Below is Fanfare, a list of the books that the Horn Book editors and reviewers have selected as the best of 2024. The annotated list will be published in the December issue of Notes from the Horn Book (sign up!) and in the January/February 2025 issue of the Horn Book Magazine (subscribe!). Help us “blow the horn” on social media (Facebook: @Facebook.com/TheHornBook | Instagram: @thehornbook). Happy reading! 

Picture Books

Ahoy!
written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall; Schwartz/Random

Let’s Go!
written and illustrated by Julie Flett; Greystone Kids

A Friend for Eddy
written and illustrated by Ann Kim Ha; Greenwillow

How We Share Cake
written and illustrated by Kim Hyo-eun, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith; Scribble

Monster Hands
written by Karen Kane and Jonaz McMillan, illustrated by Dion MBD; Paulsen/Penguin

Noodles on a Bicycle
written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Gracey Zhang; Random House Studio/Random

Meena’s Saturday
written by Kusum Mepani, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail; Kokila/Penguin

The Midnight Panther
written and illustrated by Poonam Mistry; Candlewick Studio

The First Day of May
written and illustrated by Henrique Coser Moreira; Em Querido/Levine Querido

Joyful Song: A Naming Story
written by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal; Levine/Levine Querido

Heatwave
written and illustrated by Lauren Redniss; Random House Studio/Random

The Mango Tree / La mata de mango
written and illustrated by Edel Rodriguez; Abrams

My Daddy Is a Cowboy
written by Stephanie Seales, illustrated by C. G. Esperanza; Abrams

Tove and the Island with No Address
written and illustrated by Lauren Soloy; Tundra

The House Before Falling into the Sea
written by Ann Suk Wang, illustrated by Hanna Cha; Dial

Fiction

Puppet
written by David Almond, illustrated by Lizzy Stewart; Candlewick

Henry and the Something New
written by Jenn Bailey, illustrated by Mika Song; Chronicle

The Judgment of Yoyo Gold
written by Isaac Blum; Philomel

Everyone Gets a Turn
written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc, translated from French by Celyn Harding-Jones; Princeton Architectural

Next Stop
written and illustrated by Debbie Fong; RH Graphic/Random

Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest
written and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg; Amulet/Abrams

Island of Whispers
written by Frances Hardinge, illustrated by Emily Gravett; Amulet/Abrams

Still Sal
written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes; Greenwillow

How It All Ends
written and illustrated by Emma Hunsinger; Greenwillow

Death at Morning House
written by Maureen Johnson; HarperTeen

A New Car for Pickle
written and illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz; Holiday

Pick the Lock
written by A.S. King; Dutton

The Forbidden Book
written by Sacha Lamb; Levine/Levine Querido

Telephone of the Tree
written by Alison McGhee; Rocky Pond/Penguin

Not the Worst Friend in the World
written by Anne Rellihan; Holiday

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…: A Love Story
written by Jason Reynolds; Dlouhy/Atheneum

Pearl
written by Sherri L. Smith, illustrated by Christine Norrie; Graphix/Scholastic

Deep Water
written by Jamie Sumner; Atheneum

Mid-Air
written by Alicia D. Williams, illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff; Dlouhy/Atheneum

Lunar New Year Love Story
written by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by LeUyen Pham; First Second

Poetry

Black Girl You Are Atlas
written by Renée Watson, illustrated by Ekua Holmes; Kokila/Penguin

Nonfiction

Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos
written by Nathalie Alonso, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez; Calkins/Astra

Ernő Rubik and His Magic Cube
written by Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer; Peachtree

Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall
written by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Jason Chin; Porter/Holiday

The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants
written and illustrated by Philip Bunting; Crown

Virus Hunters: How Science Protects People When Outbreaks and Pandemics Strike
written by Amy Cherrix; Harper/HarperCollins

The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II
written by Candace Fleming; Focus/Scholastic

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic
written by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Deena So’Oteh; Schwartz/Random

Dive, Dive into the Night Sea
written and illustrated by Thea Lu; Candlewick Studio

Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller
written by Breanna J. McDaniel, illustrated by April Harrison; Dial

Daughter of the Light-Footed People: The Story of Indigenous Marathon Champion Lorena Ramírez
written by Belen Medina, illustrated by Natalia Rojas Castro; Atheneum

The Iguanodon’s Horn: How Artists and Scientists Put a Dinosaur Back Together Again and Again…and Again
written and illustrated by Sean Rubin; Clarion/HarperCollins

A Greater Goal: The Epic Battle for Equal Pay in Women’s Soccer—and Beyond
written by Elizabeth Rusch; Greenwillow

Remembering Rosalind Franklin: Rosalind Franklin & the Discovery of the Double Helix Structure of DNA
written by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Gretchen Ellen Powers; Ottaviano/Little, Brown

Cicely Tyson
written by Renée Watson, illustrated by Sherry Shine; Amistad/HarperCollins

The One & Only Googoosh: Iran’s Beloved Superstar
written and illustrated by Azadeh Westergaard; Viking

Up, Up, Ever Up!: Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains
written by Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu; Clarion/HarperCollins

Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire.
written by Paula Yoo; Norton