The Newbery Medal

This has been awarded annually by the American Library Association since 1922 "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." There is a medal winner and usually from one to five honor books.

Newbery Medal winners:

• 2008: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village, by Laura Amy Schlitz.
• 2007: The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron.
• 2006: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins.
• 2005: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata.
  • A short interview with Cynthia Kadohata
• 2004: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.
• 2003: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi.
  • Acceptance speech by Avi
• 2002: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park.
  • An interview with Linda Sue Park

Newbery Honor books:

• 2008:
  • Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis.
  • The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt
  • Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson.
• 2007:
  • Penny from Heaven, by Jennifer L. Holm.
  • Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson.
  • Rules, by Cynthia Lord.
• 2006:
  
  • Whittington written by Alan Armstrong, illustrated by S. D. Schindler.
  • Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
  • Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.
  • Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson with illustrations by Hudson Talbott.
• 2005:
  
  • Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko.
  • The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson... by Russell Freedman.
  • Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt.
• 2004:
  
  • Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
  • An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
• 2003:
  
  • The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer: also the National Book Award winner.
  • Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
  • Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
  • A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin
  • Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
• 2002:
  
  • Polly Horvath's Everything on a Waffle
  • Carver: A Life in Poems, by Marilyn Nelson

More information:

• To buy: Newbery winners and Honor Books: this link leads to a list of those available for purchase at Amazon.com.
• To buy: Newbery books available at BookCloseouts.com: these are discontinued or otherwise discounted titles (50% or more off list price).
• More information about the Newbery Medal: this link leads to the official site for the Newbery, which includes a complete list of past winners.
• The Newbery Awards, by Elizabeth Cosgriff: A good background article.

Children's Book Awards Index page

Caldecott Medal | Coretta Scott King Award | Lifetime Achievement Awards | Young Adult Awards
Sibert Informational Book Award | Pura Belpré Award | Scott O'Dell Award

The Purple Crayon home page