Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are often recognized and popular to the point of being widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are often interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations have written on winning works.
Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.
Besides the Newbery Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to leading contenders, called Newbery Honors or Newbery Honor Books; until 1971, these books were called runners-up. As few as zero and as many as eight have been named, but from 1938 the number of Honors or runners-up has been one to five. To be eligible, a book must be written by a United States citizen or resident and must be published first or simultaneously in the United States in English during the preceding year. Six authors have won two Newbery Medals each, several have won both a Medal and Honor, while a larger number of authors have won multiple Honors, with Laura Ingalls Wilder having won five Honors without ever winning the Medal.
History
The Newbery Medal was established on June 22, 1921, at the annual conference of the American Library Association. Proposed by Publishers Weekly editor Frederic G. Melcher, the proposal was well received by the children's librarians present and then approved by the ALA Executive Board. The award was administered by the ALA from the start, but Melcher provided funds that paid for the design and production of the medal. The Newbery Medal was inaugurated in 1922, considering books published in 1921. According to The Newbery and Caldecott Awards Melcher and the ALA Board agreed to establish the award for several reasons that related to children's librarians. They wanted to encourage quality, creative children's books and to demonstrate to the public that children's books deserve recognition and praise. In 1932 the committee felt it was important to encourage new writers in the field, so a rule was made that an author would win a second Newbery only if the vote was unanimous. The rule was in place until 1958. Joseph Krumgold became the first winner of a second Newbery in 1960. Another change, in 1963, made it clear that joint authors of a book were eligible for the award. Several more revisions and clarifications were added in the 1970s and 1980s. Significantly in 1971, the term Newbery Honor was introduced. Runners-up had been identified annually from the start, with a few exceptions only during the 1920s; all those runners-up were named Newbery Honor Books retroactively.Medal
The physical medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and depicts an author giving his work to a boy and a girl to read on one side and on the other side the inscription, "For the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". The bronze medal retains the name "Children's Librarians' Section", the original group responsible for awarding the medal, despite the sponsoring committee having changed names four times and now including both school and public librarians. Each winning author gets their own copy of the medal with their name engraved on it. Currently the Association for Library Service to Children is responsible for the award.Committee
As Barbara Elleman explained in The Newbery and Caldecott Awards, the original Newbery was based on votes by a selected jury of Children's Librarian Section officers. Books were first nominated by any librarian, then the jury voted for one favorite. Hendrik van Loon's non-fiction history book The Story of Mankind won with 163 votes out of 212. In 1924 the process was changed, and instead of using popular vote it was decided that a special award committee would be formed to select the winner. The award committee was made up of the Children's Librarian Section executive board, their book evaluation committee and three members at large. In 1929 it was changed again to the four officers, the chairs of the standing committees and the ex-president. Nominations were still taken from members at large.In 1937 the American Library Association added the Caldecott Award, for "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States". That year an award committee selected the Medal and Honor books for both awards. In 1978 the rules were changed and two committees were formed of fifteen people each, one for each award. A new committee is formed every year, with "eight elected, six appointed, and one appointed Chair".
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Selection process
Committee members are chosen to represent a wide variety of libraries, teachers and book reviewers. They read the books on their own time, then meet twice a year for closed discussions. Any book that qualifies is eligible; it does not have to have been nominated. The Newbery is given to the "author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year." Newbery winners are announced at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, held in January or February. The Honor Books must be a subset of the runners-up on the final ballot, either the leading runners-up on that ballot or the leaders on one further ballot that excludes the winner.The results of the committee vote are kept secret, and winners are notified by phone shortly before the award is announced. In 2015, K. T. Horning of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center proposed to ALSC that old discussions of the Newbery and Caldecott be made public in the service of researchers and historians. This proposal was met with both support and criticism by former committee members and recognized authors.
Criticism
In October 2008, Anita Silvey, a children's literary expert, published an article in the School Library Journal criticizing the committee for choosing books that are too difficult for children. Lucy Calkins, of the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University's Teachers College, agreed with Silvey: "I can't help but believe that thousands, even millions, more children would grow up reading if the Newbery committee aimed to spotlight books that are deep and beautiful and irresistible to kids". Then-ALSC President Pat Scales responded, "the criterion has never been popularity. It is about literary quality. How many adults have read all the Pulitzer Prize-winning books and... liked every one?"John Beach, associate professor of literacy education at St. John's University in New York, compared the books that adults choose for children with the books that children choose for themselves and found that in the 30 years before 2008 there was only a five percent overlap between the Children's Choice Awards and the Notable Children's Books list. He has also stated that "the Newbery has probably done far more to turn kids off to reading than any other book award in children's publishing."
