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.
Elaine Lobl Konigsburg was an American writer and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of seven writers to win two Newbery Medals, the venerable American Library Association award for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American children's literature."
Kate Seredy was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She won the Newbery Medal once, the Newbery Honor twice, the Caldecott Honor once, and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Most of her books were written in English, which was not her first language. Seredy seems to be unknown in her native Hungary, despite the fact that her story of the Good Master, and the sequel set in World War I are intensely about Hungary.
Shannon Hale is an American author primarily of young adult fantasy, including the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy and The Goose Girl. Her first novel for adults, Austenland, was adapted into a film in 2013. She is a graduate of the University of Utah and the University of Montana. She has also co-written with her husband, Dean.
Robin McKinley is an American author best known for her fantasy novels and fairy tale retellings. Her 1984 novel The Hero and the Crown won the Newbery Medal as the year's best new American children's book. In 2022, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named her the 39th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.
Rachel Lyman Field was an American novelist, poet, and children's fiction writer. She is best known for her work Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. Field also won a National Book Award, Newbery Honor award and two of her books are on the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list.
Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo.
Bob Fingerman is an American comic book writer/artist born in Queens, New York, who is best known for his comic series Minimum Wage.
Dreamchild is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is a fictionalised account of Alice Liddell, the child who inspired Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Jarrett J. Krosoczka is the author and illustrator of several graphic novels and picture books, most famously his Lunch Lady series.
Kevin Henkes is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014. His picture book Waiting was named both a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and a Geisel Honor Book. It was only the second time any author has won that combination of awards.
Lark Pien is an American cartoonist who has created the minicomics Stories from the Ward, Mr. Boombha, and Long Tail Kitty, the last of which won her the Friends of Lulu Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent in 2004.
The Higher Power of Lucky is a children's novel written by Susan Patron and illustrated by Matt Phelan. Released in 2006 by Simon & Schuster, it was awarded the 2007 Newbery Medal.
Minn of the Mississippi is a children's book written and illustrated by Holling Clancy Holling. First published in 1951, it received a Newbery Honor award the following year.
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth is a children's novel by E. L. Konigsburg. It was published by Atheneum Books in 1967 and next year in the UK by Macmillan under the title Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth and Me.
Penny from Heaven (2006) is a children's novel that was named a Newbery Honor book in 2007. It was written by Jennifer L. Holm, the author of another Newbery Honor book, Our Only May Amelia. It was first published by Random House.
Turtle in Paradise is a 2010 children's novel written by Jennifer L. Holm. The book is a 2011 Newbery Honor Book and also won the Golden Kite Award. The main character, Turtle, is eleven years old and lives in Key West, Florida during the Great Depression. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 is also mentioned in this book.
Matthew Holm is an American writer, web developer and artist. He is the illustrator of the children's storybook Babymouse series.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a fantasy-adventure children's novel inspired by Chinese folklore. It was written and illustrated by Grace Lin and published in 2009. The novel received a 2010 Newbery Honor and the 2010 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature. It has been translated into Chinese, French, Hebrew, Romanian, Korean and Slovene.
The 2019 Youth Media Awards were held by the American Library Association on January 28, 2019. The awards recognize books written for children and young adults and the authors and illustrators who create them.
