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Many of us have been disappointed by many of the older Newbery winners and honor books. But some are definitely still worth reading. Let's get a list going of the gems! As you nominate those with lasting value, please consider telling us why you think it is still valuable. If you want to help make my job easier, note the date that it won the medal.

Also give a 'second' vote to others' nominees if you agree with them. I envision a list of many titles, each with varying degrees of support.

Note that the group has only read up the the award year 1967 so far, so please start with the books older than that, so as not to 'spoil' the discoveries we have yet to make.

Thanks!

Reserved

I will have to check through my book reviews a bit more throughly, but here is one of my favourite older Newbery books and where the only criticism I had was that I wanted more.

Winterbound by Margaret Williams Bianco and I think the novel won a Newbery Hounour in 1937. I love the description, the close but still realistic sibling relationships and that Winterbound shows the Depression without exaggerated doom and gloom.

I read most of them when I was a kid and loved them. I don't want to ruin my memories by testing whether they hold up.

One I know holds up is My Father's Dragon (1949 honor). While I have never read it, my mom used to read it to the 4/5 year old class when she taught nursery school. She got it from the library for my younger niece when she was that age and my niece loved it. She kept telling her mom "Grammie read me a story about her daddy's dragon!" LOL!

Charlotte's Web (1953 honor) is a favorite of mine and I've read it a bunch of times, most recently when my nieces were getting old enough to read independently. I love this book and it mostly holds up but I don't like what happens to Fern and how she ignores Wilbur. I bring up Wilbur every time someone in this family eats pork around me.

On the Banks of Plum Creek (1938 honor) was my favorite of the series. I was the same age as Laura when I read it the first time. I know she's not in favor anymore *sigh* but this one was so much fun... until the grasshoppers. A sod house doesn't sound fun to live in but somehow Laura made it fun.

Honorable mention for most favorite childhood book
The Golden Name Day (1956 honor)
Absolutely lovely! It's very much like a Swedish-American Lucy Maud Montgomery tale. Very sweet, gentle and OH how I wanted a name day of my own!

Caddie Woodlawn (1936 winner) was one of my favorites. In the tradition of Anne of Green Gables and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, I've read this as an adult too and still liked it for the most part.

Niece #1 and her mom were reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. (1959 winner) I've read this a bunch of times and studied Puritans extensively. It holds up. Her research is top notch and while the romantic plot is a bit silly, the story captures Puritan New England quite well.

Fog Magic (1944 honor) I read this recently and enjoyed it a lot. I remember when I was a kid wishing I could follow her into the fog and out to the village.

Misty Of Chincoteague (1948 honor) STILL trying to get my parents to take my niece to see stuffed Misty! I skimmed this after Maureen Beebe died, hoping to pass it on to my niece. I thought she would love it as much as I did. I'm not sure it holds up though. She might get upset over the idea of pony penning day. They don't do it like that anymore. I really want to give her the copy my grandparents gave me when I was 10 but I don't think she's ready for that level book yet. She would say she is but it has a lot of words and small print.

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison (1942 honor) LOVED this one but I'm betting it doesn't hold up, especially as it's written by a white woman. It's a true story in the non-fiction section of the school library (when they finally let me read big books).

Some of The Middle Moffat (1943 honor) and Rufus M. -(1944 honor)I remember reading and liking the series a lot for a contemporary series but it wasn't a top favorite.

The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle (1923 winner) might still hold up since it's been remade into a recent movie. Mr. Popper's Penguins (1939 honor) has also been made into a movie but with a contemporary setting.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1972) might work because it's a fantasy. I rather liked the movie when I was a kid but the book wasn't as good.

The Good Master (1936 honor) I read this recently and it was a European Little House on the Prairie sort of novel.

One I did not read as a kid but as an adult was The Jumping-Off Place. (1930 honor) It's like Little House on the Prairie but a later time period and I think less problematical.

One I want to read and have only read an excerpt of is The Hundred Dresses (1945 honor). I have a feeling this one is still relevant. Refugees, anti-Semitism and poverty haven't gone away and neither have the bullies who prey on the above.

Scrolling through the list of Newbery Award winning books brings back memory after memory of my favorite books growing up. Some titles I remember vividly. Others I can see the covers of and remember that I liked them... but I can't remember why I liked them... or what they were about...

1978 (winner) Bridge to Terebithia.

1945 (honor) The Hundred Dresses is one of the books I still use to transition my students from picture books to chapter.