Recipients
| Year | Author | Book | Award |
| 1922 | |||
| 1922 | |||
| 1922 | Cedric the Forester | ||
| 1922 | |||
| 1922 | |||
| 1922 | |||
| 1923 | |||
| 1924 | |||
| 1925 | Tales from Silver Lands | ||
| 1925 | Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story | ||
| 1925 | |||
| 1926 | Shen of the Sea | ||
| 1926 | |||
| 1927 | Smoky the Cowhorse | ||
| 1928 | Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon | ||
| 1928 | |||
| 1928 | Downright Dencey | ||
| 1929 | |||
| 1929 | |||
| 1929 | Millions of Cats | ||
| 1929 | |||
| 1929 | Clearing Weather | ||
| 1929 | Runaway Papoose | ||
| 1929 | Tod of the Fens | ||
| 1930 | Hitty, Her First Hundred Years | ||
| 1930 | |||
| 1930 | Pran of Albania | ||
| 1930 | |||
| 1930 | |||
| 1930 | Vaino: A Boy of New Finland | ||
| 1930 | Little Blacknose: The Story of a Pioneer | ||
| 1931 | |||
| 1931 | Floating Island | ||
| 1931 | |||
| 1931 | Queer Person | ||
| 1931 | Mountains Are Free | ||
| 1931 | Spice and the Devil's Cave | ||
| 1931 | Meggy MacIntosh | ||
| 1931 | Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes | ||
| 1931 | and Margaret Alison Johansen | Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer | |
| 1932 | Waterless Mountain | ||
| 1932 | |||
| 1932 | Calico Bush | ||
| 1932 | Boy of the South Seas | ||
| 1932 | Out of the Flame | ||
| 1932 | Jane's Island | ||
| 1932 | Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy | ||
| 1933 | Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze | ||
| 1933 | Swift Rivers | ||
| 1933 | |||
| 1933 | Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia | ||
| 1934 | Invincible Louisa | ||
| 1934 | |||
| 1934 | Swords of Steel | ||
| 1934 | |||
| 1934 | Winged Girl of Knossos | ||
| 1934 | New Land: A Novel for Boys and Girls | ||
| 1934 | |||
| 1934 | Glory of the Seas | ||
| 1934 | Apprentice of Florence | ||
| 1935 | Dobry | ||
| 1935 | Pageant of Chinese History | ||
| 1935 | Davy Crockett | ||
| 1935 | |||
| 1936 | Caddie Woodlawn | ||
| 1936 | Honk, the Moose | ||
| 1936 | |||
| 1936 | Young Walter Scott | ||
| 1936 | All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud | ||
| 1937 | Roller Skates | ||
| 1937 | Phebe Fairchild: Her Book | ||
| 1937 | Whistler's Van | ||
| 1937 | |||
| 1937 | Winterbound | ||
| 1937 | |||
| 1937 | |||
| 1938 | |||
| 1938 | Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time | ||
| 1938 | Bright Island | ||
| 1938 | On the Banks of Plum Creek | ||
| 1939 | Thimble Summer | ||
| 1939 | Nino | ||
| 1939 | Mr. Popper's Penguins | ||
| 1939 | Hello the Boat! | ||
| 1939 | Leader By Destiny: George Washington, Man and Patriot | ||
| 1939 | Penn | ||
| 1940 | Daniel Boone | ||
| 1940 | |||
| 1940 | Runner of the Mountain Tops: The Life of Louis Agassiz | ||
| 1940 | By the Shores of Silver Lake | ||
| 1940 | Boy with a Pack | ||
| 1941 | Call It Courage | ||
| 1941 | Young Mac of Fort Vancouver | ||
| 1941 | Blue Willow | ||
| 1941 | Nansen | ||
| 1941 | |||
| 1942 | |||
| 1942 | Little Town on the Prairie | ||
| 1942 | George Washington's World | ||
| 1942 | Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison | ||
| 1942 | Down Ryton Water | ||
| 1943 | Adam of the Road | ||
| 1943 | |||
| 1943 | Have You Seen Tom Thumb? | ||
| 1944 | Johnny Tremain | ||
