The Neverfear was published on 1 September 2026, by Bloomsbury in the UK and Knopf in the US. Four weeks in, here is how it has performed on the lists we can verify.

UK: the only children’s book in the indie Top 20

On The Bookseller’s independent bookshop chart, built from Nielsen BookScan data, The Neverfear was the only children’s title in the Top 20 in early September. In a week crowded with big autumn releases it dropped nine places to 12th, but it remained the sole book for younger readers on that list. Suzanne Collins’s Sunrise on the Reaping held the overall children’s number one that week, though it did not appear on the independent chart.

US: number one with the Midwest indies

In the US, The Neverfear topped the children’s section of the Midwest Indie Bestseller List, compiled from American Booksellers Association data, ahead of the sixth Heartstopper volume. Penguin Random House now describes the Knopf edition as a National Bestseller.

Why this matters for collectors

Strong launch sales mean large and repeated print runs of the standard hardback. That is good for readers, and it makes a true first printing more worth identifying, because later printings will vastly outnumber it. The number line on the copyright page is what confirms a first printing, and the First Edition Guide covers every Neverfear edition we have handled, including the Waterstones, Barnes and Noble and Indigo exclusives.

For context, with The Poisoned King in 2025 Rundell became the first UK children’s author since J.K. Rowling to reach number one on the UK and US children’s charts at the same time. We will update this page if The Neverfear does the same.