Best books of 1991

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
Bigmama’s written and illustrated by Donald Crews (Greenwillow)
Abuela written by Arthur Dorros, illustrated by Elisa Kleven (Dutton)
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Harcourt)
Chrysanthemum written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
Amazing Grace written by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch (Dial)
Horace written and illustrated by Holly Keller (Greenwillow)
Sophie and Lou written and illustrated by Petra Mathers (HarperCollins)
The Handmade Alphabet written and illustrated by Laura Rankin (Dial)
Tar Beach written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold (Crown)
Tree of Cranes written and illustrated by Allen Say (Houghton)
Max's Dragon Shirt written and illustrated by Rosemary Wells (Dial)

Fiction
Nothing but the Truth by Avi (Orchard/Jackson)
Wanted . . . Mud Blossom by Betsy Byars (Delacorte)
Strider by Beverly Cleary (Morrow)
The Borning Room by Paul Fleischman (HarperCollins/Zolotow)
Monkey Island by Paula Fox (Orchard/Jackson)
The Brave by Robert Lipsyte (HarperCollins)
Dangerous Spaces by Margaret Mahy (Viking)
Rats on the Roof written and illustrated by James Marshall (Dial)
The Man from the Other Side by Uri Orlev (Houghton)
Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (Lodestar)
The Kingdom by the Sea by Robert Westall (Farrar)

Folklore
Borreguita and the Coyote: A Tale from Ayutla, Mexico retold by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Petra Mathers (Knopf)
Snow White retold by Josephine Poole, illustrated by Angela Barrett (Knopf)

Poetry
Night on Neighborhood Street written by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Dial)

Nonfiction
The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman (Holiday)
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! written by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Mike Wimmer (Putnam)
Summer of Fire: Yellowstone 1988 by Patricia Lauber (Orchard)
Now Is Your Time!: The African-American Struggle for Freedom by Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins)
Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Barry Moser (Harcourt)
Follow the Dream written and illustrated by Peter Sis (Knopf)