Illustration from Ling & Ting's Lunar New Year by Grace Lin.

The following books will receive starred reviews in the January/February 2026 Horn Book Magazine:

If This Were the World by Stephen Barr; illus. by A. G. Ford (Porter/Holiday)

The Rare Bird by Elisha Cooper (Roaring Brook)

Is It Spring? by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)

A Spoonful of the Sea by Hyewon Yum (Norton)

The Grimmelings by Rachael King (McElderry)

The Lionharts by Mike Lawrence (Abrams Fanfare)

Ling & Ting’s Lunar New Year: Two Times Lucky by Grace Lin (Little, Brown)

The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller (Philomel)

The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri (Levine/Levine Querido)

The Lions’ Run by Sara Pennypacker; illus. by Jon Klassen (Balzer + Bray/Macmillan)

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman (Knopf)

Melodies of the Weary Blues: Classic Poems Illustrated for Young People by Langston Hughes; compiled by Shamar Knight-Justice; illus. by various artists (Harper/HarperCollins)

Blues Boy: The B. B. King Story by Alice Faye Duncan; illus. by Carl Joe Williams (Greenwillow)

Glass: Looking In, Looking Out by Larissa Theule; illus. by Victoria Tentler-Krylov (Candlewick)

Troubled Waters: A River's Journey Toward Justice by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. by Bryan Collier (Bloomsbury)