Stories to tell

WHEN J.K. ROWLING’S first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, came out in 1997, it had an initial print run of only 500 hardcover copies. (In the United States, the book would be renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.)

From that modest beginning, of course, the series exploded in popularity. Three years later, the fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, sold 3 million copies in the first weekend of its release. In 2007, the ­seventh (and final) installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold 8.3 million copies on its first day. Sorcerer’s Stone has now sold more than 120 million copies.

Rowling’s success gave rise to a trend in children’s book publishing: Industry sales tend to spike in years when a publisher releases a blockbuster book and wane at other times. That means the children’s books market is in a bit of a sales slump right now. Industry revenue declined at a rate of about 2.2 percent annually between 2018 and 2023 according to industry analyst IBISWorld—but it still reached an estimated $3.3 billion in 2023. And children’s books account for about a third of all books sold, with children’s fiction making up ­one-fourth of all book sales. Even in off years, children’s books are a large part of American culture, and a part with a unique influence on the future.

While a lot of adult—and entirely inappropriate—material is making its way into libraries meant for children (see “Returned to circulation,” in this issue), there are plenty of good children’s books out there, too. Over the following six pages, we present our picks for Children’s Books of the Year in the categories of nonfiction, fiction, and picture books.

Our winners include the true stories of bringing back a tree that had been extinct for 2,000 years and of rescuing an elephant from cruel treatment, a fiction book about a grieving boy discovering Greek mythology, and an Arctic adventure featuring a giant—but shy—jellyfish. In all, WORLD’s team chose 16 books from the past year for review. While none of them will likely reach the heights of ­popularity of a Harry Potter novel, they each have compelling stories to tell and ­lessons to teach.

Please read Part 1 of this issue’s Children’s Books of the Year special section: “Recovering what was lost”