Ahoy there! I’m here to start a conversation about Sophie Blackall’s latest picture book — one that has many of the hallmarks of her previous books (yes, including spectacular seascapes and even a lighthouse) but also breaks new ground — or explores new seas, in this case. And no, the...
Illustration from Tove and the Island with No Address by Lauren Soloy. The following books will receive starred reviews in the January/February 2025 Horn Book Magazine: How We Share Cake by Kim Hyo-eun; trans. from Korean by Deborah Smith (Scribble) Your Farm; Your Forest; Your Island by Jon Klassen (Candlewick) The...
In Kusum Mepani’s picture book Meena’s Saturday (Kokila/Penguin, 4–8 years), the young title character enjoys warm, boisterous weekly gatherings with her family and community (depicted in Yasmeen Ismail’s lively illustrations), even as she questions her role within them. For more books about togetherness, see our list “Gather together” in this...
November is Native American Heritage Month, a celebration of the many varied Native cultures. Check out the official website for more information and lots of resources. Here are some additional articles and links from The Horn Book's archives and beyond. Recent Horn Book resources by and about Native writers and...
The Next Scientist: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of the World’s Great Scientists by Kate Messner; illus. by Julia Kuo Primary, Intermediate Chronicle 64 pp. 8/24 9781452176963 $19.99 This attractive, informative, and ambitious collective biography begins with a challenge: “Quick! Name the world’s greatest scientist.” Messner (The Next President,...
We wish you a loaded bookshelf with snowflake, with dreidel, with elf for gift-giving, or your own self. Some ideas are right here. Here’s our annual list of recommended new and reissued picture books of seasonal and holiday interest. Season’s greetings from the Horn Book staff! Uri and the King...
The Caldecott criteria states that the award should honor a work that provides “a visual experience” for the young reader and “respects a child’s ‘understandings, abilities, and appreciations.’” Cherry Mo’s visually enthralling and nearly wordless debut, Home in a Lunchbox, does just that, using colorful digital illustrations and cinematic flourishes to...
Too Small Tola Makes It Count by Atinuke; illus. by Onyinye Iwu Primary, Intermediate Candlewick 96 pp. 9/24 9781536238150 $16.99 e-book ed. 9781536240030 $16.99 Atinuke returns for a fourth time (Too Small Tola, rev. 3/21, and sequels) to her diminutive, high-spirited, mathematically gifted protagonist’s “run-down block of apartments in the...
Transgender Awareness Week is November 13-19, leading to Transgender Day of Remembrance / Trans Day of Resilience on November 20th. We join our trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary family members, friends, and neighbors near and far in celebrating the lives of trans people, remembering those lost to transphobic hate crimes,...
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