The 14th annual Children's Institute (Ci2026), organized by the American Booksellers Association, takes place Friday-Monday, June 26-29, in Schaumburg, Ill., near Chicago and O'Hare International Airport.

The program features four days of the kinds of events that have made Children's Institutes so rewarding: educational sessions, keynote talks, author receptions, publisher parties, rep presentations, vendor and publisher showcases, and time for booksellers, authors, and publishers from around the country to meet and network. But that's not all. There's also the popular galley room, a range of affinity group meetings, a booksellers lounge, a quiet room, new bookseller training, bookstore tours, "office hours" for meeting with ABA board members, a costume/opening reception, karaoke, and more. Ci2026 will be a mix of fun, celebration, and serious, thoughtful work.

Some 350 booksellers are registered for Ci2026, and a third--118--are first timers.

Allison Hil

ABA CEO Allison Hill offered welcoming words for those attendees: "Children's Institute is one of my favorite moments in the year! I love the spirit of it and the chance to celebrate children's books and booksellers. The ABA education team did an amazing job with the program, striking the perfect balance between valuable education and much needed community and fun, and I know everyone is looking forward to being together. I hope everyone gets to visit some of the wonderful Chicago-area indies and that attendees head home revitalized to do the important work of sharing children's books and supporting young readers."

Friday, June 26

The Ci2026 program opens during the afternoon on Friday, June 26, with registration starting at 3 p.m. The Buddy Meet and Greet, for booksellers participating in the Buddy Program, will be held 4-4:45 p.m. Then, from 5:15-6:45 p.m., is the PATHWAYS mixer, where Black, Indigenous, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latina/o/x, Chicana/o/x, Hispanic, and all BIPOC attendees can make connections and network. Attendees can register for the mixer; non-Ci attendees can also attend for free and should e-mail the ABA to register.

Saturday, June 27

Saturday morning and early afternoon feature sessions on children's bookselling basics; photography tips for booksellers; creating engaging reels and TikToks; extending children's bookselling knowledge to the entire bookstore staff; and full-day and half-day tours of bookstores in Chicagoland. Stores to be visited include Anderson's Bookshop, Book Bin, Booked, Bookends & Beginnings, The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn, City Lit, Exile in Bookville, Goblin Market, The Last Chapter, Matchmaker, Pink Couch, Restoried Bookshop, RoscoeBooks, Secret World, Skunk Cabbage, Swallow Stories, Three Avenues, The Understudy, Unabridged Bookstore, Women & Children First, Yellow Bird Books, and Zora's Place.

Full-day tours include lunch stops at Bookends & Beginnings and Sourcebooks headquarters.

Following the opening keynote at 4-5 p.m. with Elizabeth Acevedo, Jasmine Guillory, and Nicola Yoon, moderated by Leah Johnson (see below), the opening reception and costume party takes place from 5:30-7 p.m.

Sunday, June 28

On Sunday, the meal events include the Indies Introduce Presentation & Breakfast; the Lunch Author Reception; a dinner sponsored by the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group that will have readings, headgear, and games in addition to food and drink; and Scholastic's 80s After Party with drinks, desserts, gifts, and last but not least, authors and illustrators. Other features include the vendor showcase and meet the presses; several rep picks speed dating sessions; and educational programming addressing topics such as the range of children's book awards, fostering young teen lit (books for 12-15 year olds), and how to incorporate board and activity books into stores. 

Monday, June 29

Monday's programming begins with the rep picks presentations breakfast. The vendor showcase and meet the presses area will be open all day. The HarperCollins Children's 100th Anniversary lunch will feature authors.

Education sessions include Bookstore Policies for Free Expression, which will help stores create a curation policy that reflect stores' emphases and values; understanding event ROI; rebuilding relationships for book fairs, author visits, and summer reading programs at schools when school librarians are cut; a look at "millennial nostalgia," the popularity of '90s kids books; authorless events; and how to merchandise for increasingly popular "analog" activities, including reading, journaling, puzzling, and crafting.

Brenna Connor

From 11 a.m. to noon, Brenna Connor, Circana BookScan's U.S. books analyst, will discuss trends in children's books in general and compared to general retail. She will also focus on "the rising influence of Generation Alpha," the cohort whose oldest members are 13, and its values, preferences, and behaviors.

At 3:50-4 p.m. is Binc's Heads or Tails Fundraiser, always an amusing contest that helps raise money for an incredibly important foundation. From 4-4:45 p.m. is the closing keynote with Lois Lowry and Cathy Berner (see below), followed by karaoke hosted by Drag Story Hour. 

Saturday, June 27. 4-5 p.m. Opening Keynote Conversation with Elizabeth Acevedo, Jasmine Guillory, and Nicola Yoon moderated by Leah Johnson.

Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo is the author of The Poet X, which won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Carnegie Medal, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the Walter Award. She is also the author of With the Fire on High--which was named a best book of the year by the New York Public Library, NPR, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal--and Clap When You Land, which was a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor book and a Kirkus Prize finalist. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from the George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. Her upcoming book is Anger Is Only a Shadow (Quill Tree Books, September 15). 

Jasmine Guillory

Jasmine Guillory is the author of nine novels, including The Wedding Date, the Reese's Book Club selection The Proposal, and Flirting Lessons. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appetit, and Time, and she is a frequent book contributor on the Today Show. She lives in Oakland, Calif. It's Only Dancing (Scholastic, October 6) is her YA debut.

Nicola Yoon

Nicola Yoon is the author of Everything, Everything, The Sun Is Also a Star, Instructions for Dancing, and is a coauthor of Blackout. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Award recipient, a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award winner and the first Black woman to hit #1 on the New York Times Young Adult bestseller list. Two of her novels have been made into major motion pictures. She's also the co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House YA imprint dedicated to love stories starring people of color. She grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, N.Y., and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist David Yoon, and their daughter. Her next book (title to be announced) will be published by Delacorte Press.

Leah Johnson

Leah Johnson is an eternal Midwesterner, bookseller, and author of award-winning books for children and young adults. Her debut YA novel, You Should See Me in a Crown, was a Stonewall Honor Book and named one of TIME's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. She is also the editor of the middle grade anthology, Black Girl Power, and co-author of There's Always Next Year with George M. Johnson, among others. She serves on the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers Literature panel. When she's not writing books, she's selling them at Loudmouth Books, her Indianapolis, Ind., bookstore that highlights marginalized authors and uplifts banned or challenged books.

Monday, June 29. 4-4:45 p.m. Closing Keynote with Lois Lowry and Cathy Berner.

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry is the author of more than 50 books for children and young adults, including the Giver Quartet and the Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received many honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver. Her next book, Building 903, will be published by Clarion September 29. 

Cathy Berner

Cathy Berner, a former school librarian, is the Children's/Young Adult Specialist and Events Coordinator at Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas. She was a judge last year for the National Book Awards in the Young People's Literature category and is the programming coordinator for three literary festivals: Bookworm, TweensRead, and TeenBookCon.