It's getting late and I'm getting sleepy. I'll try to come back in the morning and elaborate a bit. Zzzzzz

Misty of Chincoteague (1948 Newbery Honour) for sure (and also love the sequels) and King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian (1949 Newbery). Love Marguerite Henry’s sense of time and place and how she captures mid 20th century Chincoteaque culture with Misty and 17th century England for King of the Wind.

Blue Willow (1941 Newbery Honour), novel feels delightfully authentic and has pretty modern sentiments. And again, love how the novel shows the problems caused by the Depression but not with total gloom and doom.

I liked Blue Willow when I read it recently.

It looks like a lot of the earliest books won't hold up due to portrayals of various racial and ethnic groups but many of the classics still do. I can still picture many of them on the school library shelves.

I adored Blue Willow at age 11. In my adult years I got into Blue Willow china a bit due to reading that book. I think little girls today would still benefit from reading it.

Nino, 1939 Newbery Honour book that I do wish was still in print, as the descriptions of the author’s childhood in Italy are delightful (although I am a bit annoyed at not really finding out why the father is in America and why his family is to join him there).

Adam of the Road, 1943 Newbery Award, in my opinion a wonderful sense of textual time and place, with a writing style that totally puts me into the Middle Ages.

Rascal, Newbery Honour 1964, loved the realism in this autobiographical story and that there is no sad beloved pet death scene but that when Sterling’s pet raccoon Rascal grows up and becomes increasingly volatile, Sterling simply releases him into the wilderness (and to find a mate).

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Newbery Award 1961, although there is potential cultural appropriation and some guesswork on Scott O’Dell’s part, generally the story feels respectful enough and adequately researched (at least in my opinion), and I enjoyed reading Karana’s story as much as an adult as I did when I was younger (in the late 1970s), with my only real complaint being that I do wish O’Dell had not given Karana a fake language.

Across Five Aprils, Newbery Honour 1965, great sense of realism and on the ravages of war, with a strong and appreciated anti war message.

I also really loved Fog Magic (1944 Newbery Honour) especially for its atmosphere but the ending, with the message of leaving magic and imagination behind when one reaches the age of 13, that does kind of bother me.

And I therefore do like Julia L. Sauer’s second Newbery Honour Book (1952), her The Light at Tern Rock much more, and consider it a perfect Christmas and winter story.

One thing I have noticed is that I have more of the older Newbery Honour books on my still enjoy reading list (8) than Newbery Award books (4).

And I also think that the 1939 Newbery Award winner Thimble Summer is still very readable today and paints a nicely realistic but again not doom and gloom depiction of the Depression (but that yes, some readers might find Elizabeth Enright’s text a bit too episodic in nature). And while I do have some issues with the friend being constantly called fat, I still do think that Thimble Summer is a good story for today.

Manybooks wrote: "And I also think that the 1939 Newbery Award winner Thimble Summer is still very readable today and paints a nicely realistic but again not doom and gloom depiction of the Depression ..."

I liked that one a lot when I was a kid but I don't remember a thing about it. Maybe I just owned it and read it once.

Wow, I agree so much with most of the nominations above. It's heartening to see that many do hold up. Thimble Summer, for example, was one of my favorites growing up and my adult rereads haven't spoiled it for me.

Adam of the Road, the Middle Moffat, and King of the Wind, ditto. I think these are all still worthy of library shelf space.

Offhand, one not mentioned yet that I loved was Dobry (1935 medal). Illustrated by a 'real' artist, showed American children some of Bulgarian life. "When we eat the good bread we are eating months of sunlight, weeks of rain and snow from the sky, richness out of the earth. We eat everything now, clouds even. It becomes part of us.... We should be great, each of us radiant...."

The following is a list (up to 1967) of Newbery awards and honors that I have either read multiple times I loved them so much, or ones that I remember VERY fondly. I don't really know how "valuable" they are to anyone else, but they certainly are valuable to me. As for lasting value, they have lasting value for me; I don't presume to know about others.

Adam of the Road
Misty of Chincoteague
King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian
Charlotte's Web
Old Yeller
The Gammage Cup
A Wrinkle in Time
The Black Cauldron

Thank you! You make an important distinction, Beverly.

Yes, it is a question nobody is fully qualified to answer... of what value are these to children? We've discussed how some of the older books are so racist, sexist, or inaccurate that we know that even the committee members aren't fully qualified to judge.

