The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), 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 widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. 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.
Hatchet is a 1986 Newbery Honor-winning young-adult wilderness survival novel written by American writer Gary Paulsen. It is the first novel of five in the Hatchet series. Other novels in the series include The River (1991), Brian's Winter (1996), Brian's Return (1999) and Brian's Hunt (2003).
Irene Hunt was an American children's writer known best for historical novels. She was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal for her first book, Across Five Aprils, and won the medal for her second, Up a Road Slowly. For her contribution as a children's writer she was U.S. nominee in 1974 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition available to creators of children's books.
Joan Baehler Bauer is an American writer of young adult literature currently residing with her husband Evan Bauer in Brooklyn. Bauer was born in River Forest, Illinois. They are the parents of one daughter, Jean. Before becoming a famous author Joan spent years working for McGraw-Hill and the Chicago Tribune. She also did some work in advertising, marketing, and screenwriting.
Christopher Paul Curtis is an American children's book author. His first novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963, was published in 1995 and brought him immediate national recognition, receiving the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award and the Newbery Honor Book Award in addition to numerous other awards. In 2000, he became the first person to win both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award—prizes received for his second novel Bud, Not Buddy—and the first African-American man to win the Newbery Medal. His novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 was made into a television film in 2013.
Rabbit Hill is a children's novel by Robert Lawson that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1945. In 1954 he wrote a sequel, The Tough Winter.
Adam of the Road is a novel by Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining. Vining won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1943 from the book. Set in thirteenth-century England, the book follows the adventures of a young boy, Adam. After losing his spaniel and minstrel father, Adam embarks on a series of escapades throughout medieval England. The book is illustrated by Robert Lawson.
Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham was an American writer of children's books, an illustrator, writer of short stories for adults, literary critic and teacher of creative writing. Perhaps best known as the Newbery Medal-winning author of Thimble Summer (1938) and the Newbery runner-up Gone-Away Lake (1957), she also wrote the popular Melendy quartet. A Newbery Medal laureate and a multiple winner of the O. Henry Award, her short stories and articles for adults appeared in many popular magazines and have been reprinted in anthologies and textbooks.
Jacqueline Woodson is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for Miracle's Boys, and her Newbery Honor-winning titles Brown Girl Dreaming, After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers, and Show Way. After serving as the Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, she was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, by the Library of Congress, for 2018–19. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020.
Ruth C. White was an American children's writer. Her novel Belle Prater's Boy was a Newbery Honor Book in 1997.
The Windy Hill is a children's novel by Cornelia Meigs. A brother and sister learn about their own family's history in New England through a series of tales told by the Beeman. The novel, illustrated by Berta and Elmer Hader, was first published in 1921 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1922.
Pran of Albania is a children's historical novel by Elizabeth Miller. Set in the early nineteenth century among the mountain tribes of northern Albania, it tells the story of a fourteen-year-old girl, Pran, who, by tribal tradition, is old enough to be betrothed. To avoid an arranged marriage, she follows local custom in taking a vow to be a "sworn virgin" and to live as a man. The novel, illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham, was first published in 1929 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1930.
Queer Person is a children's novel by Ralph Hubbard. It tells the story of a deaf-mute boy who is raised among the Pikuni. The novel, illustrated by Harold von Schmidt, was first published in 1930 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1931.
Calico Bush is a children's historical novel by Newbery-award-winning author Rachel Field. Considered by some to be her best novel, it was first published in 1931 and received a Newbery Honor award.
Jane's Island is a children's novel by Marjorie Hill Allee. The novel, illustrated by Maitland de Gorgoza, was first published in 1931 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1932. The book "describes the unspoiled beauty of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where scientists study marine biology with inadequate equipment but disciplined dedication."'
Incident at Hawk's Hill is a 1971 children's book by naturalist and writer Allan W. Eckert. Supposedly based on a true event, it is a historical novel centering on a six-year-old boy who gets lost on the Canadian prairie and survives for two months thanks to a mother badger. Though the Newbery is an award for children's literature, Incident at Hawk's Hill was originally published as an adult novel. It was a Reader's Digest selection. It was also an American Library Association Notable book.
The Horsecatcher is a 1957 adolescent historical novel by American author Mari Sandoz. The Horsecatcher was a Newbery Medal Honor Book in 1958. The book is "dedicated to the two great Cheyennes named Elk River, both council chiefs and peace men, one Keeper of the Sacred Arrows of the Cheyenne Indians, the other the greatest horsecatcher of all the High Plains".
Erin Entrada Kelly is an American writer of children's literature. She was awarded the 2018 John Newbery Medal by the Association for Library Service to Children for her third novel, Hello, Universe.
Evangel Allena Champlin Best, better known by her pen name Erick Berry, was an American author, illustrator and editor.
Oswald Herbert Best was a British-American author of children's literature and science fiction.
