“Gee, it’s good to be / Together again.” Kermit the Frog said it best, and being at this year’s Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards ceremony was a real reminder. For the first time since before COVID-19 (and only our second time back in person since 2019), every award winner and honoree was able to attend, with some brave souls even traveling internationally. Our coverage begins on page 20 and continues at hbook.com/bghb25.

The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards committee works independently in that their choices do not necessarily reflect our published opinions, nor must they be approved by anyone except themselves, but sometimes there are delightful, serendipitous connections to and among the books and people. Candace Fleming and Matt James have been on the BGHB stage before. Stephanie Seales is a Simmons University alumna. Randy Ribay was a member of our former creative director Lolly Robinson’s graduate school class (“I have this student you should watch…”) and was a previous Horn Book Guide reviewer. Thyra Heder went to high school right next to Cambridge (MA) Public Library’s main branch, site of the awards ceremony, which had once been Ruth Chan’s home library. Yuko Shimizu has been an artistic inspiration for Guojing. C. G. Esperanza is a fashion inspiration for us all. And on and on; and back to the Muppets: “’Cause no feeling feels like that feeeeeling.”

Another fabulous feeling comes with metaphorically “blowing the horn” every year for Fanfare, the Horn Book’s annual best-of list, beginning on page 8. This year sees forty-nine entries (one is a series of three), representing perhaps two or three times as many hours of reading, discussing, debating, resisting, persuading, and occasionally letting go. The Fanfare list is intentionally lean, often eclectic, and compiled from a very Horn Book point of view. The first Fanfare included books from 1938 (thank you HB100 Trivia!), but of course we’ve been “independent, opinionated, and stylish” for our entire going-on-one-hundred-and-two years. All the historical Fanfares live at hbook.com/story/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present, and more information about this year’s creators can be found at hbook.com/story/fanfare-2025-annotations.

Depending on the day and the mood, a Fanfare meeting could include a read-aloud moment, and those who attempt it might apply tips from Hannah Peterson’s Field Notes article on page 41. “Storytime Smash Hits” makes lively firsthand observations about the picture book titles Peterson finds to be particularly well received by her young storytime-goers at Parnassus Books (owned by author Ann Patchett). It’s an ­entertaining and informative take, well paired with some of our previous ­read-aloud coverage: “What Makes a Good Storytime?” by Julie Roach (May/June 2016 Magazine), “What Makes a Good Read-Aloud for Middle Graders?” by Christine McDonnell (January/February 2010 Magazine), “Have Book Bag, Will Travel: A Practical Guide to Reading Aloud” by Mary M. Burns and Ann A. Flowers (March/April 1997 Magazine), and more. With World Read Aloud Day coming up on the first Wednesday of February (this year it’s the 4th), now is a perfect time to plan ahead — and to remember that not every book is best experienced out loud, performed, or in the company of a group. As book lovers know, some stories are better shared one-on-one — and still others might be most perfect when it feels like they’re for you alone. 

From the January/February 2026 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

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