Ultimately we can only judge for ourselves, as you say.

But certainly some of us work with children or have studied literature and history enough to make guesses about what is still worth recommending... so, yes, let's make this thread about *both* kinds of favorite older Newbery books. The ones we like for ourselves, and also the ones we'd recommend.

Cheryl wrote: "Thank you! You make an important distinction, Beverly.

Yes, it is a question nobody is fully qualified to answer... of what value are these to children? We've discussed how some of the older books..."

Well, I would definitely recommend all the ones above that I loved.

For me, although not everyone seems to enjoy the story, I think that Elizabeth Enright’s Gone-Away Lake (1958 Newbery Hounour) is still readable and still good for modern readers (and I only read the book a couple of years ago and loved the description and the positive and fulfilling intergenerational relationships portrayed, but yes, the sequel was a bit repetitive).

I wouldn't recommend any of them to modern tweens. At least none of the ones I've met. Kids today aren't used to the kinds of stories we read. They like action, adventure, fantasy and modern issue novels. I haven't read any of the recent Newberry winners. I prefer the older ones. My oldest niece DID enjoy reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond with her mom but I don't know if they ever finished.

QNPoohBear wrote: "I wouldn't recommend any of them to modern tweens. At least none of the ones I've met. Kids today aren't used to the kinds of stories we read. They like action, adventure, fantasy and modern issue ..."

My nieces enjoyed many of the classics my sister and I read as tweens much more than contemporary children’s literature. I sent them both recent and older Newbery novels and they definitely enjoyed the older ones (up to 1999) considerably more.

It is easy to generalize about 'kids today.' But we need to remember, of course, that children, like adults, have different preferences, tastes, interests.

Cheryl wrote: "It is easy to generalize about 'kids today.' But we need to remember, of course, that children, like adults, have different preferences, tastes, interests."

Sadly, only one or two of the school children that passed through the museum where I worked on field trips were into reading. Only one was interested in history. They related better to my supervisor who always talked to them about movies. The classrooms were stocked with the best books and sometimes I saw kids reading or the teacher or librarian read to them but never any of the classics. I have hopes for my youngest nephew to be the reader in the family.

Hi, 5th/6th grade reading teacher here.

I don't know if this list is for books that hold up today for adult readers or children. As an adult, I enjoy titles like Carry On, Mr. Bowditch and The Dark Frigate, but I can't imagine a child getting through them.

I have been teaching long enough to see some of the classics fade. The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Island of the Blue Dolphins were still being read and enjoyed 20 years ago, but it has been more than 10 years since I have been able to get a child to read them.

Books from before '67 that I can still get more than one child to read:
Call It Courage (although it's fading fast)
The Hundred Dresses
My Father's Dragon
Charlotte's Web
My Side of the Mountain
A Wrinkle in Time (barely)

Books I have had one child read fairly recently:
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Rifles for Watie
Misty of Chincoteague

Laura Ingalls Wilder is a special case. Religious conservatives tend to read her books out loud to their children, so they are still in circulation, just not in the classroom.

Fantastic & fascinating, Phil, thank you!

One I haven’t seen mentioned is 21 Balloons (1947). I taught it 20 years ago and my GATE kids then liked it. My own kids thought it was fun as well. The storyline is reminiscent of Fitzgerald’s “A Diamond as Big as the Ritz��.

I agree with Thimble Summer and Gone Away Lake. I like how Enright’s girls break the mold fir the time they were written. And Caddie Woodlawn stands up. Better than the Little House book with portrayals of Native Americans, in my opinion.

My husband would say Call It Courage.

Getting the books that stand the test of time can require some selling when the book editions are so dated.

Marie wrote: "One I haven’t seen mentioned is 21 Balloons (1947). I taught it 20 years ago and my GATE kids then liked it. My own kids thought it was fun as well. The storyline is reminiscent of Fitzgerald’s “A ..."

Caddie Woodlawn is definitely less problematic with regard to its portrayal of Native Americans than the Little House series. But there is still too much paternalism and condescension present.

I loved The Twenty-One Balloons when I was a kid, but as an adult I discovered that the fun parts take up a minority of the pages, and that there's a lot of tedium, too.

But it's great to see that children are still enjoying it; thanks Marie!

Cheryl wrote: "I loved The Twenty-One Balloons when I was a kid, but as an adult I discovered that the fun parts take up a minority of the pages, and that there's a lot of tedium, too.