| 1944 | These Happy Golden Years | ||
| 1944 | Fog Magic | ||
| 1944 | Rufus M. | ||
| 1944 | Mountain Born | ||
| 1945 | Rabbit Hill | ||
| 1945 | |||
| 1945 | |||
| 1945 | Abraham Lincoln's World | ||
| 1945 | Lone Journey: The Life of Roger Williams | ||
| 1946 | Strawberry Girl | ||
| 1946 | Justin Morgan Had a Horse | ||
| 1946 | |||
| 1946 | Bhimsa, the Dancing Bear | ||
| 1946 | New Found World | ||
| 1947 | Miss Hickory | ||
| 1947 | |||
| 1947 | Big Tree | ||
| 1947 | |||
| 1947 | |||
| 1947 | |||
| 1948 | |||
| 1948 | Pancakes-Paris | ||
| 1948 | Li Lun, Lad of Courage | ||
| 1948 | |||
| 1948 | |||
| 1948 | Misty of Chincoteague | ||
| 1949 | King of the Wind | ||
| 1949 | Seabird | ||
| 1949 | Daughter of the Mountains | ||
| 1949 | My Father's Dragon | ||
| 1949 | Story of the Negro | ||
| 1950 | |||
| 1950 | Tree of Freedom | ||
| 1950 | |||
| 1950 | Kildee House | ||
| 1950 | George Washington | ||
| 1950 | Song of the Pines: A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin | ||
| 1951 | Amos Fortune, Free Man | ||
| 1951 | Better Known as Johnny Appleseed | ||
| 1951 | Gandhi, Fighter Without a Sword | ||
| 1951 | Abraham Lincoln, Friend of the People | ||
| 1951 | |||
| 1952 | Ginger Pye | ||
| 1952 | Americans Before Columbus | ||
| 1952 | Minn of the Mississippi | ||
| 1952 | |||
| 1952 | |||
| 1952 | |||
| 1953 | Secret of the Andes | ||
| 1953 | Charlotte's Web | ||
| 1953 | Moccasin Trail | ||
| 1953 | Red Sails to Capri | ||
| 1953 | |||
| 1953 | Birthdays of Freedom, Vol. 1 | ||
| 1954 | |||
| 1954 | All Alone | ||
| 1954 | Shadrach | ||
| 1954 | Hurry Home, Candy | ||
| 1954 | Theodore Roosevelt, Fighting Patriot | ||
| 1954 | Magic Maize | ||
| 1955 | |||
| 1955 | |||
| 1955 | Banner in the Sky | ||
| 1956 | Carry On, Mr. Bowditch | ||
| 1956 | |||
| 1956 | |||
| 1956 | Men, Microscopes, and Living Things | ||
| 1957 | Miracles on Maple Hill | ||
| 1957 | Old Yeller | ||
| 1957 | |||
| 1957 | Mr. Justice Holmes | ||
| 1957 | |||
| 1957 | Black Fox of Lorne | ||
| 1958 | Rifles for Watie | ||
| 1958 | |||
| 1958 | Gone-Away Lake | ||
| 1958 | |||
| 1958 | Tom Paine: Freedom's Apostle | ||
| 1959 | |||
| 1959 | |||
| 1959 | Along Came a Dog | ||
| 1959 | Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa | ||
| 1959 | |||
| 1960 | Onion John | ||
| 1960 | My Side of the Mountain | ||
| 1960 | America Is Born: A History for Peter | ||
| 1960 | |||
| 1961 | Island of the Blue Dolphins | ||
| 1961 | America Moves Forward: A History for Peter | ||
| 1961 | Old Ramon | ||
| 1961 | |||
| 1962 | |||
| 1962 | Frontier Living | ||
| 1962 | |||
| 1962 | Belling The Tiger | ||
| 1963 | |||
| 1963 | Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland | ||
| 1963 | Men of Athens | ||
| 1964 | It's Like This, Cat | ||
| 1964 | Rascal | ||
| 1964 | |||
| 1965 | Shadow of a Bull | ||
| 1965 | Across Five Aprils | ||
| 1966 | I, Juan de Pareja | ||
| 1966 | |||
| 1966 | |||
| 1966 | |||
| 1967 | Up a Road Slowly | ||
| 1967 | |||
| 1967 | Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories | ||
| 1967 | |||
| 1968 | From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler | ||
| 1968 | Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth | ||
| 1968 | |||
| 1968 | |||
| 1968 | |||
| 1969 | |||
| 1969 | To Be a Slave | ||
