Poppy

by Kevin Henkes

A stand-alone companion to two-time Newbery Honor author and national bestseller Kevin Henkes’s award-winning and acclaimed novel The Year of Billy Miller. Poppy stars Billy and Sal’s youngest sister as she faces a perfectly imperfect Thanksgiving with her family. For fans of Ramona, The Penderwicks, and The Melendy Quartet. Illustrated in black-and-white throughout by the author.

It’s almost Thanksgiving, and Poppy is excited. After all, Thanksgiving means the people she loves most will be gathered together. If only things didn’t feel so different. Billy, home from college, has a beard; Sal is moodier than ever; and Mama is so distracted! And Poppy still doesn’t know what to do for her language arts assignment.

Poppy is a bittersweet, thematically rich, emotionally complex younger middle grade novel about growing up, adjusting to change, and unconditional love. Complete with sibling squabbles, gingko trees, blue hair dye, and lots of hot cocoa and humor, celebrated author Kevin Henkes delivers a winning conclusion to the Miller Family sequence.

Poppy is the fifth and final stand-alone book about the Miller family. It includes black-and-white illustrations by Kevin Henkes on almost every page and is an excellent choice for early elementary grades, for readers ready for a short novel, and for family and classroom read-alouds.

Genres: Childrens

192 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication October 6, 2026

About the author

Kevin Henkes is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014. His picture book Waiting was named both a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and a Geisel Honor Book. It was only the second time any author has won that combination of awards.

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all ... I love the cover! Evidently this is a stand-alone companion book to The Year of Billy Miller and the 5th book in the series. (I had not realized that until I started this review; but I can attest that this is a stand-alone book and I did not feel lost by not reading any prior Kevin Henkes books.)

Poppy is going through a lot. Her father was tragically killed in a car accident, now (5 years later) her mother is inviting the man she has been seeing to Thanksgiving dinner, her brother is away at college for his freshman semester and she doesn't get along great with her sister. (Not to mention the class assignment that is due the Monday after Thanksgiving!) With all this going on; I wondered who would I gift this book to ... but this book really does have a sweet ending ... and not even the ending ... the last quarter/half of the book was very good.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for approving my request to read Poppy by Kevin Henkes in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely plan on reading additional books written by Kevin Henkes; one of my favorite things about being a NetGalley reader is that I fall in love with authors who had not previously been on my radar. I'm always looking for books for my niece and nephew.

Approx 192 pages. Release date is Oct 2026.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy is the 5th book in the series about the Miller family. Poppy is dealing with a lot of changes: her brother wants to be called Bill, not Billy and her Mom was caught kissing her friend Patrick. Poppy is so excited to see Billy, again, but still bothered by the changes in him. He has a beard and wants to be called Bill. That feels offensive in a way Poppy is confused by. Poppy loves when her brother treats her like she is a grown up. She has work to do and so does he, so they go to a coffee shop to complete the work which feels very grown up to Poppy. His time away at college has been hard on her. She wants every minute she can get in this short Thanksgiving weekend. Her family has a surprise visitor that causes a great deal of emotions to flow. As they plan for Christmas as Bill's return she finally talks to her Mom about wedding rings and her feelings about the visitor and missing her father. Henkes has a way with creating characters who grow as the dialogue grows. He has a way of creating characters you want to be friends with in real life. I am grateful to Netgalley for access to this sweet little book online before the publication date.

#Netgalley #cozystories

[Abby Aguilera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from Netgalley!

I haven't read the other four books in the Miller Family series, but I think that was okay because Poppy is labelled as a standalone + in the series. I've said this too many times now, but I really enjoyed it - it reminded me a lot of my littlest sister, Clementine. I'm the oldest and often wonder what it would've been like if our roles had been flipped. Poppy deals with all the big feelings that come with life changing when you don't want it to and handles it with a lot of grace for a 10-year-old. The whole story was both really sad and really sweet, now I want to read the others. I think the Beverly Cleary comparison was pretty spot on, the style reminded me so much of the classic children's fiction I love.

I was given the opportunity to read this title by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy from netgalley and writing an honest review as appreciation of receiving the ARC copy. This book is slow in pace. It may not work for people who chase after plot changes and suspense. But there is something unique about Poppy. It’s written about the time before Thanksgiving and little bit after. It describes the feelings of a 10 year old as she go through the holiday season with her family. It’s a book about grieving, healing, relationship, hope, and forgiveness. I appreciate the author’s unique perspective and all the subtle feelings of a 10 year old which people so easily overlook. It is a sweet book for the thoughtful, for the hurt, for the sensitive and for someone who’s lost loved one. I can tell that the author has a beautiful soul. I am now interested to see what other books are in this series.

[Carlyn Morenus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed all the Miller Family books. From the beginning they've been sweet, gentle slow-moving books perfect for lower elementary readers. This is still a good book, but I feel it's an older elementary book than the others. Billy is now at college, Sal is an angry teen, and Poppy is 10. But the huge thing is that their Papa was killed 5 years ago. Papa's death and Sal's behaviors, in particular, make this an older book than the others.

[Laurel Zeisler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The comparison to the Beverly Cleary Ramona books is accurate. I think this would work well if the teacher read a chapter aloud to the class every few days in the fall. Students would enjoy looking forward to what will happen next with this family. I enjoyed it very much.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of, Poppy, by Kevin Henkes, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book five in A Miller Family Story series. Poppy is looking forward to Thanksgiving. This is a sweet story about family, friends, holidays, and change.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Poppy is ten, and seems young, so this would be more suitable for an elementary school library. It spends a great deal of time on Poppy processing her grief over the death of her father, so is a very slow and contemplative book.