Best Books of the Year
Menu

The Horn Book

Horn Book Fanfare 2009

Horn Book Fanfare 2009 names 27 books across 5 categories. 15 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Fiction

  1. A Faraway Island by Annika Thor, translated by Linda Schencksource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Looksource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parrysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Storksource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloydsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelansource (opens in a new tab)
  7. War Games by Audrey Couloumbis and Akila Couloumbissource (opens in a new tab)
  8. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Steadsource (opens in a new tab)

Folklore

  1. The Mitten by Jim Aylesworthsource (opens in a new tab)

Nonfiction

  1. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stonesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligmansource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoosesource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Just the Right Size: Why Big Animals Are Big and Little Animals Are Little by Nicola Daviessource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridgesource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Mission Control, This Is Apollo: The Story of the First Voyages to the Moon by Andrew Chaikin with Victoria Kohlsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Flocasource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Redwoods by Jason Chinsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarinosource (opens in a new tab)

Picture Books

  1. All the World by Liz Garton Scanlonsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Birds by Kevin Henkessource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricellisource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkneysource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Sleepy Little Alphabet: A Bedtime Story for Alphabet Town by Judy Sierrasource (opens in a new tab)

Poetry

  1. Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes by Alice Schertlesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Orangutan Tongs: Poems to Tangle Your Tongue by Jon Ageesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidmansource (opens in a new tab)

About the Horn Book Fanfare

The Horn Book Magazine's annual Fanfare list of the year's best children's and young adult books, chosen by its editors and reviewers. Read from hbook.com's own Fanfare pages through Wayback Machine snapshots, because hbook.com blocks automated fetches; each sourceUrl is the snapshot used. 2006-2018 come from the annotated Fanfare articles, 2019-2025 from the Fanfare booklist pages. Year is the year in the list's name (books of that year); it is announced in December. Category is Horn Book's own section (Picture Books, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Folklore). Every entry is a Selection. Author is the writer; for wordless or author-illustrated books it is the illustrator. Series names Horn Book prints in brackets after a title are dropped. Expected counts are the titles printed under each section on the cited page; for 2006-2018 they match the number of review citations on the page.

Organization: The Horn Book. Official site (opens in a new tab)

The most recommended books of 2009