Earlier this fall, I was able to see Hamilton on Broadway, with Leslie Odom Jr., thrillingly, reprising his role of Aaron Burr. I will forever associate Odom with my unforgettable experience of accepting the Mentor Award on behalf of The Horn Book at The Carle Honors Benefit Gala in fall...
The November/December 2025 Horn Book Magazine has gone to press, with its hopeful, looking-ahead cover image (by Emily Mendoza from The Giving Flower, written by Alda P. Dobbs and reviewed in our Holiday High Notes column). And we’re looking ahead ourselves to a busy fall. On October 25, come see...
For many, September is a time of new adventures — a new school year, learning to read. If you’re Bean, every day is an adventure; see our Five Questions interview with Stephanie Graegin. And see Five Questions for the 2025 Massachusetts Book Award winners for books about two very different kinds...
I’m generally a fan of ambiguous stories. As satisfying as it can be to have narrative closure, or to reread for the hundredth time a book you know is a favorite and won’t suddenly shift out from under you, it can also be weirdly comforting to reach the conclusion of...
August may be winding down, but we’ve still got plenty of new reading recommendations: summer-set stories for middle-graders-and-up and page-turning (and door-stopping!) tomes for YA readers. See also our annual Summer Reading list and last month’s issue of Notes for back-to-school stories for all ages. For an astounding real-life whale...
If you’re in the Boston area this weekend, join me at the Boston Public Library on Saturday, July 26, in conversation with Awkward author-illustrator Svetlana Chmakova, as part of Boston Reads Comics. On Sunday, July 27, I’ll be leading a lunchtime seminar at the Summer Children’s Literature Institute, “Are We...
Horn Book readers are a particularly savvy and wide-ranging bunch: historically and primarily librarians, plus authors and illustrators, publishing professionals, booksellers, academics, teachers, students, families. “Children’s literature enthusiasts,” as we say, and it’s always interesting to hear backstories about people’s entry into this group. Mine was via childhood reading and...
I hope you will join us (virtually at hbook.com and on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky) next Monday, June 23, at 12 p.m. EDT for the announcement of the 2025 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards. We’re usually a fairly “open book,” but from when the judges tell us their fab choices to...
Illustration: Liza Woodruff. With Mother’s Day (and my birthday!) just past and Father’s Day coming soon, this issue of Notes features books about families in various configurations and with differing experiences…some supernatural! (Librarians with Superpowers, anyone?) Find more at our Family Reading blog, where Summer Reading also lives; and at Out...
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