But it's gre..."

I never experienced this novel as a child and when I recently tried to read The Twenty-One Balloons for the first time, I found the narrative rather boring and flat.

I found a Listopia - feel free to go vote for your favorites as "Most Deserving": /list/show/5...

A piece on Slate.com discusses the issues with older Newbery winners and what to do with them.

QNPoohBear wrote: "A piece on Slate.com discusses the issues with older Newbery winners and what to do with them.

"

I personally think that ALL Newbery books, both winners and honour books should either be in current print or at the very least easily and cheaply available as print on demands, not necessarily for child readers but definitely for those individuals who are reading classic children’s literature for research purposes, as it is pretty outrageous how expensive (and often even unavailable) the older Newbery books tend to often be.

And I also think that just because many of the older Newbery books are dated and show themes and contents that are majorly politically incorrect with regard to gender issues, how minorities are portrayed etc., this in my opinion should not mean just getting rid of them, as they also provide important historical and cultural lessons and important platforms for discussion.

I grew up on all those old books - I read them on my own and still turned out just fine. Children can read them and learn from them. They're smart enough to know when something isn't fair/right and hellicopter parents should just leave them alone and stop pushing one agenda or the other. I'm not a fan of the modern issue novel myself and haven't read any of the recent winners. I'm not a fan of cancelling or censoring older works if they don't hold up to modern values. A well-written, entertaining tale vs. a story adults think kids should want to read is a different story all together. Some of these old books just won't appeal to today's readers immersed in the glitz and glam of mass media. I also don't think every book has to tackle every issue.

I didn't like Prairie Lotus because it was over corrected and the author misunderstood Caroline Ingalls's issues with the Indians and assumed that Ma wouldn't let Laura play with her because of Linda Sue's slightly darker skin and almond shaped eyes. I get that it hurt her and she internalized it personally and those feelings are valid but don't go in the opposite direction. Be true to history.

QNPoohBear wrote: "I grew up on all those old books - I read them on my own and still turned out just fine. Children can read them and learn from them. They're smart enough to know when something isn't fair/right and..."

I think those of us who grew up reading the classics, the older and dated books with no censure had a much more balanced education than today’s children with both the right and the left barking like rabid dogs to get books banned and removed.

There are classics, and there are duds. There are those that are worth reading along with critical commentary (like the edition of Island of the Blue Dolphin mentioned in the article) and there are books that nobody ever reads.

The Newbery is just one award, and the books chosen are chosen by one small group of people. If a book is worthy--if it is interesting, illuminating, a real classic--it will be judged so by generations of teachers, parents, and children.

If it doesn't appeal, there's no need to keep it in community libraries. Keep these old ones in the archives of universities, and make pdf files of them as soon as they are eligible, and that's good enough.

The Newbery badge doesn't create a sacred text.
If it did, would not we-all be reading and discussing every book every month?

This month's Dragonwings is a keeper!

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "There are classics, and there are duds. There are those that are worth reading along with critical commentary (like the edition of Island of the Blue Dolphin mentioned in the article) and there are..."

As long as the older books are available free of charge for anyone wanting to read and make use of them academically, and not just enrolled students at the universities in question! It is ridiculous that independent scholars often have no rights whatsoever with regard to being able access the university library books, archives etc. they might need (as ILL is also often limited to students, instructors and professors). And this is one of the main reasons why I would also like to see ALL of the Newbery books available as print on demands and at a reasonable price, either as e-books or as paper copies.

Many large public libraries have special collections. They archives the books that have been weeded from the circulating collection. The subscription library I belong to has a section of vintage children's books-NOT in the children's room but up on one of the balcony levels tucked away among non-fiction books. Children under 12 aren't allowed up there. They also have a rare books room containing a collection of old juveniles. I'm sure the children's library still has the Newbury winners for checking out too.

The National Review has a rebuttal to the Slate piece.

QNPoohBear wrote: "The National Review has a rebuttal to the Slate piece.
"

Great rebuttal!

Beverly wrote: "QNPoohBear wrote: "The National Review has a rebuttal to the Slate piece.
"

Great rebuttal!"

Agreed. The final paragraph is profound. "No, not every book on the Newbery list will stand the test of time. But those that do will have done so because they speak truth in powerful, well-crafted ways that make us think and inspire us to strive for higher things."