| 1969 | When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories | ||
| 1970 | Sounder | ||
| 1970 | Our Eddie | ||
| 1970 | |||
| 1970 | Journey Outside | ||
| 1971 | Summer of the Swans | ||
| 1971 | Kneeknock Rise | ||
| 1971 | Enchantress from the Stars | ||
| 1971 | Sing Down the Moon | ||
| 1972 | Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH | ||
| 1972 | Incident at Hawk's Hill | ||
| 1972 | |||
| 1972 | |||
| 1972 | Annie and the Old One | ||
| 1972 | |||
| 1973 | Julie of the Wolves | ||
| 1973 | Frog and Toad Together | ||
| 1973 | |||
| 1973 | |||
| 1974 | |||
| 1974 | |||
| 1975 | M. C. Higgins, the Great | ||
| 1975 | My Brother Sam Is Dead | ||
| 1975 | Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe | ||
| 1975 | |||
| 1975 | Figgs & Phantoms | ||
| 1976 | |||
| 1976 | |||
| 1976 | Dragonwings | ||
| 1977 | Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry | ||
| 1977 | |||
| 1977 | Abel's Island | ||
| 1978 | Bridge to Terabithia | ||
| 1978 | Ramona and Her Father | ||
| 1978 | Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey | ||
| 1979 | |||
| 1979 | |||
| 1980 | |||
| 1980 | |||
| 1981 | Jacob Have I Loved | ||
| 1981 | |||
| 1981 | |||
| 1982 | |||
| 1982 | Ramona Quimby, Age 8 | ||
| 1982 | Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939–1944 | ||
| 1983 | Dicey's Song | ||
| 1983 | Graven Images | ||
| 1983 | Homesick: My Own Story | ||
| 1983 | Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush | ||
| 1983 | |||
| 1983 | Doctor De Soto | ||
| 1984 | Dear Mr. Henshaw | ||
| 1984 | |||
| 1984 | Sugaring Time | ||
| 1984 | |||
| 1984 | |||
| 1985 | |||
| 1985 | |||
| 1985 | One-Eyed Cat | ||
| 1985 | Like Jake and Me | ||
| 1986 | Sarah, Plain and Tall | ||
| 1986 | Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun | ||
| 1986 | Dogsong | ||
| 1987 | |||
| 1987 | On My Honor | ||
| 1987 | Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens | ||
| 1987 | |||
| 1988 | Lincoln: A Photobiography | ||
| 1988 | After the Rain | ||
| 1988 | Hatchet | ||
| 1989 | Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices | ||
| 1989 | In The Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World | ||
| 1989 | Scorpions | ||
| 1990 | Number the Stars | ||
| 1990 | Afternoon of the Elves | ||
| 1990 | |||
| 1990 | Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind | ||
| 1991 | Maniac Magee | ||
| 1991 | Avi | ||
| 1992 | Shiloh | ||
| 1992 | Avi | Nothing But The Truth: a Documentary Novel | |
| 1992 | |||
| 1993 | Missing May | ||
| 1993 | What Hearts | ||
| 1993 | |||
| 1993 | Somewhere in the Darkness | ||
| 1994 | |||
| 1994 | Crazy Lady! | ||
| 1994 | Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery | ||
| 1994 | Dragon's Gate | ||
| 1995 | Walk Two Moons | ||
| 1995 | Catherine, Called Birdy | ||
| 1995 | |||
| 1996 | |||
| 1996 | What Jamie Saw | ||
| 1996 | |||
| 1996 | Yolonda's Genius | ||
| 1996 | |||
| 1997 | |||
| 1997 | |||
| 1997 | |||
| 1997 | |||
| 1997 | Belle Prater's Boy | ||
| 1998 | Out of the Dust | ||
| 1998 | Lily's Crossing | ||
| 1998 | Ella Enchanted | ||
| 1998 | Wringer | ||
| 1999 | Holes | ||
| 1999 | |||
| 2000 | Bud, Not Buddy | ||
| 2000 | Getting Near to Baby | ||
| 2000 | Our Only May Amelia | ||
| 2000 | 26 Fairmount Avenue | ||
| 2001 | |||
