This year's Boston Book Festival on Saturday, October 26, was a warm (seasonally speaking) and wonderful event. The Horn Book once again had a booth at the Copley Square Outdoor Fair (courtesy of the Boston Globe), where we participated in the festival's Passport to Imagination scavenger hunt program for kids; displayed the 2024 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winners and honorees; encouraged people to subscribe and sign up for our free e-newsletters and upcoming events; and gave away copies of the Magazine, along with bookmarks, posters, candy, and stickers. Many thanks to staff members Shoshana Flax, Kitty Flynn, Elissa Gershowitz, Cynthia K. Ritter, and Monica de los Reyes, and fall intern Charlize Guerra for taking turns running the booth all day. JustKids! will take place next  Saturday, November 9, 2024, at the Hyde Park branch of the Boston Public Library from 10:30am–2:30pm. Below are some staff highlights and slideshow photos from Boston Book Festival.

Elissa Gershowitz (Editor in Chief):

As usual — and for the sixteenth year! — I had a great time at the Boston Book Festival. The panel I moderated was on middle-grade folklore ("Adventures in Folklore"), featuring wonderful authors Tracey Baptiste (Moko Magic: Carnival Chaos), Cindy L. Rodriguez (Lola Reyes Is So Not Worried), and S. J. Taylor (Madsi the True). The authors read from their books, we had a thoughtful discussion about why folktales persist and on creatively taking off from source material, and kids (and a couple of adults) asked questions. The conversation flew! 

Throughout the day, we were able to catch up with so many book-creator friends: Carole Boston Weatherford, Paul Zelinsky and Alex London, Jack Gantos, John Patrick Green, Winsome Bingham and Wiley Blevins stopped by our booth (thanks always to the Boston Globe for sponsoring us!) and we ran into Kekla Magoon and Sajni Patel. Also spotted: Horn Bookers and Friends of the Horn Book Katie Bircher, Gina Gagliano, Sarah Figge Hussain, Laura Koenig, Nicholl Montgomery, Sarah Parker, Julie Roach, Liz Phipps Soeiro, Pam Yosca, Kate Tuttle; two-third of the 2023-2024 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards committee, Katrina Hedeen Eftekhari and Cathie Mercier. 

Two of the best things about the Boston Book Festival are being able to see friends and colleagues in person and introducing new readers to the Horn Book...and, of course, the grilled cheese truck.

Cynthia K. Ritter (Managing Editor):

I was a member of the 2024 Youth Programming Advisory Committee for the festival, so it was nice to see the final product on Saturday and also the large number of people who turned out all day to attend the panels (and the festival!). I had the chance to attend two events from the children's programming: part of Elissa's "Adventures in Folklore" panel and then a story time in the library with Alex London and Paul O. Zelinsky for their new picture book, Still Life. Paul also drew some mice for us and a still life with object suggestions from the audience (a stuffed unicorn cat, a puppet, a pumpkin, and a pizza)...plus a surprise appearance by the book's dragon. He finished by wowing us all when we learned that the shirt he was wearing that day was the same print as the endpapers from their book!

I spent the majority of my day in our booth talking to festival attendees about what the Horn Book is and our many available offerings (subscriptions! newsletters! in-person events!) plus I enjoyed connecting with co-workers and friends in attendance. It was great to be in a booth right next to our friends at Simmons University. But my favorite interactions in our booth were with the children participating in the Passport to Imagination program. The best answer of the day to our question "Do you have a favorite book or a book you could recommend to me?" was from a little girl who answered Grace Lin's Ling & Ting books, which I also love.

The delicious Roxy's grilled cheese and too many of Monica's tasty pumpkin chocolate chip muffins were the icing on the cake of another great Boston Book Festival for me.

Shoshana Flax (Associate Editor):

I started my day by catching part of the "Not-So-Perfect Families" panel, and enjoyed the engaging back-and-forth among moderator Cathie Mercier and dynamic YA authors Desmond Hall, Bryce Moore, and Patricia Park. I capped off my day with the "Mystery: Sleuthing and Solving" panel, where moderator Nicholl Denice Montgomery discussed thoughtful questions with middle-grade authors Kekla Magoon, Karla Arenas Valenti, and Jasmine Warga.

In between, home base was the Horn Book booth, where my fellow HB-ers and I had a chance to catch up in person, pass around a few physical books, and enjoy Monica’s pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, all while chatting with whoever stopped by. We explained what the Horn Book is and does, gave — and got! — some book recommendations, encouraged newsletter signups, stamped festival passports, and gave away bookmarks, stickers, and sample magazines. Along with many (many!) festival attendees, a lot of the authors and illustrators stopped by; a particularly memorable Horn Book moment was when author Winsome Bingham immediately recognized the work of illustrator Jason Griffin (and her collaborator on The Table, along with Wiley Blevins) on our January 2023 issue cover.

Looking forward to next year!

Monica de los Reyes (Assistant Editor):

I was delighted to return to the Boston Book Festival this year to "blow the horn" for the Horn Book. The highlight of the day for me was getting to connect with people in person, both with my lovely coworkers and all the enthusiastic visitors to the booth. I was struck this year by how many teachers and educators stopped by to learn more about the Horn Book. What keeps me going at work is knowing that we are helping teachers, librarians, reading specialists, and other educators find stellar books to connect with kids, and getting to meet some of these individuals in real life was so affirming. I was especially happy to be able to tell educators about our exciting in-person events this fall that are open to the public, and I hope that lots will come!

Charlize Guerra (Editorial Intern):

Attending the Boston Book Festival for the first time was such a fun, refreshing change from NYC events! I spent about four hours at the Horn Book booth, where I got to share all kinds of info about the publication with curious visitors. Helping teachers and educators was amazing since my mother is an educator and uses the Horn Book in her classroom. I answered questions and shared resources that could support them and their students, and they were grateful for the guidance. Contributing to the BBF passport activity was also fun. I asked kids about their favorite books before giving them a stamp, and it was adorable to see their excitement as they shared their picks. A big highlight was talking with students interested in internships, especially because I’ve gained so much through my own internship at the Horn Book. It felt amazing to pass along tips and see their excitement about getting into publishing. After my shift, I spent some time wandering through other booths, and I stumbled upon the Pop-Up Poetry booth. I got a custom poem that was both personal and meaningful, something I’ll definitely treasure. Overall, my first BBF experience was so inspiring and full of new connections — I’m already looking forward to next year!

Niharika Prabhakar (Editorial Intern):

This was my very first Boston Book Festival, and I am happy to say that I had a really great time! Armed with coffee, I reached Copley Square bright and early. Already there were many book-lovers and curious passers-by walking around, looking into all the various booths being set up for the day. Mass Poetry and Pop-Up Poetry were my favorites, they had a lot of interactive elements, and the blackout poetry hanging from a string across two booths was delightful. I was also able to attend the panel called "Mystery: Sleuthing and Solving," which featured MG novels with mystery elements woven in. This was a really enjoyable and informative panel that talked about representation, world-building, character choices, and much more! It also featured Kekla Magoon, an author I have come to admire a lot, especially because of my time with the Horn Book. As I headed home, I reflected on the day and realized I was able to meet a lot of interesting folks and learn a lot about writing!