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About the Award- The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery.It 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.

The book award is one of the world's oldest book prizes having been established in 1922. Such is the power of theprize that most of the titles have never gone out of print.

The Newbery Medal is considered one of the big two Children's literature awards in America alongside the Caldecott Medal.

2009 Newbery Medal Winners & Honor Books

John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature.

Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book, illustrated by Dave McKean and published by HarperCollins Children's Books, is the 2009 Newbery Medal winner.

Four Newbery Honor Books were named:

The Underneath, by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small, and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing;

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom, by Margarita Engle and published by Henry Holt and Company LLC;

Savvy, by Ingrid Law and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group in partnership with Walden Media, LLC;

After Tupac & D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson and published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin Books for Young Readers.

Newbery Medal And Honor Books 1960 to present at Amazon

Medieval Village Voice Wins 2008 Newbery

Laura Amy Schlitz (right) has won the 2008 John Newbery Medal for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village illustrated by Robert Byrd. Candlewick (Gr. 6-9) Schlitz is a school librarian in Baltimore; this is the second year in a row that the Newbery has been won by a librarian. An original historical treat that offers a set of thoughtful, evocative readers’-theater-styled monologues from various medieval occupations and walks of life. The book was also awarded a BCCB Blue Ribbon a week or so ago. Somebody knows something.

Ms. Schlitz, 52, of Baltimore, learned that she had won the 2008 Newbery Medal, given annually for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for the under-18 set.

During an all-school assembly called in Schlitz's honor, the entire student body of nearly 900 students stood and cheered for at least 30 seconds. The applause went on and on.

"When I was a child, I wanted to be important," said Schlitz, who has worked at the Park School since 1991 as a librarian and as the chief storyteller. "I never thought I'd win this award. I still can't believe I'd won it. But all the love and loyalty in this room - this is better."

Three Newbery Honor Books were named: Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic Press); The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion); and Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam).

About the Award- The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It 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. The award is one of the world's oldest book prizes having been established in 1922.

About Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village

Maidens, monks, and millers’ sons — in the pages of this book , readers will meet them all. There’s Hugo, the lord’s nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar; sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by selling live eels; and the peasant’s daughter, Mogg, who gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There’s also mud-slinging Barbary (and her noble victim); Jack, the compassionate half-wit; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and many more. With a deep appreciation for the period and a grand affection for both characters and audience, Laura Amy Schlitz creates twenty-two riveting portraits and linguistic gems equally suited to silent reading or performance. Illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Robert Byrd — inspired by the Munich-Nuremberg manuscript, an illuminated poem from thirteenth-century Germany — this witty, historically accurate, and utterly human collection forms an exquisite bridge to the people and places of medieval England.

About the Winning Author Laura Amy Schlitz

Laura Amy Schlitz is also the author of The Hero Schliemann: The Dreamer Who Dug For Troy and A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama. The latter won the literary book bloggers award the Cybils in the Middle Grade Fiction category for 2006.

She wrote the pieces in Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! for students at the Park School in Baltimore, where she works as a librarian. She has also worked as a storyteller, a costumer, an actress, and a playwright; her plays for young people have been produced in theaters all over the country. Laura Amy Schlitz lives in Baltimore. Now she can truely add major literary award winner to her list of achievements.

About the Illustrator Robert Byrd of Good Masters! sweet Ladies!

Robert Byrd has been delighting children of all ages with his whimsical, fantasy-filled children's books for over 30 years. As author and illustrator he has the rare talent to see his fanciful visions through to the minutest detail. Whether enlightening audiences to the many talents of Leonardo DaVinci or taking us into a wonderous world filled with foxes and bears in military attire, Bob, (as he's more affectionately known), is sure to spin us a tale we'll not soon forget. Bob was the 2003 winner of the prestigious Golden Kite Award for excellence in children's books for Leonardo, The Beautiful Dreamer.

