< Newbery Medal and Honor Books
Given the Newbery Award's prestige it would be easy to assume that the award winners are all excellent books for children. The Biblioguides Team has not found this to be the case. We always want to provide parents with the information they need to make the best book decisions for their families. With that goal in mind, we've put together a complete list of all medal winners and honor books since inception, and the Biblioguides Review Team is working together to read our way through the winners and to provide a review. Where we have not yet reviewed a book, a description directly from the dust jacket or from the publisher has been provided. In some cases, we have shared a brief synopsis from The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books (1999).
Reviews are the thoughts and opinions of the particular reviewer and do not necessarily represent all members of the team. Reviews will continue to be added as the team reads more of the Newbery books. We hope this list will help you familiarize yourself with the various winners and provide the necessary information to determine which books would be a good fit for your family!
★
REVIEW TEAM FAVORITE
The Trumpeter of Krakow
By: Eric P. Kelly
Illustrated by: Angela Pruszynska
Medal Winner
Reviewed by: Sara Masarik
Also read and recommended by: Sandy Hall, Tanya Arnold
Written in a style that reminds me of Lloyd Alexander and Tonke Dragt, this novel for young readers is a lovely example of historical fiction. As the quote from Louis Bechtel indicates, it blends true events and real people beautifully with legend and an interesting fictional story. Fifteenth-century Joseph Charnetski is the son of Pan’ Andrew Charnetski, a Polish noble from Kresy (modern-day Ukraine). The Charnetski family is fleeing their home because madman Peter Button-Face has burned their village to the ground under the orders of Ivan III of Russia (Ivan the Terrible).
Read full review
The Boy Who Was
By: Grace Hallock
Illustrated by: Harrie Wood
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
In 1927 Nino the goatherd shows an artist the wooden figures he has carved of famous Mediterranean people and proceeds to tell their stories, covering more than 3,000 years of history. He begins with tales of Odysseus, Pompeii, and the Crusades and then goes through the nineteenth century, occasionally including himself in the stories.
From The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books (1997)
Clearing Weather
By: Cornelia Meigs
Illustrated by: Frank Dobias
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
The author of "The Trade Wind" has again written a memorable tale of adventure in this splendid story of how young Nicholas Drury, in the days immediately following the Revolution, maintains a New England shipyard against great odds. He sends out a ship which blazes a trail for trade around the world for his country, but before its wonderful voyage is over there are exciting encounters with Tories, Indians, and Chinese pirates.
From the dust jacket
★
REVIEW TEAM FAVORITE
Millions of Cats
By: Wanda Gág
Illustrated by: Wanda Gág
Honor
Reviewed by: Sherry Early
Recommended age: All ages
Also read and recommended by: Diane Pendergraft, Sandy Hall, Tanya Arnold
Millions of Cats is said to be the inaugural modern American picture book. The text is hand lettered with pen and ink illustrations, and on the first page we get a folktale-like view of a very old man and a very old woman and their little house. As the story progresses the old man sets out on a journey to find a cat to relieve their loneliness, but he is a somewhat indecisive fellow. He ends up finding and bringing home, not one cat but rather "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats."
What do I love about this book? I love the little old woman who thinks that a nice fluffy cat will assuage their loneliness. I love the little old man who agrees to travel far and wide to fulfill his wife’s desire. I love all of the cats, covering the hills in the distance and in the foreground, sitting, pouncing, cavorting, and even one dancing on its hind legs. And I even love the rather violent solution to the problem of too many cats where the old couple are left with just one very special, pretty cat. I spent some time as a child trying to figure out how all of those cats could eat each other up with only one little non-fighting cat remaining. I never did understand it, which just made the book more beautifully mysterious.
Read full review
The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo
By: John Bennett
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Many original stories in prose and verse, and one brief wordless story, are illustrated with two hundred intriguing and often funny silhouettes. The stories are filled with robust and irreverent humor: King Arthur's Sir Launcelot is called "Sir Launcelot de Id-i-otte"! Most of the stories first appeared in St. Nicholas Magazine.
From The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books (1999)
The Runaway Papoose
By: Grace Moon
Illustrated by: Carl Moon
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Little Nat-tee runs away when outlaw Indians attack her family's camp. Her parents cannot find her and move on with the others. Nah-tee and a young shepherd boy she meets have many adventures as they cross the mesa in search of her parents.
From The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books (1999)
Tod of the Fens
By: Elinor Whitney
Illustrated by: Warwick Goble
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Fifteenth-century Boston, England, is the setting for the amusing tale of Tod, who lives with a band of men just outside of town. Prince Hal, later to become Henry V, roves about the town in various disguises. Tod, realizing what is happening, tells no one and plays along with the game that is afoot.
From The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books (1999)
