Best books of 1963

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
Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella illustrated by Adrienne Adams (Scribner)
The Seven Ravens written by the Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Felix Hoffmann (Harcourt)
Burt Dow: Deep-Water Man written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
Bruno Munari’s Zoo written and illustrated by Bruno Munari (World)
All in the Morning Early written by Sorche Nic Leodhas, illustrated by Evaline Ness (Holt)
Mother Goose and Nursery Rhymes compiled and illustrated by Philip Reed (Atheneum)
Where the Wild Things Are written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (Harper)
Brian Wildsmith’s ABC illustrated by Brian Wildsmith (Watts)

Stories
The Faraway Lurs by Harry Behn (World)
Aunt America written Marie Halun Bloch, illustrated by Joan Berg (Atheneum)
Castors Away! written by Hester Burton, illustrated by Victor G. Ambrus (World)
The Princess and the Lion written by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Evaline Ness (Pantheon)
Nacar, the White Deer written by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño, illustrated by Enrico Arno (Farrar)
I, Adam written by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Peter Burchard (Coward)
Little Plum written by Rumer Godden, illustrated by Jean Primrose (Viking)
Hakon of Rogen’s Saga written by Erik Christian Haugaard, illustrated by Diane and Leo Dillon (Houghton)
A Boy of Old Prague written by Sulamith Ish-Kishor, illustrated by Ben Shahn (Pantheon)
A Golden Touch by Annabel and Edgar Johnson (Harper)
The Rock and the Willow by Mildred Lee (Lothrop)
The Moon by Night by Madeleine L’Engle (Ariel)
Rascal written by Sterling North, illustrated by John Schoenherr (Dutton)
A Dog So Small written by Philippa Pearce, illustrated by Antony Maitland (Lippincott)
Lost John written by Barbara Leonie Picard, illustrated by Charles Keeping (Criterion)
Roosevelt Grady written by Louisa R. Shotwell, illustrated by Peter Burchard (World)
The Loner written by Ester Wier, illustrated by Christine Price (McKay)
The Singing Flute written by Gurdon S. Worcester, illustrated by Irene Burns (Obolensky)

Tales of Fancy and Imagination
The Wild Swans written by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
Tatsinda written by Elizabeth Enright, illustrated by Irene Haas (Harcourt)
The Dwarf Pine Tree written by Betty Jean Lifton, illustrated by Fuku Akino (Atheneum)
Dietrich of Berne written by Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman (Viking)
The Griffin and the Minor Canon written by Frank R. Stockton, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (Holt)

Biography, History, Music, and Science
Armor written and illustrated by Sean Morrison (Crowell)
The Woodrow Wilson Story by Catherine Owens Peare (Crowell)
The World Is Round written and illustrated by Anthony Ravielli (Viking)
The Peaceable Revolution by Betty Schechter (Houghton)
The Heritage of Music written by Katherine B. Shippen and Anca Seidlova, illustrated by Otto van Eersel (Viking)