< 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!
Bridge to Terabithia
By: Katherine Paterson
Illustrated by: Donna Diamond
Medal Winner
NOT REVIEWED
Jess Aarons had to be the fastest runner at Lark Creek Elementary School, the best, but when he was challenged by Leslie Burke, a girl, that was just the beginning of a new season in Jess's life. Leslie and her parents were newcomers to the rural-community where Jess lived, and were thought to be a bit odd, for they didn't even own a TV, though their house was filled with books. Somewhat to Jess's surprise, he and Leslie became friends, and the worlds of imagination and learning that she opened to him changed him forever. It was Leslie's idea to create Terabithia, their secret kingdom in the woods where they reigned supreme. There no enemy—not their teacher Monster Mouth Myers, their schoolmates Gary Fulcher and Janice Avery, Jess's four sisters, or even Jess's own fears and Leslie's imaginary foes could defeat them. The legacy that Leslie finally brought to Jess enabled him to cope with the unexpected tragedy that touched them all.
From the dust jacket
Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey
By: Jamake Highwater
Illustrated by: Fritz Scholder
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Be silent! Old Wasicong is about to tell the tale of Anpao.
Anpao... the Dawn... the brave young man whose love for the beautiful Ko-komik-e-is is so great that in her name he undertakes a long and dangerous quest.
He journeys among the people and the powers across the face of the American Indian's ancient world and through depths of space and time. He travels over the deserts, mountains, and prairies that belonged to his grandfathers, and on. . . into the realm of the Drowned Ones.
Follow Anpao, for he carries with him the rich heritage of native Americans. His adventures are drawn from tales that have been passed down through generations of Great Plains and Southwest people, and include stories of their encounters with the white man and his guns, horses, and diseases.
Jamake Highwater has woven together old and new in the classic tradition of the storyteller to convey the full texture of Indian sensibility. Anpao relates to the whole of existence and to the unity of all things.
Be silent! Old Wasicong speaks . . .
From the dust jacket
Ramona and Her Father
By: Beverly Cleary
Illustrated by: Alan Tiegreen
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Ramona Quimby is a character intimately known by Beverly Cleary readers. In this story of Ramona's year in second grade they will come to know Mr. Quimby equally well. As it opens he loses his job without warning, and Ramona's seven-year-old view of this all-too-frequent family crisis rings every change of mood from tears to laughter.
Not surprisingly, Ramona takes an active hand in the problems the develop. She practices television commercials in order to earn a million dollars, but only succeeds in insulting her teacher when she delivers a disparaging line about wrinkles in pantyhose. She grows concerned that Mr. Quimby's smoking will turn his lungs black and launches an energetic No Smoking campaign. Sometimes Mr. Quimby's temper frays under the strain of his uncertain future and Ramona's attentions, but he proves as resilient as his daughter, and the Quimbys cope better than they realize.
Once again children will be both entertained and comforted by the understanding of their triumphs and tribulations that they find in this wise, funny book.
From the dust jacket