Robert Byrd was born in Atlantic City and studied at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art. He has illustrated sixteen books for children and has had his children's book art exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Alliance; The World Children's Book Fair in Bologna, The Society of Illustrators, New York; The Art institute of Philadelphia; The University of the Arts, Philadelphia; and Cricket, 25 Years of Stories and Art for Kids, the Art Institute of Chicago. He teaches Children's Book Illustration at The University of the Arts, and Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. He has two grown children, Rob and Jennifer, and lives in Haddonfield, New Jersey with his wife Ginger and two cats.

"When I'm working on a picture in a children's book, I like to think of the space I am working in as a small stage. This stage is filled with characters like an opera. In each scene, the most important characters sing the lines that tell the story, and must be seen right away. The other characters on the stage help to tell the story, but they are really secondary and part of the background, like scenery."

"The most important thing is to have the small world I create in a picture perfectly match the words of the story, so that even if it is a make-believe world in the eyes and minds of the readers, everything you see is real".

Information about Robert Byrd courtesy of his Website.

Some recent books by Mr. Byrd

The Bear and the Bird King
Dutton Children's books 1994

Finn MacCoul and His Fearless Wife: A Giant of a Tale from Ireland
Dutton Children's Books 1999

Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey, Dutton Children's Books 2000

Leonardo, The Beautiful Dreamer (Golden Kite Awards (Awards)
Dutton Children's Books 2003

The Hero and the Minotaur
Dutton Children's Books 2003

2008 Newbery Honor Books

Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic Press)

Elijah Of Buxton, is also the winner of this years Coretta Scott King author award, a big day for Mr. Curtis and his family.

Mr. Curtis , a Michigan native, discovered his talent for writing while trying to relieve the boredom of working on the assembly line in an automobile plant in Flint, Mich.; the setting for his first two prize-winning novels. Curtis lives in Windsor, Canada, with his wife and family.

The book, ublished by Scholastic, tells the story of 11-year-old Elijah, known to family and friends as “frag-ile,” and the community of former slaves who build a new life in Canada. Elijah's story introduces readers to “the” Mr. Frederick Douglass, a shyster “preacher” and the ill-fated Mr. Leroy. This serious and sensitive account includes numerous laugh-out-loud moments including a toady-frog incident and an episode showing Elijah's stone-chunking skills while catching fish for dinner.

Christopher Paul Curtis is also the author of Bud, Not Buddy, which won the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award in 2000-marking the first time that one novel received both prestigious awards in the same year, and also the first time in the history of the Newbery Medal that an African-American man received this honor. He also wrote Bucking the Sarge (Readers Circle) and Mr. Chickee's Funny Money.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion);

Book Description
gary_d_schmidt Gary D. Schmidt (left) offers an unforgettable antihero in The Wednesday Wars-a wonderfully witty and compelling novel about a teenage boys mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967-68 school year. Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesnt like Holling-hes sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation-the Big M-in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.

Reviews
Publishers Weekly, Starred : "Schmidt, whose LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY won both Printz and Newbery Honors, delivers another winner...deeply satisfying."

Booklist, ALA, Starred Review : "Schmidt...makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous...a gentle, hopeful, moving story."

Horn Book, Starred : "Schmidt rises above the novel's conventions to create memorable and believable characters."

School Library Journal : "[An] entertaining and nuanced novel.... There are laugh-out-loud moments that leaven the many poignant ones."

Condemned to spend every Wednesday afternoon alone with a teacher he is sure hates him, Holling despairs. When two demon rats escape into the classroom walls, and Mrs. Barker brings out Shakespeare, Wednesdays seem to grow even worse. But despair has no place in this very funny and deeply moving book about 7th grade love, the Vietnam War, heroes, true friendship, and the power of giant rats.
--Charlotte, from Charlotte's Library

About the Author
Gary D. Schmidt is the author of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, which won both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. His other novels for Clarion are Anson's Way and Straw Into Gold. He is a professor in the English department at Calvin College and lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan, with his wife and six children.

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)

Book Description
“Hope is the thing with feathers” starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn’t j_woodson thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more “holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’s not white. Who is he?

During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light—her brother Sean’s deafness, her mother’s fear, the class bully’s anger, her best friend’s faith and her own desire for “the thing with feathers.”

Jacqueline Woodson(right)once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.

