Kids reach for screens. Parents reach for these.
Three picture book trends and what’s driving them: SEL, screen-free, and comfort stories. The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle – Issue #62
Kids are reaching for screens more than ever, and feeling more anxious with it. So let’s look at what’s changing in the picture book world because of it.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The grown-ups who buy picture books are reaching away from screens, toward books that are calmer and good for a child. That’s the pattern that ties together the three trends I’ll cover here.
A few weeks ago, in issue 56, I argued that three forces (screens, the children’s mental health crisis, and AI) were all driving the same thing: disconnection. This time we’ll look at the market response to those forces.
And, just before we get into the trends… Last issue I promised to share the full market research walkthrough on my book, step by step. That’s still coming, in the next issue. I wanted to share these three trends with you first.
Trend 1: SEL picture books as a growth category
In case you’re not familiar, SEL stands for “social-emotional learning”.
Market-research firms, like Circana, that track children’s publishing keep naming SEL as one of the themes driving the category right now. And it makes sense, because it’s the direct answer to the mental-health issue I wrote about in #56.
Parents and teachers reach for SEL books because they help children work through feelings, friendships, resilience, believing in themselves and other important things in life.
And it’s not just a hope or a wish on the part of those buying and reading these books to children. Socially themed picture books have been shown to promote better social behaviour in young children. Books help with emotional intelligence and vocabulary, giving kids the words to express what they feel, which is the first step to managing it. They can help with anxiety and self-esteem too. So an SEL book can really help children at a time when a lot of them are struggling.
So if you want to write SEL, now is a really good time to do it. The need is real, and the audience is actively looking.
Trend 2: Screen-free as a selling point
Circana’s Q1 2026 BookScan data, reported in a company blog post and echoed at the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute back in February, showed that print book sales fell 3.1% in the first quarter of 2026, and…
… the children’s category was the only part of the market that grew.
That growth was concentrated in activity-based, interactive, and faith-based books, which Circana’s analyst framed as alternatives to screen time. Books people reach for instead of a tablet.
But the same analyst added a note of caution. She pointed out that a boom in activity books like colouring, crafting, puzzle and sticker formats, might signal a shift away from sustained reading, which could hurt a child’s reading stamina over time rather than help it.
Either way, the screen-free trend is real and measurable.
Trend 3: The comfort mood
I don’t have sales figures showing comfort books outselling other books, but the people who track and recommend picture books keep talking about them.
In 2025, reviewers and librarians curated and recommended comfort books again and again. For instance, School Library Journal ran a picture-book feature called “Comfort and Discovery.“ I’d see the same words cropping up in the best-of lists: cosy, gentle, tender, heartwarming, reassuring.
Look at Snuggle Season by Jaimie MacGibbon. The book is full of soft snow and warm lighting, with the word “snuggles” on nearly every page. Or Bear Feels Sad by Karma Wilson, a rhyming story about friends taking care of each other on a bad day. It’s cosy and teaches a child how to deal with hard feelings.
In today’s world, readers reach for safe and hopeful stories for children. Not all airy fairy or saccharine, but true and kind stories.
And it’s not just children’s books. Across publishing, readers are reaching for cosy, comforting stories in uncertain times, so what we’re seeing in the picture book market is part of something bigger.
Trend 3 is the same as the other two trends, where people are looking to escape from the noise.
A note on trends
Of course, it can help if your book fits a trend like this. It’s something that can support your sales, though it’s never a guarantee.
But you can’t fake your way into a trend like SEL. The whole reason the market is reaching for these books is that it wants the real thing, a story written by someone who actually means it. But an SEL book written just to “tick the boxes” and catch a wave tends to read exactly like what it is.
So if SEL is in your heart, now is a good time to write it.
Real-life examples
The first is Multicolored Monono by Nicole Todd Bailey, illustrated by Marlon at GetYourBookIllustrations. Monono is a one-of-a-kind multicoloured crayon, shunned by the matching-set crayons in the classroom, until a new child, also overlooked, picks Monono up and starts drawing with it. It’s an SEL story about the ache of not fitting in.
Kirkus called it a story of hope and resilience in the face of not fitting in. It won three BookFest First Place awards (Picture Books, Diversity & Multicultural, and Book Cover Illustration), and it includes a discussion guide for parents and teachers.
The second is the work of Terrie Lynn Birney. Terrie has cerebral palsy, and she writes picture books featuring children with cerebral palsy. She won a $2,500 SCBWI grant for her ASL-themed book, Does Anyone Know My Language. Her stories help children who have rarely seen themselves in a book feel understood, and help other children to understand them.
Multicolored Monono by Nicole Todd Bailey, The Magical Hair Bows by Terrie Lynn Birney. Both illustrated by GetYourBookIllustrations. Does Anyone Know my Language by Terrie Lynn Birney.
Over to you
Are you writing an SEL or comfort book right now? Or is your work-in-progress something else entirely?
I’d love to hear what you’re working on and how it’s going!
Comment and let me know.
All three trends are aligned, and I definitely believe this is a reaction to what I covered in issue 56 of The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle.
So if you’re writing an SEL or comfort story, keep going. And if you’re not, it’s worth thinking about whether your next idea taps into any of this, because it’s where a lot of readers are heading.
Either way, any well-written picture book is valuable, so keep writing!