| 2001 | Hope Was Here | ||
| 2001 | |||
| 2001 | Because of Winn-Dixie | ||
| 2001 | Joey Pigza Loses Control | ||
| 2002 | |||
| 2002 | Everything on a Waffle | ||
| 2002 | Carver: A Life in Poems | ||
| 2003 | Crispin: The Cross of Lead | ||
| 2003 | |||
| 2003 | Pictures of Hollis Woods | ||
| 2003 | Hoot | ||
| 2003 | |||
| 2003 | Surviving the Applewhites | ||
| 2004 | |||
| 2004 | Olive's Ocean | ||
| 2004 | |||
| 2005 | Kira-Kira | ||
| 2005 | Al Capone Does My Shirts | ||
| 2005 | |||
| 2005 | Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy | ||
| 2006 | Criss Cross | ||
| 2006 | Whittington | ||
| 2006 | Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow | ||
| 2006 | Princess Academy | ||
| 2006 | Show Way | ||
| 2007 | |||
| 2007 | Penny from Heaven | ||
| 2007 | Hattie Big Sky | ||
| 2007 | Rules | ||
| 2008 | Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village | ||
| 2008 | Elijah of Buxton | ||
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2009 | After Tupac and D Foster | ||
| 2010 | When You Reach Me | ||
| 2010 | Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice | ||
| 2010 | |||
| 2010 | Where the Mountain Meets the Moon | ||
| 2010 | |||
| 2011 | Moon Over Manifest | ||
| 2011 | Turtle in Paradise | ||
| 2011 | Heart of a Samurai | ||
| 2011 | Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night | ||
| 2011 | One Crazy Summer | ||
| 2012 | Dead End in Norvelt | ||
| 2012 | Inside Out & Back Again | ||
| 2012 | Breaking Stalin's Nose | ||
| 2013 | |||
| 2013 | Splendors and Glooms | ||
| 2013 | Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon | ||
| 2013 | Three Times Lucky | ||
| 2014 | Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures | ||
| 2014 | Doll Bones | ||
| 2014 | |||
| 2014 | One Came Home | ||
| 2014 | Paperboy | ||
| 2015 | |||
| 2015 | El Deafo | ||
| 2015 | Brown Girl Dreaming | ||
| 2016 | Last Stop on Market Street | ||
| 2016 | |||
| 2016 | Roller Girl | ||
| 2016 | Echo | ||
| 2017 | |||
| 2017 | Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan | ||
| 2017 | |||
| 2017 | Wolf Hollow | ||
| 2018 | Hello, Universe | ||
| 2018 | Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut | ||
| 2018 | Long Way Down | ||
| 2018 | Piecing Me Together | ||
| 2019 | Merci Suárez Changes Gears | ||
| 2019 | |||
| 2019 | |||
| 2020 | New Kid | ||
| 2020 | |||
| 2020 | |||
| 2020 | |||
| 2020 | |||
| 2021 | When You Trap a Tiger | ||
| 2021 | Fighting Words | ||
| 2021 | We Dream of Space | ||
| 2021 | All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team | ||
| 2021 | |||
| 2021 | Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom | ||
| 2022 | |||
| 2022 | Red, White, and Whole | ||
| 2022 | |||
| 2022 | Too Bright to See | ||
| 2022 | Watercress | ||
| 2023 | Freewater | ||
| 2023 | Iveliz Explains It All | ||
| 2023 | |||
| 2023 | Maizy Chen's Last Chance | ||
| 2024 | |||
| 2024 | Elf Dog and Owl Head | ||
| 2024 | Simon Sort of Says | ||
| 2024 | Eagle Drums | ||
| 2024 | Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir | ||
| 2024 | |||
| 2025 | |||
| 2025 | Across So Many Seas | ||
| 2025 | One Big Open Sky | ||
| 2025 | Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All | ||
| 2025 | |||
| 2026 | |||
| 2026 | |||
| 2026 | |||
| 2026 | |||
| 2026 |