Call for Submissions: BBKT, Fall 2026
The CCBC is now accepting submissions for the fall 2026 selection period for Best Books for Kids & Teens (BBKT).
When is the deadline?
The deadline to complete the title submission form(s) is June 1, 2026. The physical books/magazines are due at Tinlids no later than June 19, 2026.
If you cannot release titles that are publishing after our physical resources deadline (June 19) before the deadline, they can be considered during the next round of evaluation, which will be for the spring 2027 edition.
What books and resources are eligible?
For the fall 2026 selection period for Best Books for Kids & Teens (BBKT), our committees will be evaluating books and magazines published between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. If you already submitted your titles published during the second half of 2025 to the spring 2026 selection period, there is no need to resubmit them. Please refer to the Eligibility Criteria for further information.
Please note: We are no longer evaluating audio music or video submissions, as there is no longer a demand for these items to be reviewed. Furthermore, following feedback from the committees, we are only evaluating physical books. Our committees will not be evaluating ebooks. The PDFs we are requesting are in the event that you are experiencing supply chain issues, or if any of our committee members have a print disability that requires an alternative format.
Works containing AI-authored content, in part or in whole, or AI-generated illustrations, are not eligible for submission. Use of AI for research, minor editorial, or formatting support may be permitted. If a work is found to include ineligible AI-generated content after submission, it will be disqualified, and the submitted material(s) will not be returned.
What do I need to submit?
Please submit a completed title submission form for ALL titles you plan on submitting. Upon receipt of your online submission form(s), you will be sent a link where you can upload the PDF of your submission(s). In addition to the PDF, we require a total of eight (8) physical copies—five (5) for CCBC/committee members and three (3) for the regional collections (one copy sent directly to each collection). In the case of magazine submissions, we only require five (5) sets of three issues to CCBC/committees only.
Please send five (5) copies of each title to:
CCBC — Best Books
c/o Tinlids Inc.
130 Martin Ross Avenue
Toronto, ON M3J 2L4
Tinlids' hours of operation for warehouse deliveries are Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. Should you need to include a phone number for the shipment, the phone number at Tinlids is 416-665-5663.
Materials submitted will not be returned, including titles deemed ineligible or those not selected for inclusion.
Note to US publishers, foreign publishers and self-published authors using printers in the US
When you are sending your submissions, please make sure that all mailing/courier charges, including duty, are billed to the sender. Neither the CCBC nor Tinlids can incur these costs. Packages flagged as COD will be refused.
Regional Collections
For the regional collections, we are asking that you send the books directly to the collections (one copy to each collection). Because the institutions housing the CCBC collection also house a number of other collections, please hold off on shipping your books to them until all of your books have arrived at your warehouse. Click here to download the packing slip that is required for each of the regional collection shipments. This Excel sheet is programmed so that when you enter the details on the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) sheet, it will automatically populate the same fields for the University of Manitoba (UofM) and University of Alberta (UofA). It is imperative that a copy of the form accompany the shipments so that they know the resources are specifically for the CCBC collection when they arrive. If you're sending books directly from a warehouse and including a printout of the form is not possible, please email a copy of the Excel form to the regional collections in advance to give them a heads-up. The email address for each collection representative is included on the form, as are their physical addresses.
Eligibility Criteria
- For the fall 2026 selection period for Best Books for Kids & Teens (BBKT), our committees will be evaluating books and magazines published between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. If you already submitted your titles published during the second half of 2025 to the spring 2026 selection period, there is no need to resubmit them.
- All books and/or magazines being submitted must be intended for children or young adults.
- Both fiction and non-fiction materials are eligible, for age levels 0-18 years of age.
- All books being submitted must be written or illustrated by Canadians. Our definition of Canadian includes Canadian citizens, permanent residents (minimum two-year residency), or First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of the land that is now called Canada.
- Works containing AI-authored content, in part or in whole, or AI-generated illustrations, are not eligible for submission. Use of AI for research, minor editorial, or formatting support may be permitted. If a work is found to include ineligible AI-generated content after submission, it will be disqualified, and the submitted material(s) will not be returned.
- For books where only the illustrator is Canadian, the illustrations must make up at least 40% of the book (i.e., chapter books or novels featuring black-and-white line drawings/illustrations are not eligible, unless they make up 40% of the book).
- All magazines being submitted must feature the work of Canadian authors and/or illustrators and be produced in Canada.
- All books being submitted must have a valid ISBN; all magazines being submitted must have a valid ISSN.
- A book or magazine must be in print and available for commercial distribution at the time of judging. Imprints from non-standard publishing houses (including those that are self-published) are eligible, provided they have been assigned valid ISBNs or ISSNs.
- The committees will consider any children's book or magazine written in English; any translation from another language into English; and any children's book or magazine, published in two or more languages, where one is English and where the versions are bound together. They will not, however, consider titles originating abroad but purchased for Canadian publication, other than those written or illustrated by a Canadian.
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Re-issues (with no revisions) are not eligible for consideration.
- New editions of previously published books (with revisions) are eligible provided they have not been featured in an earlier edition of BBKT. If you are unsure as to whether an earlier edition was featured, please reach out to meghan@bookcentre.ca to confirm.
- Collections of previously published works are eligible providing all other criteria are met.
- Following feedback from the committees, we are only evaluating physical books. Our committees will not be evaluating ebooks.
Title Submission Forms
Please submit a completed title submission form for ALL titles you plan on submitting. Before completing the form, please refer to the Eligibility Criteria to ensure that your title is eligible. Materials submitted that are deemed ineligible, will not be returned.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Meghan Howe
Director of Operations
meghan@bookcentre.ca
416-975-0010 ext. 0