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Newbery Medal

The Newberry Medal is awarded each year to the author of the previous year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Runners-up are called Newbery Honor Books.

The medal is named in honor of John Newbery. He was an eighteenth-century British publisher of juvenile books. He made it a priority to create books specifically for children.

The Newberry Medal and the Caldecott Medal are the most prestigious American Children’s Book awards.

No Award was given in 1923, 1924, or 1927. That is because no book was considered suitable.

Learn more: official Newberry Medal homepage.


Winners:

The Story of Mankind (1921)

Author(s): Hendrik Willem van Loon
Illustrator(s): Hendrik Willem van Loon


The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922)

In search of Long Arrow the Indian, Doctor Dolittle and his companions journey to the floating Spidermonkey Island. Read online at archive.org.

Author(s): Hugh Lofting
Illustrator(s): Hugh Lofting

Details »

The Dark Frigate (1924)

Author(s): Charles Hawes
Illustrator(s): Warren Chappell


Tales from Silver Lands (1924)

Author(s): Charles Finger
Illustrator(s): Paul Honore


Shen of the Sea (1925)

Author(s): Arthur Bowie Chrisman
Illustrator(s): Else Hasselriis


Smoky the Cowhorse (1926)

Author(s): Will James
Illustrator(s): Will James


Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon (1928)

Author(s): Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Illustrator(s): Boris Artzybasheff


The Trumpeter of Krakow (1928)

Author(s): Eric Philbrook Kelly
Illustrator(s): Janina Domanska


Hitty: Her First Hundred Years (1929)

The adventures of a doll, carved from a piece of mountain ash, brought from Ireland to the state of Maine.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Rachel Field
Illustrator(s): Dorothy P. Lathrop

Details »

The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1930)

Author(s): Elizabeth Coatsworth
Illustrator(s): Lynd Ward


Waterless Mountain (1931)

Author(s): Laura Adams Armer
Illustrator(s): Laura Adams Armer
Sidney Armer


Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (1932)

At age thirteen Young Fu is apprenticed to a coppersmith in the big city of Chungking.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
Illustrator(s): Kurt Wiese

Details »

Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women (1933)

Author(s): Cornelia Meigs
Illustrator(s): Ronni Solbert


Dobry (1934)

Author(s): Monica Shannon
Illustrator(s): Atanas Katchamakoff


Caddie Woodlawn (1935)

Pioneer adventures of a girl growing up in northern Wisconsin.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Carol Ryrie Brink
Illustrator(s): Kate Seredy

Details »

Roller Skates (1936)

Lucinda spends a year on her own in New York city in the 1890’s while her parents travel abroad for her mother’s health.

Author(s): Ruth Sawyer
Illustrator(s): Valenti Angelo

Details »

The White Stag (1937)

The legendary tale of the migration of the Huns and Magyars from the east to Hungary.

Read online at archive.org

Author(s): Kate Seredy
Illustrator(s): Kate Seredy

Details »

Thimble Summer (1938)

Garnet lives on a farm in Wisconsin and has adventures all summer long.

Read online at archive.org.

Author(s): Elizabeth Enright
Illustrator(s): Elizabeth Enright

Details »

Daniel Boone (1939)

Author(s): James Daugherty
Illustrator(s): James Daugherty


Call It Courage (1940)

Author(s): Armstrong Sperry
Illustrator(s): Armstrong Sperry