Boston Globe–Horn Book Award
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award references 145 books assigned across applicable K-12 grade levels in US schools. The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, presented annually since 1967 by The Boston Globe and The Horn Book Magazine, honor excellence in children's and young adult literature across Fiction & Poetry, Nonfiction, and Picture Book categories. Among the most respected American children's book prizes, its winners span picture books through young adult novels and are staples of school and library collections.
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145 books referenced
- "Let's Get a Pup!", Said KateBob Graham
- A Chair for My MotherVera B. Williams
- A Racecourse for AndyPatricia Wrightson
- A Ray of LightWalter Wick
- A Scar like a RiverLisa Graff
- A Sitting in St. JamesRita Williams-Garcia
- A Visit to William Blake's InnNancy Willard
- A Wizard of EarthseaUrsula K. Le Guin
- A World Without SummerNicholas Day
- Abigail AdamsNatalie S. Bober
- Ajeemah and His SonJames Berry
All My RageSabaa Tahir- An American PlagueJim Murphy
- And If the Moon Could TalkKate Banks
- Anno's Counting BookMitsumasa Anno
- Anno's Medieval WorldMitsumasa Anno
- Anthony BurnsVirginia Hamilton
- At NightJonathan Bean
- Behind Barbed WireDaniel S. Davis
- Big Mama Makes the WorldPhyllis Root
- Black EnoughIbi Zoboi
- Blink and CautionTim Wynne-Jones
- Bubble TroubleMargaret Mahy
- Building Our HouseJonathan Bean
Show all 145 titles
- Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms · Katherine Rundell
- Carver · Marilyn Nelson
- Child of the Owl · Laurence Yep
- Cold Feet · Cynthia C. DeFelice
- Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun · Rhoda Blumberg
- Conrad's War · Andrew Davies
- Death in the Jungle · Candace Fleming
- Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories · Laura Vaccaro Seeger
- Eleanor & Park · Rainbow Rowell
- Electric Ben · Robert Byrd
- Everything We Never Had · Randy Ribay
- Extra Yarn · Mac Barnett
- FIREBOAT · Maira Kalman
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt · Russell Freedman
- Freedom Over Me · Ashley Bryan
- From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry · Paula Yoo
- Goldengrove ; Unleaving · Jill Paton Walsh
- Grandfather's Journey (Read-aloud) · Allen Say
- Grasshopper Jungle · Andrew Smith
- Henry Hikes to Fitchburg · D.B. Johnson
- Holes · Louis Sachar
- Humbug Mountain · Sid Fleischman
- I Know Here · Laurel Croza
- I Know How to Draw an Owl · Hilary Horder Hippely
- I Talk Like a River · Jordan Scott
- Infinite Hope · Ashley Bryan
- Jambo Means Hello · Muriel Feelings
- Jazz Day · Roxane Orgill
- John Henry · Julius Lester
- Kin · Carole Boston Weatherford
- King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold) · Kacen Callender
- Leaf Man Board Book · Lois Ehlert
- Leon's Story · Leon Walter Tillage
- Lon Po Po · Ed Young
- Lord of the Deep · Graham Salisbury
- M.C. Higgins, the Great · Virginia Hamilton
- Mama Don't Allow 25th Anniversary Edition · Thacher Hurd
- Maniac Magee · Jerry Spinelli
- Marching For Freedom · Elizabeth Partridge
- Missing May · Cynthia Rylant
- Most Dangerous · Steve Sheinkin
- Mr Gumpy's Outing · John Burningham
- Mr Tiger Goes Wild · Peter Brown
- Nation · Terry Pratchett
- Navigating Night · Julie Leung
- No Crystal Stair · Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
- Off to School, Baby Duck! · Amy Hest
- On the Ball · Brian Pinkney
- Open This Little Book · Jesse Klausmeier
- Orphan Train Rider · Andrea Warren
- Outside Over There · Maurice Sendak
- Photographic · Isabel Quintero
- Playing Beatie Bow · Ruth Park
- Pocketful of Posies · Salley Mavor
- Poppy · Avi
- Red-eyed Tree Frog · Joy Cowley
- Remember Us · Jacqueline Woodson
- Seven Blind Mice · Ed Young
- Shy Charles · Rosemary Wells
- Sojourner Truth · Pat McKissack
- Some of the Kinder Planets · Tim Wynne-Jones
- Sunshine: A Graphic Novel · Jarrett J. Krosoczka
- Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush · Virginia Hamilton
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian · Sherman Alexie
- The Adventures of Paddy Pork · John S. Goodall
- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I · M. T. Anderson
- The Bird House · Cynthia Rylant
- The Black Cauldron · Lloyd Alexander
- The Boy and the Samurai · Erik Christian Haugaard
- The Circuit Graphic Novel · Francisco Jiménez
- The Dark Is Rising · Susan Cooper
- The Devil Walks · Anne Fine
- The Double Life of Pocahontas · Jean Fritz
- The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia · Candace Fleming
- The Farmer and the Clown · Marla Frazee
- The Fire Eaters · David Almond
- The Folk Keeper · Franny Billingsley
