It's the first Friday of the New Year! Here's to hoping 2021 is a happier, healthier year than 2020. Over the last few weeks in the children's department we've been switching out our copies of Newbery Award winning books with nice, clean, new copies. Some of our Newbery's have been on the shelf for multiple decades and it was definitely time for some updated graphics and unstained pages!
The John Newbery Medal 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 contribution to American literature for children". The Newbery (for chapter books) and the Caldecott Medal (for picture books) are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States! These books have been vetted by a committee that read well over 200 books and have chosen it as the best book for that year.
Click on the title to be taken to our catalog to request items. Book summaries are from Goodreads.
Here are five of my favorites!
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1963)
It was a dark and stormy night. Out of this wild night, a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe on a most dangerous and extraordinary adventure—one that will threaten their lives and our universe.
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (2014)
It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.
Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at auction for a bargain price of $225. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master, Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it?
Claudia is determined to find out. Her quest leads her to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.
New Kid by Jerry Craft (2020)
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.
As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (1923)
Doctor John Dolittle, the veterinarian who can actually talk to animals, sets sail on the high seas for new adventures! Accompanied by his young friend Tommy Stubbins and the beloved animals of his household -- Polynesia the parrot, Jip the dog, and Chee-Chee the monkey -- the good doctor is off to forbidding Spider Monkey Island to examine the rare jabizri beetle. But the mysterious island holds another, darker secret: The famous Indian naturalist, Long Arrow, has mysteriously disappeared -- and Doctor Dolittle urgently needs to speak with him.
Doctor Dolittle and his friends brave a shipwreck, find the floating island, and meet the incredible Great Glass Sea Snail -- the keeper of the greatest mystery of all. This is the most popular of the twelve Doctor Dolittle novels. The next has been carefully edited for modern readers by renowned children's book authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack. This new edition, featuring color illustrations by best-selling artist Michael Hague, is sure to bring a whole new generation under the spell of Doctor Dolittle and his animal friends.
Curious about what other books have won the Newbery? Here's a complete list of Newbery Winners as well as the Honor books from 1922-present.
Happy Friday, and happy reading!
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