What’s the Big Deal With the Newbery Medal?

If you’ve been around Redeemed Reader very long, you’ll know that we look at possible Newbery winners every January. Why is the Newbery Medal so important? For that matter, just what is the Newbery Medal? Why should regular moms and dads care what wins each year?

The John Newbery Medal

The John Newbery Medal is the oldest of the American Library Association’s (ALA) “youth media awards.” Those awards include the familiar Caldecott Medal as well as newer awards such as the Coretta Scot King Award, the Geisel Award, and many others. First awarded in 1922, this year marks the 100th anniversary of this prestigious award.

According to the ALA website, “the Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” “Most distinguished” is open to interpretation, but the ALA spells out a few key areas:

• Marked by eminence and distinction; noted for significant achievement.
• Marked by excellence in quality.
• Marked by conspicuous excellence or eminence.
• Individually distinct.
• (above quoted from the ALA website)

In addition to distinction, the award is given to an author of a book published in the preceding calendar year, in America, in English by an American publisher. The author must be a resident or citizen of the United States. (Ironic, since the award is named after a British bookseller!) You can read more about the Newbery Medal, including its long history, on the ALA website.

Why Does the Newbery Medal Matter?

That’s a good question. I’ll bet that most of my readers aren’t ALA members, aren’t librarians, don’t curate books for a bookstore or library, and may not have known what “ALA” stood for before this post. So, why should we care what wins the Newbery Medal this year?

First, it shows our culture’s values.

If you, like me, are an American, it’s worth paying attention to what our country values and which books are deemed the most significant contribution to our country’s children’s literature. If nothing else, it’s a read on the pulse of our society’s hopes, dreams, and values for its children. A committee chooses the Newbery winners and honors, and that committee is made up of real people, people living in our time and place who are influenced by the same news we are, the same global and national events as we are, and the same political situations in which we find ourselves.

Second, these are professionals.

The Newbery Committee (and other ALA awards committees) are composed of librarians and educators. All have paid their dues (literally and figuratively) to be members of ALA. Librarians receive a lot of training, as do educators (I have a library degree and a teaching degree; trust me!). The committee members read as many books published within the given year as they can. They discuss with each other, debate the merits of particular books, and champion their favorites. I can tell you after being on book award committees, discussing books in depth with colleagues will open your eyes to themes, ideas, strengths (and weaknesses) you didn’t notice at first. A book will never rise to the top if it can’t stand up to robust dissection and debate. We may not agree with their selections, but it’s worth thinking through why particular books win (what might we be missing?).

Third, Newbery books stay in print.

The most recent numbers I could find are more than 10 years old, but the industry is growing: more than 21,000 children’s books were slated to be published in 2009 alone! I’ll bet the average public library doesn’t shelve that many books from each year of publication, nor does your local Barnes & Noble carry that many. In fact, even Amazon doesn’t carry all books published in a given year. Books go in and out of print rapidly; if a book has a shiny award sticker on it, particularly if it’s from the oldest and most well-known award in its category, it’s more likely to stay on shelves in both libraries and bookstores.

Fourth, Newbery books land on school book lists!

Recognize the following? The Tale of Despereaux, The Bronze Bow, A Wrinkle in Time, Charlotte’s Web, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Holes, Bridge to Terebithia, The Westing Game. All are Newbery winners or honors. More recent winners, such as New Kid, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Powerful Weapon, and Piecing Me Together are standard classroom suggestions now, if not outright requirements.

We’re Reading Ahead For You

As our culture pulls further away from Judeo-Christian values in some areas, awards like the Newbery may be less friendly to those of us adhering to a biblical worldview. Our team at Redeemed Reader is reading ahead for you to help you discern which of these awarded books are worth reading and which might be better left on a library shelf. We wouldn’t recommend the entire list of Newbery winners and honors as a “to read” list, but there are some true gems. We’ll help you find those, and we’ll help you think about what our culture is reading and valuing. That’s partly why we host our Newbery Buzz Series each year in the first place!

Tell us in the comments: what is your favorite Newbery winner or honor?