Best books of 1962

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
The Hare and the Tortoise written by Aesop, illustrated by Paul Galdone (Whittlesey)
The Sun Is a Golden Earring written by Natalia M. Belting, illustrated by Bernarda Bryson (Holt)
The Snowy Day written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking)
Christmas in the Stable written by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Harald Wiberg (Coward)
Animals in the Zoo written and illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky (Knopf)
The Late Cuckoo written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin (Vanguard)
The Three Robbers written and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer (Atheneum)
The Meanest Squirrel I Ever Met written by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham (Scribner)

Tales of Fancy and Imagination
The Summer Birds written by Penelope Farmer, illustrated by James J. Spanfeller (Harcourt)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (Farrar)
Thistle and Thyme written by Sorche Nic Leodhas, illustrated by Evaline Ness (Holt)
The Lady of the Linden Tree written by Barbara Leonie Picard, illustrated by Charles Stewart (Criterion)
Miss Bianca written by Margery Sharp, illustrated by Garth Williams (Little)
Beowulf retold by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping (Dutton)

Poetry Anthologies
The Crystal Cabinet compiled by Horace Gregory and Marya Zaturenska, illustrated by Diana Bloomfield (Holt)
The Singing and the Gold compiled by Elinor Parker, illustrated by Clare Leighton (Crowell)

Stories
Mr. Mysterious & Company written by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Eric von Schmidt (Atlantic-Little)
The King’s Goblet by David Fletcher (Pantheon)
Dan and the Miranda written by Wilson Gage, illustrated by Glen Rounds (World)
The Cat and Mrs. Cary written by Doris Gates, illustrated by Peggy Bacon (Viking)
I Will Adventure written by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Corydon Bell (Viking)
Dark Horse of Woodfield written by Florence Hightower, illustrated by Joshua Tolford (Houghton)
Wilderness Bride by Annabel and Edgar Johnson (Harper)
Beorn the Proud written by Madeleine Polland, illustrated by William Stobbs (Holt)
The Emperor and the Drummer Boy written by Ruth Robbins, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov (Parnassus)
Dawn Wind written by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping (Walck)
The Winged Watchman written and illustrated by Hilda van Stockum (Farrar)
Witch of the Glens written by Sally Watson, illustrated by Barbara Werner (Viking)
The Island of Fish in the Trees written by Eva-Lis Wuorio, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone (World)

History and Biography
Men of Athens written by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Milton Johnson (Houghton)
Growing Up in 13th Century England written by Alfred Duggan, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges (Pantheon)
The Art of Ancient Egypt by Shirley Glubok (Atheneum)
The Presidency and The Supreme Court written by Gerald W. Johnson, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher (Morrow)
Stars, Mosquitoes and Crocodiles: The American Travels of Alexander von Humboldt written by Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Russell Francis Peterson (Harper)
Pilgrim Courage edited by E. Brooks Smith and Robert Meredith, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher (Little)

Natural History
Life Story written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton)
A Black Bear’s Story written by Emil Liers, illustrated by Ray Sherin (Viking)