The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. It was the first children's literary award in the world.^[1] It is named for John Newbery, an 18th century English publisher of juvenile books. The Newbery Medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and created by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921. It depicts on the obverse an author giving his work (a book) to a boy and a girl to read. The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. When the winner is announced each January, bookstores sell out, libraries order copies and teachers add the book to their lesson plans.^[1] Many bookstores and libraries have Newbery sections; popular television shows interview the winners; textbooks includes lists of Newbery winners, and many master's and doctoral theses are written about them.^[1]

Beside the one annual Medalist, the committee identifies a variable number of worthy runners-up as Newbery Honor Books. Though the Newbery Honor was initiated in 1971, specially cited runners-up for the Newbery Medal from previous years were retroactively named Newbery Honor books.^[2] As few as zero and as many as eight have been named, but from 1938 the number is one to five annual Honors.

Criteria[link]

Source: "Terms and Criteria"^[3]

• The book must be published in English in the United States the previous year.
• The author must be a citizen or resident of the United States.
• The book must be considered for its theme, presentation (clarity, accuracy and organization), plot, characters, setting, and style.
• The book must relate to a child audience.
• The book must contribute to literature.
• The book must stand alone and not as a part of a multimedia presentation.

Controversy[link]

In October 2008, Anita Silvey, a children's literary expert, published an article in the School Library Journal criticizing the committee for choosing books that are too difficult for children.^[1][4] Lucy Calkins, the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University's Teachers College agreed with Silvey:

I can't help but believe that thousands, even millions, more children would grow up reading if the Newbery committee aimed to spotlight books that are deep and beautiful and irresistible to kids.^[1]

But Pat Scales said,

The criterion has never been popularity. It is about literary quality. How many adults have read all the Pulitzer-prize- winning books and ... liked every one?^[1]

Some question a quest for exclusivity, or "equating children's book habits with adults'."^[5]

John Beach, associate professor of literacy education at St. John's University in New York, compared the books that adults choose for children with the books that children choose for themselves and found that in the past 30 years, there is only 5% overlap between the Children's Choice Awards (International Reading Association) and the Notable Children's Books list (American Library Association).^[1] He has also stated that "the Newbery has probably done far more to turn kids off to reading than any other book award in children's publishing."^[1]

Erica Perl responded:

For starters, the real reasons kids don't read don't have anything to do with the Newbery medal—or any award. It has to do with the declining role of the book in our streaming-media culture and with socioeconomic realities.^[6]

Others argue that child appropriate books are important, not unpopular assignment of award winners.^[7]

Newbery recipients[link]

Source: "Newbery Medals and Honor Books, 1922-Present"^[8]

Yellow background highlights the Medalists.