The Newbery Award

What is it and why is it important?

This most well-known and prestigious award for children’s literature began in 1921 as part of the American Library Association (ALA) wanting to recognize outstanding writing for children. Named after John Newbery, a bookseller in 1700s England, this award is the first of its kind in the world devoted to children. Publishers eagerly emblazon the image of the bronze medal on covers of winning books, authors immediately gain recognition, and the books usually become best-sellers.

In the early 1970s, the runners-up of the award became known as Newbery Honor winners, and those books share great acclaim along with the winning title every year.

Honoring “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” is an important and beneficial tradition. At SpiderSmart, we currently include around 150 Honor books and 95 Newbery winners, and those numbers will steadily increase each year as we develop the high-quality material for our students.

Here are a few recent Newbery-winning additions to our Reading & Writing program:

The Crossover

Hello, Universe

Merci Suarez

Changes Gears

When You

Trap a Tiger

Freewater

The Eyes

&

the Impossible