I get so annoyed how some “academics�� want to throw the baby out with the proverbial bath water with regard to older children’s novels and how they often will assume if you actually enjoy reading older and more dated children’s literature that you automatically must agree with dated contents (and that if you have children, you are raising your children to also agree with dated contents).

QNPoohBear wrote: "The National Review has a rebuttal to the Slate piece.
"

The NR article says that the Slate article is "Filled with further overstatements and confused reasoning" which is exactly how I would describe the NR article. I thought the Slate article was much more nuanced about how some books are outright racist (Daniel Boone) while other books maybe need more context (Blue Dolphins) and still others have more of a problem with omission (Johnny Tremain).

Here's a sentence from the conclusion of the Slate article that is more balanced than anything in the National Review rebuttal: "With a century’s worth of winners, the gold-medal bookshelf is beginning to sag. Some number of the first century’s medalists will necessarily be dislodged from their spots, clearing the way for recent titles that better reflect the concerns, experiences, and preferences of today’s youth."

I think it should be easy to understand why some of the early winners should be sent to the stacks in order to make room for newer books on the endcap displays in the children's department. The NR article acts as if the Slate author wants to burn everything that was written before 2008, which is just straw man silliness.

And this excerpt from the NR article is why I thought it was a great rebuttal:

First, anyone who has even skimmed through the Newbery list would see that over 30 of the books feature non-white protagonists, five of them deal with medieval times, over 30 of them are not set in the U.S., and nearly 40 have female protagonists. Second, the Newbery’s mission is not to think about “children as future leaders.�� It is:

To encourage original creative work in the field of books for children. To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children’s reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field.

Future leaders need formation in the virtues, to learn to treat each and every person with dignity, to master their will, and to grow in courage. Writers exercising their creativity need to recognize that this is not accomplished by shoving agendas at children.

The Slate article goes on to say that the canon needs to change because childhood has changed, that a 50-year-old book has nothing to teach us. There are disastrous consequences with this view, which requires us to jettison history that we dislike and to ignore any and all wisdom of past ages. Not everything that is old is good, but we are very quick to scoff at tradition today, thinking it has no value and no place in our lives. Furthermore, having different life experiences doesn’t mean that themes of childhood, of being human, aren’t universal. Pretty much every girl will tell you that being 13 is tough.

Filled with further overstatements and confused reasoning, the piece is an over-academized mishmash of axioms and fancy phrases meant to perplex and silence readers. No, not every book on the Newbery list will stand the test of time. But those that do will have done so because they speak truth in powerful, well-crafted ways that make us think and inspire us to strive for higher things.

The idea that the past should no longer be read by today’s children is both ludicrous and really dangerous. And you know, it is that kind of mollycoddling attitude that is also in my opinion partially to blame for books like Maus being banned, the idea that children should not be confronted by horrors like the Holocaust or slavery (and sadly, I guess I am kind of expecting books on Native American/Canadian Residential Schools to also end up on the chopping block so to speak.

Well let's not forget the actual wording of the criteria, especially: "awarded ... to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Both articles seem to have their own idea of what "distinguished" means. And of course every year the members of the committee have their own definitions... and who knows if they reach a consensus definition of that word before actually examining the books themselves.

Although I'd have to think & discuss to arrive at a definition of "distinguished" I wouldn't say anything about 'future leaders' in it. For example.

Anyone interested in this topic might be interested in a new ALA course

Monday, 10/3/2022
What does it mean when we recommend Newbery Award winners to the children in our communities? Should the ALA seal of approval stand for 100 years? Why is that gold medal often considered the “kiss of death�� by kids? How can we help parents and teachers understand what the Newbery Medal is �� and isn’t? This 6-week online course will give participants a solid grounding in the history of the Medal and how it’s changed over time; an opportunity to read, discuss and consider past and present Newbery winners with their colleagues from across the nation; a chance to talk to former Newbery Committee members and a Newbery author, and suggestions for programming using Newbery-winning books.

Learn about the history, terms, and definitions of the Newbery Medal.
Participate in book discussions.
Look at the evolving nature in children's literature and its impact on the Newbery selection process
Become familiar with how the medal impacts librarians, authors, publishers and children
Develop skills in holding mock Newbery discussions with children and other programming ideas

This is a six-week Moodle course run asynchronously, meaning you will never need to login to a class on a certain date/time. This course will begin the week of October 3, 2022.

A similar course reevaluated The Slave Dancer and Sounder

Oh, neat, I'm glad they're doing this. Thank you for the information!