1959 Newbery Medal and Honor Books

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

By: Elizabeth George Speare

Medal Winner

Reviewed by: Deanna Knoll
Recommended age: 10+
Also read and recommended by: Lara Lleverino, Sandy Hall, Sherry Early, Tanya Arnold

Set in Connecticut near the time of the Salem Witch Trials, this is the story of two so eventually charged in the crime of witchcraft: a young girl and an older woman she befriends. 

This book is perfection. Everything a book needs to make it wonderful, this one contains. Excellent storytelling, addressing serious issues without moralizing; somehow making the story timeless and relevant; just the right level of suspense. It's that good.

Along Came A Dog

By: Meindert DeJong
Illustrated by: Maurice Sendak

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

The winner of the 1954 Newbery Award for THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL has again written a book which will be long remembered by its readers.

The day after the big ice storm was remarkable in many ways. It was then that the little red hen became different from the other chickens in the hen house. And it was also the first day that the big black dog came to the farm in search of a home.

The dog was humble and lonesome. The hen was cocky and secure. A strange and wonderful friendship grew between them. Although the title hen had no way of showing affection, the dog demanded nothing more than to serve her. The rooster and the other chickens acknowledged the relationship almost immediately. But it took the man who owned the farm longer to realize what the dog had known all along--that his place was with the man and the little hen.

Maurice Sendak's expressive pictures bring further warmth and richness to this dramatic story.

From the dust jacket

Chúcaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa

By: Francis Kalnay
Illustrated by: Julian de Miskey

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

Young readers everywhere will share with twelve-year-old Pedro his love for Chúcaro—a perfect colt—in this exciting, warmhearted story of a fascinating, faraway country, a story that introduces a new author of rare talent.

Pedro discocers the wild pony one day when it wanders in to graze in the alfalfa field on the great Argentinian ranch where he lives. Juan, his gaucho friend, lassoes the pony and helps Pedro to train it. Everyones admires it—the handsomest, gentlest pony one could wish for—and all goes happily unti news of the pony reaches the ranch owner. At once he decides that his son Armando—an arrogant and spoiled youth—should have Chúcaro for his own.

Then begins the terrible period for Pedro and Juan and their friends—the time when Pedro fears Chúcaro may be taken from him, and when Juan is threatened with the loss of his job if he refuses to turn Chúcaro over to Armando.

This is much more than a story of a boy and a pony told with action and suspense—it is also a finely etched and unforgettable picture of the vast Argentine Pampa and of those who live on it. Its tenderness, humor, and poetic feeling make it a moving and memorable experience to be enjoyed again and again with deepening pleasure.

From the dust jacket

The Family Under the Bridge

By: Natalie Savage Carlson
Illustrated by: Garth Williams

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

Natalie Savage Carlson's joyous stories with their authentic French backgrounds have won for her a deservedly high reputation.

This is the delightfully warm and enjoyable story of an old Parisian named Armand, who relished his solitary life. Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was better off without them.

But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend seemed a trifle unwilling at the start. And it did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself a ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge.

Armand and the children's adventures around Paris—complete with gypsies and Santa Claus—make a story which children will treasure.

From the dust jacket

The Perilous Road

By: William O. Steele
Illustrated by: Paul Galdone

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

Chris Brabson hated the Union troops—and he had his reasons. Yankee raiders in the Tennessee mountains had stolen the newly harvested crops, all the meat supply laid by for the winter, and the Brabsons' only horse. A Union soldier had even taken Chris's deerskin shirt—the one for which he'd tanned and cured the hides so carefully—before he'd had a chance to wear it. Chris could not understand how his brother could have joined the Northern Army nor how his mother and father, despite their abhorrence of war and its destruction, could fail to take sides. But one thing he did know—he would fight for the Confederacy.

Swept on by his burning hatred, Chris reports the presence of a Yankee supply train coming up the valley. Only when he learns his brother is probably in that troop does the full meaning of his act strike him. Caught in the bitter battle at dawn, when the Confederates make a surprise attack, Chris comes to realize the full meaning of his father's words : "A man can believe the Union ought to stay in one piece and still be a good decent man that don't deserve to be killed. Or a body can favor secession and the Confederacy if that's the way he feels about it. Like I told you before, war is the worst thing that can happen to folks, and the reason is it makes most everybody do things they shouldn't."

William O. Steele, one of the finest writers of books for young people today, combines a deep sense of human values with rare, storytelling skill in a compelling book that carries the reader without pause to the very end. The Perilous Road is not only a stirring story of the War between the States, but a superb portrayal of the difficult and dangerous path one boy must follow before he learns the senseless waste of war and the true meaning of courage and tolerance.

From the dust jacket