#19 — February 2026 bestsellers + the children's books market

In episode 19 of NielsenIQ BookData's The Bestsellers podcast, Belle and Philip count down the top 20 bestselling books in the UK in the month of February (02.57), reveal their "Beyond the Bestsellers" picks (13.10), and put children's books under the spotlight (20.15). Tune in to find out how many World Book Day £1 exclusives scored top 20 status in February (spoiler alert: a lot), which popular children's author's sales have grown eight years in a row, and how many items The Very Hungry Caterpillar munches through in the book of the same name.Books featured in this episode that can be purchased at all good booksellers include:— Jamie Smart's Bunny vs Monkey— Peekaboo Love— Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Zog and the Flying Doctors— Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara's Little People, Big Dreams: Taylor Swift— Dav Pilkey's Dog Man: The Scarlett ShedderThe views expressed in this podcast are those of the presenters and not that of NIQ. For more information about who we are and what we do, visit NielsenIQ BookData Home - NIQ. Follow Nielsen Book on Instagram (@_bookdata) and Linkedin (@nielsen-book). Get in touch with Philip and Belle at [email protected] hosted by Philip Stone and Belle Edelman, and produced and edited by Chris White. Theme music by Nela Ruiz. Thanks for listening!