The current Imagination Library book list is the 2026 list, and every title on it is below. If you came looking for a 2027 list, it does not exist yet, and there is a section further down on when it might.
One thing to know before you scroll. The list is not organized the way most people expect. Books are not assigned by month, but by the year your child was born. In other words, your child’s birth year is the only thing that decides which titles arrive.
Key takeaways
- There is no 2027 list yet. The 2026 list is current.
- Titles are grouped by birth year, not by age or month. A child born in 2024 is in Group 3.
- Every child in the United States starts with The Little Engine That Could and finishes with Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!
- There are two American lists: a Core list and a Bilingual English and Spanish list. Both are below.
- A child enrolled from birth to age five receives up to 60 books.
- The official list is titles only. It does not print authors.
Every title here was copied from the Dollywood Foundation’s own book list page on September 4, 2026.
How the Imagination Library book list is organized
Children are sorted into six groups by birth year. Your child stays in the same group all year, and then moves up.
| Group | Born in | Roughly age | Book format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | 2026 | Under 1 | Board book or flexi-bind |
| Group 2 | 2025 | 1 | Board book or flexi-bind |
| Group 3 | 2024 | 2 | Softcover picture book |
| Group 4 | 2023 | 3 | Softcover picture book |
| Group 5 | 2022 | 4 | Softcover picture book |
| Group 6 | 2021 | 5 | Softcover picture book |
That format split matters more than it sounds. Groups 1 and 2 get board books or flexi-bind covers with minimal text, aimed at nurture and attachment rather than story. From Group 3 on, however, the books are softcover picture books covering more complex concepts.
Books arrive one a month, addressed to your child by name, free to the family. If you have not signed up yet, our Imagination Library sign up guide walks through the form step by step.
The 2026 Imagination Library book list: Core program
Below is the standard American list. First, find your child’s birth year, then read down.
Group 1 — children born in 2026
- Sleep Tight, Polar Bear (Little Loves)
- Baby! Talk!
- Llama Llama Hide & Seek
- Can You Guess? Animal Sounds with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Who Says Quack?
- Look at the Animals
- Rainbow Colors Peekaboo!
- Pudgy Book of Mother Goose
- Pudgy Pat A Cake
- A World to Meet
- Moby Duck
Group 2 — children born in 2025
- Richard Scarry’s 100 First Words
- Eric Carle’s Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Other Nursery Rhymes
- Where is Your Nose?
- My Feet Go
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Vegetable Garden
- Tad and Dad
- Play with Me
- Bedtime, Here I Come!
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Signs
- Llama Llama Red Pajama
- Mama Hug
- Good Night Gorilla
Group 3 — children born in 2024
- Green Tractor
- Buffalo Fluffalo
- Little Bunny Spring Is Here!
- The Baby Who Stayed Awake Forever
- Over in the Garden
- Ice Cream Face
- Birding for Babies: Backyard Birds
- The Animal Song
- K is for Kindness
- Diggers Love Their Friends!
- The Big Slide
- Solitary Animals
Group 4 — children born in 2023
- Corduroy
- How We Say I Love You
- A Little Emotional
- Buffalo Fluffalo and Puffalo
- Gaga Mistake Day
- Don’t Lose Mr Cuddles
- Jonny Lambert’s Bear and Bird Explore the Seashore
- Forts
- Roar-Choo!
- A Little Like Magic
- What’s New, Daniel?
- Rocket Ship, Solo Trip
Group 5 — children born in 2022
- Full Moon Pups
- When You Love a Book
- Rose Weaves a Garden
- Danbi’s Favorite Day
- Our Tree
- The Rabbit Listened
- The Outside
- Being Home
- The Biggest Dog in the Book
- Don’t Trust Fish
- A Unicorn, a Dinosaur, and a Shark Were Riding a Bicycle
- Coat of Many Colors
Coat of Many Colors is Dolly Parton’s own book, and Group 5 is where it lands.
Group 6 — children born in 2021
- Exactly as Planned
- Help Wanted: One Rooster
- You Are a Honey Bee!
- Kittybunkport
- I Got You
- The Littlest Drop
- The Ocean’s Heartbeat
- Grilled Cheese? Yes, Please!
- George & Lenny Are Always Together
- Something Wild
- Steppin’ Out
The 2026 Bilingual book list
A second American list exists, and most write-ups skip it. Local programs can run a Bilingual English and Spanish track. Importantly, it is a different set of books rather than translations of the Core list.
Ask your local program whether it offers the bilingual option, because not every one does.
