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.
The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are considered the most prestigious American children's book awards. Besides the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to runners-up they deem worthy, called the Caldecott Honor or Caldecott Honor Books.
Tales from Silver Lands is a book by Charles Finger that won the Newbery Medal in 1925.
George Dillwyn Parrish was an American writer, illustrator, and painter.
Anne Parrish was an American novelist and writer of children's books. She was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal three times from 1925 to 1951.
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.
Charles Boardman Hawes was an American writer of fiction and nonfiction sea stories, best known for three historical novels. He died suddenly at age 34, after only two of his five books had been published. He was the first U.S.-born winner of the annual Newbery Medal, recognizing his third novel The Dark Frigate (1923) as the year's best American children's book. Reviewing the Hawes Memorial Prize Contest in 1925, The New York Times observed that "his adventure stories of the sea caused him to be compared with Stevenson, Dana and Melville".
Monica G. Shannon Wing was a Canadian-born American children's author. Her book Dobry, published in 1934, received the Newbery Medal in 1935.
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 to 2019. Her novel Another Brooklyn was shortlisted for the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction. She won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2018. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020.
Cedric the Forester is a children's historical novel by Bernard Marshall. It was published in 1921 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1922.
The Old Tobacco Shop: A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure is a children's fantasy novel by William Bowen that was named a Newbery Honor book. The novel, published by MacMillan in 1921, is illustrated by Reginald Birch.
Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story is a children's fantasy novel by Anne Carroll Moore, first published in 1924. The story follows eight-inch-tall Nicholas from Holland on a tour of the sights of New York and recounts his encounters with many famous people, fictional characters, and magical beings. It includes many references to the children's literature of the time. The novel, illustrated by Jay Van Everen, was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1925.
The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery is a children's book by Padraic Colum. It comprises a mixture of legendary and historical stories about Atlantic exploration, from the story of Atlantis to the naming of America. The book, illustrated by Wilfred Jones, was first published in 1925 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1926.
Floating Island is a 1930 children's novel written and illustrated by Anne Parrish. A China-doll family's shipwreck and adventure in the Floating Island are told in the novel in the simple and colloquial style.
The Story of Appleby Capple is a complex children's alphabet book by Anne Parrish in which alliterative narrative, with each chapter focusing on a different letter, is used to tell a story. Appleby Capple is a five-year-old on his way to Cousin Clement's 99th birthday party; he has a number of adventures looking for the perfect present: a Zebra butterfly. The text is accompanied by many cartoon-like illustrations by the author. The book was first published in 1950 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1951.
Bernard G. Marshall was an American writer. His historical novel Cedric the Forester was one runner-up for the inaugural Newbery Medal in 1922.
Mildred DeLois Taylor is a Newbery Award-winning American young adult novelist. She is best known for her novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, part of her Logan family series.
Grace Moon (1884–1947) was an American children's author, publishing many works on Native American themes. Her most notable work was Runaway Papoose, which won a Newbery Honor in 1929.
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.
