[1] It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of the country's first bookstore for children, The Bookshop for Boys and Girls.

Opened in 1916 in Boston as a project of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, the bookshop closed in 1936, but The Horn Book Magazine continues in its mission to "blow the horn for fine books for boys and girls" as Mahony wrote in her first editorial.

[2] In each bimonthly issue, The Horn Book Magazine includes articles about issues and trends in children's literature, essays by artists and authors, and reviews of new books and paperback reprints for children.

Articles are written by the staff and guest reviewers, including librarians, teachers, historians and booksellers.

The Fanfare list, published in December, is the editors' selection of the best children's and young adult books of the year.