Best books of 1961

Chosen annually by our editors, Fanfare is The Horn Book Magazine’s selection of the best children’s and young adult books of the year.

Picture Books
Thumbelina written by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Adrienne Adams (Scribner)
Once a Mouse written and illustrated by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
The Snow and the Sun—La Nieve y el Sol illustrated by Antonio Frasconi (Harcourt)
The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up written by Alice E. Goudey, illustrated by Adrienne Adams (Scribner)
There Is a Dragon in My Bed; Il y a un Dragon Dans Mon Lit written by Sesyle Joslin, illustrated by Irene Haas (Harcourt)
Little Bear’s Visit written by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (Harper)
The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night illustrated by Peter Spier (Doubleday)
Le Hibou et la Poussiquette written by Francis Steegmuller, illustrated by Barbara Cooney (Little)

Poetry and Nonsense
The Man Who Sang the Sillies written by John Ciardi, illustrated by Edward Gorey (Lippincott)
Beyond the High Hills, A Book of Eskimo Poems illustrated with photographs by Guy Mary-Rousselière, O. M. I. (World)

Tales of Fancy and Imagination
The Little Juggler adapted and illustrated by Barbara Cooney (Hastings)
The Superlative Horse, A Tale of Ancient China written by Jean Merrill, illustrated by Ronni Solbert (Scott)
The Borrowers Aloft written by Mary Norton, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush (Harcourt)
Belling the Tiger written by Mary Stolz, illustrated by Beni Montresor (Harper)

Nature and Science
The Science of Life written and illustrated by Lois and Louis Darling (World)

Stories
Dangerous Spring by Margot Benary-Isbert (Harcourt)
A Stranger at Green Knowe written by Lucy M. Boston, illustrated by Peter Boston (Harcourt)
The Last Little Cat written by Meindert DeJong, illustrated by Jim McMullan (Harper)
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower written by Rumer Godden, illustrated by Jean Primrose (Viking)
Out of the Mines: The Story of a Pit Boy written by Frederick Grice, illustrated by Brian Wildsmith (Watts)
Adventure in the Desert written by Herbert Kaufmann, translated by Stella Humphries, illustrated by Eugene Karlin (Obolensky)
The Story of Grizel by Elisabeth Kyle (Nelson)
The Majesty of Grace written and illustrated by Jane Langton (Harper)
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (Coward)
Pirate Queen by Edith Patterson Meyer (Little)
Children of the Red King written by Madeleine Polland, illustrated by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (Holt)
The Road to Agra written by Aimée Sommerfelt, translated from the Norwegian, illustrated by Ulf Aas (Criterion)
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton)
A Poppy in the Corn by Stella Weaver (Pantheon)
The Glorious Conspiracy by Joanne S. Williamson (Knopf)

Biography and History
The Fight for Union by Margaret L. Coit (Houghton)
The Young Fanny Burney by Winifred Gérin (Nelson)
Made in the Middle Ages written and illustrated by Christine Price (Dutton)
Frontier Living written and illustrated by Edwin Tunis (World)