about ideas in a way that children can understand and appreciate.
Jacoby is a “very cerebral, very thoughtful, and very intentional artist,” Bedrick says, whose visual worldbuilding complements Popova’s abstract text. “There’s no clue in the manuscript as to what Re and Mi look like,” Bedrick says. “They’re these two characters that could be anything—animal or human. She made them these adorable, cuddly things.” There’s also no description of the nooks on the moon that Re and Mi retire to, “so really it was an entire world for Sarah to create. She dived deep into her own imagination, resulting in this gorgeous vision in dialogue with Maria’s text.”
Creative Company associate publisher Rebecca Glaser says that the Mankato, Minn., press is releasing Betsy-Tacy for Small Children by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Lois Lenski (Mar. 2026, ages 5–7), in a picture book format to introduce the series to younger readers. The text is an abridged version of the original middle grade books, retaining much of Lovelace’s language. “The idea was just to publish it in a shorter form,” Glaser says, “so that even younger kids could enjoy it and fall in love with these characters.” Though the series was released between 1940 and 1955, Lovelace’s stories deal with universal themes that contemporary readers can relate to, Glaser explains, while Lenski’s “iconic” illustrations reflect their historical setting.
The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery by Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Maithili Joshi (Oct., ages 7–10), is the middle grade author’s first mystery novel, says Charlesbridge publisher Yolanda Scott, who notes that Perkins’s Rickshaw Girl (2007) remains one of the press’s top-selling titles. Scott praises Perkins for addressing “sophisticated topics” in her work in an age-appropriate way. “She really gets into socioeconomic justice, environmental issues, women’s empowerment, the different conflicts that can occur in cross-cultural situations,” Scott says, “and this is where she shines as a writer: she takes these complex themes and weaves them into an engaging story with incredibly compelling characters.”
While The Golden Necklace is set on a tea plantation in northeastern India and the amateur sleuth is a Nepali girl, it’s also largely about family and friendship, Scott says, and has a healthy undercurrent on the joy of food. Full-page illustrations interspersed throughout provide context; “It’s the kind of setting that may not be familiar to all readers,” Scott says. Describing the cover art, Scott confides that “we went all out,” adding, “We even did the gold foil, even though it’s more expensive. But with a title like The Golden Necklace, we had to have some gold.”
