2025-2026 Texas Bluebonnet Award List Released

The Texas Library Association’s (TLA) 2025-2026 Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) List was announced at the Texas Book Festival in Austin on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

As is tradition, students in grades 3 – 6 from across Texas revealed the books on the list.

The Texas Bluebonnet Award List is one of the most distinguished children’s literature lists in the country.

This prestigious list is composed of titles from creative, talented and diverse authors. The titles on the list offer students in third through sixth grades quality fiction and nonfiction literature to be read for pleasure. The TBA selection committee considered a whopping 1006 books for this year’s list.

The primary goals of the TBA list are to introduce children to a variety of quality books, develop critical reading skills, and honor and encourage authors. To compose the list, the committee selected five outstanding books of various genres for grades 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Each year, more than 63,000 third-through-sixth graders from across Texas vote for their favorite title from the list. “Read 5, then decide” is a slogan known by school librarians, public librarians and homeschooling parents across the state. The TBA Award winner is announced in the spring and will be honored at the TLA 2025 Annual Conference in Dallas in April.

Here is the list, alphabetized by title. Printable PDF of list.

1. A Game of Noctis, Deva Fagan
2. A Plate of Hope, Erin Frankel, illustrated by Paola Escobar
3. Dogtown, Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko, illustrated by Wallace West
4. Doña Quixote: Rise of the Knight, Rey Terciero, illustrated by Monica M. Magaña
5. Ernö Rubik and His Magic Cube, Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer
6. Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature, Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Julia Patton
7. Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective, Janet Tashjian, illustrated by Jake Tashijian
8. Invisible Isabel, Sally J. Pla
9. It Came from the Trees, Ally Russell
10. Legendarios: Wrath of the Rain God, Karla Arenas Valenti, illustrated by Vanessa Morales
11. Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, Chanel Miller
12. Nimbus, Jan Eldredge
13. Pedro’s Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys, Rob Peñas, illustrated by Carl Angel
14. Scare School Diaries: Welcome to Scare School, Jarrett Lerner
15. Stuntboy, In-Between Time, Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Raúl the Third
16. Tales from Cabin 23: The Boo Hag Flex, Justina Ireland
17. The Girl Who Figured It Out, Minda Dentler, illustrated by Stephanie Dehennin
18. The Liars Society, Alyson Gerber
19. The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines, Mo Netz
20. Volcanoes, Nell Cross Beckerman, illustrated by Kalen Choc

The Texas Bluebonnet Award List includes titles for grades 3 – 6 and is not designed to support any particular curriculum. Librarians are not required or expected to purchase every book on the list to participate in the voting program. Due to the diversity in age range and topics, librarians should follow their collection development policies and guidelines when considering which titles to purchase for their library.