Bilingual titles for the youngest three groups
| Group | Bilingual titles |
|---|---|
| Group 1 born 2026 | Bathtime Peekaboo! · Baby Night-night · Sleep Tight, Polar Bear (Little Loves) · Look at the Animals · Baby! Talk! · Who Says Quack? · Wheels on the Bus · I Love My Mommy Because · Rainbow Colors Peekaboo! · Sassy: Bedtime for Baby · Baby Sounds |
| Group 2 born 2025 | My First Bilingual Shapes · Nobunny’s Perfect · The Very Busy Spider · My First Bilingual Body · Little Poems for Tiny Ears · Good Morning Farm Friends · I Love My Daddy Because · Sassy: Baby’s First Words · Where is Your Nose? · Vehicles (Picture Show) · Richard Scarry’s 100 First Words · My First Bilingual Farm |
| Group 3 born 2024 | My First Bilingual Things That Go · You Are My I Love You · Jake at Gymnastics · Mine, Mine, Mine, Yours! · Solitary Animals · Squeak! · Just One More · Red House Tree House, Itty Bitty Brown Mouse · One Leaf Two Leaves Count with Me · My First Bilingual Playtime · I Hear a Pickle · Green Tractor |
Bilingual titles for the older three groups
| Group | Bilingual titles |
|---|---|
| Group 4 born 2023 | Corduroy · Baby Builders · Abuela · Hair Love · Families Belong · My First Bilingual Out and About · Raindrops to Rainbows · Ocean Lullaby · Donut · I Wonder · The Snowy Day · My First Bilingual Opposites |
| Group 5 born 2022 | Ten Ways to Hear Snow · Pup & Bear · The Ring Bearer · The Rabbit Listened · Milo’s Hat Trick · When the Storm Comes · Brick by Brick · Goldilocks & the Three Bears · Say Hello to a Worm · Birds of a Feather · Peace is an Offering · Coat of Many Colors |
| Group 6 born 2021 | Rabbit’s Snow Dance · As an Oak Tree Grows · Old Rock (is not boring) · Spend It! · At the Mountain’s Base · Wonder Walkers · Blue Sky, White Stars · The Tree in Me · Something Wild · Daniel Finds a Poem · Wild Horses |
Two books that never leave the Imagination Library book list
Two titles sit outside the yearly list. Every American child gets both, and together they bookend the whole five years.
The first book is a customized edition of The Little Engine That Could. It arrives whenever your child is enrolled, whatever their age.
The last book is a customized edition of Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! It arrives in the month your child turns five, and then the mailings stop.
Both say customized, because the Imagination Library prints its own editions with a message inside. That is, they are not the copies you would buy in a store.
Why there is no 2027 Imagination Library book list yet
Searches for a 2027 list are running well ahead of the program. As of early September 2026, the official book list page shows 2026 titles, and the Foundation has announced nothing about 2027.
Past releases suggest when it might land. Affiliate programs in Ohio, Arkansas and elsewhere were circulating the 2026 list in January and February 2026. If the Foundation keeps to that pattern, a 2027 Imagination Library book list would surface around the turn of the year.
Still, that is a pattern and not a promise. No release date has been announced.
One thing is worth knowing in the meantime. Although the list changes every year, it never changes completely. For example, long-running favorites like Corduroy, Llama Llama Red Pajama and Good Night Gorilla are all on the 2026 list. So a new list is a partial refresh rather than a clean sweep.
Who picks the books
A panel called the Blue Ribbon Book Selection Committee builds the list. The Foundation describes it as a specially selected panel of early childhood literacy experts, responsible for reviewing hundreds of potential titles.
One constraint explains a great deal about the list. Every book in the program is published by Penguin Random House. In addition, the Foundation says plainly that it cannot review independently published books or books from other publishers.
So if you have wondered why certain famous picture books never appear, that is usually the reason. In short, it is a publisher question rather than a quality judgment.
The list is different in other countries
The program runs in five countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. Each publishes its own book list.
The clearest proof is the pair of fixed titles. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the first book is The Tale of Peter Rabbit and the last is Just Imagine, not the two American ones. Canada, by contrast, keeps the American pair but adds Canadian authors and illustrators each year, with symbols marking Canadian publishers and Indigenous creators.
Therefore, if you moved countries, expect a different set of books. Check the list for the country you now live in.
How many books your child ends up with
A child enrolled from birth through age five receives up to 60 books. That is the Foundation’s own figure, and the word to notice is up to.
Most families get fewer, for an ordinary reason. They enroll late. Sign up when your child is two, and roughly half the run is already behind you. Nothing is backdated.
Children born in the same year receive the same books. Twins, likewise, get the same title each month, one copy each, addressed separately.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2027 Imagination Library book list out?
No. As of September 2026 the official page shows the 2026 list only. Based on when past lists appeared, late 2026 or early 2027 is the likely window, although no date has been announced.
Does the Imagination Library book list show authors?
Essentially, no. The official list is titles only, a stray editor credit aside. Author names on other sites come from separate lookups, and some of those sites are reprinting older lists. So if an author matters to you, search the title directly.
Can I choose which books my child gets?
Unfortunately not. Books are assigned by birth year group. The only choice a family may have is the Core list rather than the Bilingual list, and then only where the local program offers both.
Will my child get the same books as an older sibling?
Some of them, yes. Because the list is refreshed every year but keeps many titles, siblings a few years apart usually overlap on the long-running favorites while differing on the newer ones.
What happens to the book list now that Dolly Parton has died?
Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026. On the same day, Dollywood Foundation president Jeff Conyers said in a statement that “Dolly often said that she had been blessed far beyond anything she ever dreamed possible, and she believed deeply that those blessings came with a responsibility to give something back.” The Foundation said the program continues. Nothing has been announced about changes to the book list.
Before you go looking for the 2027 list
Be careful where you get it. Some library guides and blogs publish a tidier-looking Imagination Library book list with authors and illustrators attached. Before you trust one, check a few of its titles against the Foundation’s page, because several of those lists are from earlier years.
The Foundation’s own page is the only version worth trusting. When a 2027 list appears, it will appear there first.
If you have not enrolled yet, availability depends entirely on your ZIP code. Our guide to Imagination Library eligibility explains who qualifies, what happens when a child turns five, and what to do when the program is not offered where you live.
Sources
- Imagination Library — United States Book List
- Imagination Library — Choosing Our Books
- Imagination Library Support — Do all children receive the same books?
- Imagination Library — United Kingdom Book List
- Imagination Library — Canada Book List
- Imagination Library Support — Will twins receive the same books?
- The Dollywood Foundation Honors the Life and Legacy of Dolly Parton
- NPR — Dolly Parton obituary