About the Author
Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, is the author of Newbery Honor winner Show Way and Miracle's Boys, recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Two of her works, Locomotion and Hush were both National Book Award Finalists.. She lives in Brooklyn, New York

Current and Historic Winners Slideshow Above

Such is the awesome nature of the Newbery Medal, that many of the winners of the award, which started in 1922, have never been out of print. Of the 86 winners since it's inauguration, only three titles are currently, as far as I can tell, unavailable, namelyl: It's Like This, Cat (1944); Daniel Boone (1940) and Tales from Silver Lands (1925). Flea market or ebay job for those. The slideshow above features many of the original covers with quite a number of the winners having been reissued in recent years. The Newberry, like it's sister prize the Caldecott, are where quality and longevity meet. Clicking on a title will take you to more information and reviews at Amazon if available. Enjoy.

Californian Desert tale wins 2007 Newbery. The Higher Power of Lucky Wins The 2007 Newbery Medal winner, written by Susan Patron, illustrated by Matt Phelan, published by Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson.

In “The Higher Power of Lucky,” Patron takes us to the California desert community of Hard Pan (population 43). Ten-year-old Lucky Trimble eavesdrops on 12-step program meetings from her hiding place behind Hard Pan’s Found Object Wind Chime Museum & Visitor Center. Eccentric characters and quirky details spice up Lucky’s life just as her guardian Brigitte’s fresh parsley embellishes her French cuisine.

“‘Lucky’ is a perfectly nuanced blend of adventure, survival (emotional and physical) and hilarious character study... as well as a blueprint for a self-examined life,” said Newbery Medal Committee Chair Jeri Kladder. “Through Lucky’s experiences, we are reminded that children support one another just as needy adults do.

2007 Newbery Honor Books

Penny from Heaven (Newbery Honor Book) by Jennifer L. Holm(Random House)

In Holm’s book, 11-year-old Penny looks forward to spending the summer rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers and scheming with her cousin Frankie. Instead she navigates the space between her two families and uncovers the reason for their estrangement in this funny and touching tale of intergenerational love set in 1953

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Delacorte Press)

In “Hattie Big Sky,” 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks is looking for a place to belong – a home. In 1918 she leaves Iowa for the Montana prairie. In this engaging first-person narrative, Hattie strives to forge a new life. Vivid imagery and careful attention to historical detail distinguish this memorable novel that portrays her struggle to “prove her claim.”g Sky

Rules (Newbery Honor Book) by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic)

“A boy can take off his shirt to swim, but not his shorts.” Twelve-year-old Catherine creates rules for her younger, autistic brother David in an attempt to normalize his life and her own; but what is normal? In the debut novel, “Rules,” Lord’s heroine learns to use words to forge connections with her brother, her workaholic father and a paraplegic friend. With humor and insight, Lord demonstrates the transforming power of language.

Past Winners of the Newbery (1922-2008)

The Newbery Medal was first offered in 1921 by Fredric G. Melcher as an incentive for better quality in children's books. Named after John Newbery, the famous 18th-century publisher and seller of children's books, it is now donated annually by the Melcher family and awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. It is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published during the preceding year.

2006 Criss Cross (Newbery Medal Book), Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)
2005 Kira-Kira, Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/S&S)
2004 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread, Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)
2003 Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Newbery Medal Book) Avi (Hyperion Books for Children)
2002 A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin)
2001 A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck (Dial Books for Young Readers)
2000 Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte Press)
1999 Holes, Louis Sachar (Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
1998 Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse (Scholastic)
1997 The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg (Jean Karl/Atheneum)
1996 The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman (Clarion)
1995 Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech (HarperCollins)
1994 The Giver, Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin)
1993 Missing May, Cynthia Rylant (Jackson/Orchard)
1992 Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Atheneum)
1991 Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli (Little, Brown & Co.)
1990 Number the Stars, Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin)
1989 Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, Paul Fleischman (Harper & Row Junior Books)
1988 Lincoln: A Photobiography, Russell Freedman (Houghton Mifflin)
1987 The Whipping Boy, Sid Fleischman (Greenwillow Books)
1986 Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan (Harper & Row Junior Books)
1985 The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley (Greenwillow Books)
1984 Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary (William Morrow & Co.)
1983 Dicey's Song, Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum/Macmillan)
1982 A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, Nancy Willard (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)

