The Schneider Family Book Awards recognize books that “embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.” Awards are given in three age categories. Here are the winners and honor books for each:
SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNG CHILDREN’S BOOK
The Pura Belpré Awards “honor Latinx writers and illustrators whose children’s and young adult books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.” Here are the 2026 winners and honor books.
This award recognizes outstanding books by African American authors and illustrators. There is one award for writing and another for illustrations. They also give a new talent award.
Naomi has been returned to her biological family after living until recently with the woman she thought was her mother but who actually abducted her. Her family calls her by a different name and adjustment has been rocky. That’s why they decide to take a long summer vacation together in the Shenandoah Valley. However, the town they are near used to be a Sundown town and still holds some of the same beliefs about Black people living there. Naomi starts seeing a young Black girl outside her window who suddenly bursts into flames. As Naomi learns more about the history of the region, she realizes that it may not just be girls from the past who are in danger there.
Incredibly gripping and tense, this is a layered thriller for teens that speaks directly to the Black experience in sundown towns across the country. It also looks at how girls are exploited and ignored on multiple levels, becoming missing girls. Naomi is a great protagonist, strong and resilient while still struggling with her past and her current situation. Her messy relationship with her family is shown with empathy and honesty, adding to the questions of what is due to previous trauma and what is real.
A dark thriller full of personal trauma, history and ghosts.
Part of the I Like to Read collection, this is a very clever beginning reader.. Bug waits patiently for the bus to come, runs to the bus and hops on. Pig runs to the bus and hops on. So does Pup, but Bat doesn’t run or hop. Fox and Hen run to the bus, as does Cat. Slug runs too, but far more slowly than the others. Finally, Skunk runs and hops on the bus. But no one wants to ride with Skunk, not even the driver, except for Bug. But what will they do with no one to drive the bus?
Catrow gives this reader plenty of action built into his simple words and phrases. He keeps the sentences in the book simple and the real story is told in the pictures. The illustrations add a wildness to the title, with their wacky characters, oversized reactions, and the wonderful hops onto the bus by the various animals.
Silly and delightfully odd, this beginning reader stands out from the rest like a skunk on a bus.
Waking Brain Cells 