The Horn Book Magazine has published insightful, trustworthy commentary on children's and young adult literature for over 90 years. Lucky for us, they recently issued their annual list of the best books for young readers. We hope some of these titles will find their way into your eager readers' hands this holiday season. Take a look! And sign up for the Horn Book's e-blast to get the fully annotated version of this list.
Best Picture Books of 2015
It’s Only Stanley written and illustrated by Jon Agee (Dial)
My Bike written and illustrated by Byron Barton (Greenwillow)
Out of the Woods: A True Story of an Unforgettable Event written and illustrated by Rebecca Bond (Ferguson/Farrar)
Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Putnam)
Waiting written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Groundwood)
Written and Drawn by Henrietta written and illustrated by Liniers (TOON)
Float written and illustrated by Daniel Miyares (Simon)
Two Mice written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier (Clarion)
The Bear Ate Your Sandwich written and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach (Knopf)
Supertruck written and illustrated by Stephen Savage (Roaring Brook)
Best Fiction of 2015
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Dial)
Sunny Side Up written by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, illustrated by Matthew Holm, color by Lark Pien (Graphix/Scholastic)
I Crawl Through It by A.S. King (Little, Brown)
Detective Gordon: The First Case written by Ulf Nilsson, illustrated by Gitte Spee, translated from the Swedish by Julia Marshall (Gecko)
The Nest written by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Simon)
The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)
X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon (Candlewick)
Challenger Deep written by Neal Shusterman, illustrated by Brendan Shusterman (HarperTeen)
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead (Lamb/Random)
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (Algonquin)
The Emperor of Any Place by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick)
See page 2 for the best poetry and nonfiction of 2015.
Best Poetry of 2015
My Seneca Village by Marilyn Nelson (Namelos)
Best Nonfiction of 2015
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans written and illustrated by Don Brown (Houghton)
March: Book Two written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)
Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear written by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Little, Brown)
Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever by Jim Murphy (Clarion)
Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli (Viking)
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin (Roaring Brook)
Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams)
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Candlewick)
