About the Guide/Reviews Database

Founded in 1989, The Horn Book Guide was for nearly thirty years a semi-annual print publication based on the premise of including short critical annotations of all hardcover trade children’s and young adult books published in the United States from the previous six-month period. Each book was rated on a scale from 1 to 6, and each issue was indexed by title, author/illustrator, subject, and series. In 2020, we turned our focus to creating a fully searchable database of Guide reviews, now called the Guide/Reviews Database.

The authoritative Guide/Reviews Database offers short, critical reviews by trusted professionals of recommended hardcover trade books published in the United States for young people. The reviews are clear and honest, brief and to the point, identifying strengths and weaknesses and rating the books on a scale from 1 to 4, with titles recommended by The Horn Book Magazine receiving the highest ratings 1 () or 2 ().

The Guide/Reviews Database is ideal for librarians serving a town or school-wide community of readers and teachers; for teachers building a classroom library or recommending books to students and parents; for pre-service instructors helping new teachers understand how to match books to readers; for parents looking to foster a love of reading; and for children’s literature lovers everywhere. In short, it's perfect for anyone who strives to put high-quality literature into the hands of young people.