- The Friends · Kazumi Yumoto
- The Friendship · Mildred D. Taylor
- The Garden of Abdul Gasazi · Chris Van Allsburg
- The Great Little Madison · Jean Fritz
- The Hate U Give · Angie Thomas
- The Intruder · John Rowe Townsend
- The Lie Tree · Frances Hardinge
- The Lincolns · Candace Fleming
- The Longitude Prize · Joan Dash
- The Man Who Walked Between the Towers · Mordicai Gerstein
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane · Kate DiCamillo
- The Mona Lisa Vanishes · Nicholas Day
- The Notorious Benedict Arnold · Steve Sheinkin
- The Patchwork Bike · Maxine Beneba Clarke
- The Pilgrims of Plimoth · Marcia Sewall
- The Poet X · Elizabeth Acevedo
- The Port Chicago 50 · Steve Sheinkin
- The Race to Save the Lord God Bird · Phillip Hoose
- The Road from Home · David Kherdian
- The Schwa was Here · Neal Shusterman
- The Season of Styx Malone · Kekla Magoon
- The Snowman: The Book of the Classic Film · Raymond Briggs
- The Spring Rider · John Shults Lawson
- The Strongest Man in the World · Nicolas Debon
- The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks · Katherine Paterson
- The Top of the World · Steve Jenkins
- The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle · Avi
- The Village by the Sea · Paula Fox
- The Wall · Peter Sís
- The Way Things Work Now · David Macaulay
- The Weaver's Gift · Kathryn Lasky
- The Westing Game · Ellen Raskin
- They Say Blue · Jillian Tamaki
- This Promise of Change · Jo Ann Allen Boyce
- Those who Love the Game · Glenn Rivers
- Tikki Tikki Tembo · Arlene Mosel
- Traction Man Is Here! · Mini Grey
- Tristan And Iseult · Rosemary Sutcliff
- Upon the Head of the Goat · Aranka Siegal
- Vincent and Theo · Deborah Heiligman
- Voyaging to Cathay · Alfred H. Tamarin
- Warrior Girl Unearthed · Angeline Boulley
- When You Can Swim · Jack Wong
- When You Reach Me · Rebecca Stead
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About this curriculum framework
This curriculum is one of dozens of named English Language Arts frameworks tracked across US public-school districts. Frameworks differ in scope (district-level vs state-level vs national), in mandate (required vs recommended vs elective), and in how prescriptive their reading lists are (single fixed text list vs broad reading-pool selection).
The book list below represents titles cited as required, recommended, or commonly assigned within this framework, sourced from the framework's primary documentation (or, where the framework is administered at district level, from public district curriculum pages). Each book's detail page links the specific source document for that citation.
How to use this Boston Globe–Horn Book Award reading list
The book list above represents titles ReadingList has confirmed as referenced by Boston Globe–Horn Book Award— either through the framework’s own published documentation, through audited classroom syllabi citing the framework, or through US state and district curriculum guides that map their reading expectations to it. Each book’s detail page links the specific primary source so parents, teachers, and students can verify the citation and locate the official document.
Reading lists evolve. Boston Globe–Horn Book Award citations on ReadingList are reviewed on a rolling basis as primary sources publish updates. If you teach or learn under this framework and a title on this page is no longer used (or you know of one that should appear), the ReadingList methodology page explains how to submit a correction with a citation.
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Boston Globe–Horn Book Award include?
145 books are referenced by Boston Globe–Horn Book Award across applicable K-12 grade levels. Each book page cites the primary source assignment (the official curriculum standard, exemplar list, or syllabus where the title appears).
What grades does Boston Globe–Horn Book Award cover?
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award is a reading-program curriculum spanning applicable K-12 grade levels via the standards framework. Browse by grade using the grade-filter links on this page or visit /grade for the full grade index across all curricula.
Where does Boston Globe–Horn Book Award data come from?
Sourced from published curriculum documents + standards organizations. Cross-referenced with Common Core exemplars at achievethecore.org. Every book page on ReadingList.school cites the standards origin for that assignment.
Is Boston Globe–Horn Book Award required reading?
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award provides recommended exemplars + assignments — adoption varies by district and teacher. Always check with your school's English department for the specific required vs recommended list at your grade level.