BPL’s 2026 Kids Big Borrows (So Far!)
Our Big Borrows stories are now an annual tradition, taking a look at what Burlington readers are borrowing most from their public library. And what a summer it’s been for our younger readers.
This year, 2,509 kids took part in our Summer Reading Club—our highest participation since before the pandemic—and logged more than 10,239 check-ins along the way. By summer’s end, 930 young readers had reached their personal reading goals and completed the eight-week program. Way to go!
With another great summer of reading behind us, we checked our borrowing statistics to see which books have been especially popular with kids so far this year. Here’s what we found.
The BIGGEST Borrows
We’re thrilled to see how much our young customers are reading this year! From January through August, 245,047 physical books were borrowed, including children's fiction, graphic novels, children's readers & pre-readers, and picture books. Of these, 27 print titles were borrowed at least 70 times each, for an impressive 2,466 borrows. Broaden the list to include titles borrowed at least 50 times, and 104 books have logged 6,926 borrows—surpassing the total for the same period in 2025!
Six books from our children’s print collection have already hit the 100-borrow mark this year. Leading the pack are Dog Man: Big Jim Believes with 164 borrows and Dog Man: Big Jim Begins with 132, followed by Up, Up, Down (128), Class Trip (102), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down (102), and Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (100).
Let's take a look at the books inspiring these super-readers.
Top Children's Fiction
Overall, our list of top children's fiction included 29 titles that were borrowed 1,959 times since January. No surprise here: Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series continues to dominate. Eight of the top ten were Kinney titles, with two by Peter Brown.
Since Kinney’s books are perennial favourites, we’ve set them aside to give some other popular titles their moment in the spotlight. Here are the most borrowed children’s fiction titles so far this year, each with 50 or more checkouts.
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
Dork Diaries. Tales from a Not-so-Secret Crush Catastrophe by Rachel Renee Russell
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Diary of a Pug. Pug Blasts Off by Kyla May
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Magic Tree House. Soccer on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne
Unicorn Diaries. Bo and the Merbaby by Rebecca Elliott
The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
Dragon Masters. Power of the Fire Dragon by Tracey West
Dragon Masters. Wave of the Sea Dragon by Tracey West
Top Graphic Novels
Graphic novels were a hot item with young Burlington readers! From January through August, 34 print titles were borrowed at least 50 times, adding up to 2,394 checkouts—up from 27 titles and 1,758 checkouts during the same period in 2025. Our top ten graphic novels were each borrowed at least 80 times:
Dog Man. Volume 14, Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey
Dog Man. Volume 13, Big Jim Begins by Dav Pilkey
Dog Man. Volume 12, The Scarlet Shedder by Dav Pilkey
The Baby-Sitters Club. Volume 17, Mallory and the Trouble with Twins by Ann M. Martin
Cat Kid Comic Club. Volume 2, Perspectives by Dav Pilkey
The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier
InvestiGators. Volume 8, Class Action by John Patrick Green
Dog Man. Volume 11, Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea by Dav Pilkey
Cat on the Run. Volume 3, In Hidden Layers! by Aaron Blabey
The Baby-sitters Club. Volume 16, Kristy and the Walking Disaster by Ellen T. Crenshaw
Picture Books, Pre-Readers & Readers
Burlington's littles (and their caregivers) enjoyed some quality reading time, too! Here are the top five physical books borrowed so far this year in each category.
Picture Books
Up, Up, Down by Robert Munsch
Class Trip by Robert Munsch
Bounce! by Robert Munsch
I Can Fix It! by Robert Munsch
Munsch-a-thon by Robert Munsch
Pre-Readers
Daniel Visits the Library by Maggie Testa
The Berenstain Bears Are Superbears! by Mike Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears. Bears on Wheels by Stan Berenstain
Batman is Fast! by Maggie Testa
Duck, Duck, Dinosaur. Spring Smiles by Kallie George
Children's Readers
Moana's New Friend by Jennifer Liberts
Pinkalicious and the Flower Fairy by Victoria Kann
Pinkalicious. Dragon to the Rescue by Victoria Kann
Fancy Nancy. The Case of the Disappearing Doll by Nancy Parent
Fancy Nancy. Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jane O’Connor
Discover More
We drew the line at titles borrowed at least 50 times, but our children’s book collection has so many wonderful reads that are just waiting for kids and their adults to discover.
Our staff can help you find books that will appeal to your child’s interests and are appropriate for their reading level. Call or visit any branch or ask for suggestions through our Handpicked For You readers advisory service. We’re here to help grow readers for life!
More BPL Big Borrows
Check out the most popular books borrowed from our adult collection:
BPL’s 2026 Big Borrows (So Far!) – Jul 1 2026
BPL's 2025 Branch Big Borrows – Jan 5 2026