1981 Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1980 A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32, Joan W. Blos (Scribner/Macmillan)
1979 The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin (E.P. Dutton)
1978 Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1977 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor (Dial Books for Young Readers)
1976 The Grey King, Susan Cooper (McElderry/Macmillan)
1975 M.C. Higgins the Great, Virginia Hamilton (Macmillan)
1974 The Slave Dancer, Paula Fox (Bradbury Press)
1973 Julie of the Wolves, Jean C. George (Trophy/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1972 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien (Atheneum/Macmillan)
1971 Summer of the Swans, Betsy C. Byars (Viking Penguin)
1970 Sounder, William Armstrong (Harper & Row)
1969 The High King, Lloyd Alexander (Henry Holt & Co.)
1968 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg (Atheneum/Macmillan)
1967 Up a Road Slowly, Irene Hunt (Berkley)
1966 I, Juan de Pareja, Elizabeth B. de Trevi¤o (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
1965 Shadow of a Bull, Maia Wojciechowska (Atheneum/Macmillan)
1964 It's Like This, Cat, Emily C. Neville (Harper & Row Junior Books)
1963 A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
1962 The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth G. Speare (Houghton Mifflin)
1961 Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell (Houghton Mifflin)
1960 Onion John, Joseph Krumgold (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1959 The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth G. Speare (Houghton Mifflin)
1958 Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1957 Miracles on Maple Hill, Virginia Sorensen (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)
1956 Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean L. Latham (Houghton Mifflin)
1955 The Wheel on the School, Meindert De Jong (Trophy/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1954 And Now Miguel, Joseph Krumgold (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1953 Secret of the Andes, Ann N. Clark (Viking Penguin)

1952 Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)
1951 Amos Fortune, Free Man, Elizabeth Yates (E.P. Dutton)
1950 The Door in the Wall: Story of Medieval London, Marguerite de Angeli (Doubleday)
1949 King of the Wind, Marguerite Henry (Checkerboard/Macmillan)
1948 The Twenty-One Balloons, William Pene du Bois (Viking Penguin)
1947 Miss Hickory, Carolyn S. Bailey (Viking Penguin)
1946 Strawberry Girl, Lois Lenski (Lippincott/Harper & Row Junior Books)
1945 Rabbit Hill, Robert Lawson (Viking Penguin)
1944 Johnny Tremain, Ester Forbes (Houghton Mifflin)
1943 Adam of the Road, Elizabeth J. Gray (Viking Penguin)
1942 The Matchlock Gun, Walter D. Edmonds (Putnam)
1941 Call It Courage, Armstrong Sperry (Macmillan)
1940 Daniel Boone, James Daugherty (Viking)
1939 Thimble Summer, Elizabeth Enright (Henry Holt & Co.)
1938 The White Stag, Kate Seredy (Viking Penguin)
1937 Roller Skates, Ruth Sawyer (Penguin)
1936 Caddie Woodlawn, Carol R. Brink (Aladdin/Macmillan)
1935 Dobry, Monica Shannon (Viking)
1934 Invincible Louisa, Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown & Co.)
1933 Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, Elizabeth F. Lewis (Henry Holt & Co.)
1932 Waterless Mountain, Laura A. Armer (Random/McKay)
1931 The Cat Who Went to Heaven, Elizabeth Coatsworth (Aladdin/Macmillan)
1930 Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Rachel Field (Macmillan)
1929 The Trumpeter of Krakow, Eric P. Kelly (Aladdin/Macmillan)
1928 Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon, Dhan G. Mukerji (E.P. Dutton)
1927 Smoky, the Cow Horse, Will James (Charles Scribner's Sons)
1926 Shen of the Sea, Arthur B. Chrisman (E.P. Dutton)
1925 Tales from Silver Lands, Charles J. Finger (Doubleday)
1924 The Dark Frigate, Charles B. Hawes (Little, Brown & Co.)
1923 The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, Hugh Lofting (Delacorte Press)
1922 The Story of Mankind, Hendrik W. Van Loon (Liveright)

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