Books

The Newbery Medal winners: the best American children's books since 1922

The John Newbery Medal has celebrated the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children since 1922. Named after 18th century British bookseller John Newbery, the Newbery Medal, or just Newbery, was proposed by the editor of Publisher's Weekly magazine, Frederic G. Melcher, in 1921. The medal's purpose 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."

The Newbery Medal was the world's first children's book award, and it continues to be awarded annually. Notable past winners include The Giver by Lois Lowry (1994), A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (1963), and The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (1923). Numerous winning books are now collectible.

The 2024 winner is Dave Eggers for his middle grade novel, The Eyes and the Impossible. The novel follows Johannes, a free dog in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes - to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park's elders, three ancient Bison. But changes are afoot. The Eyes and the Impossible is a story of friendship, beauty, liberation, and running very, very fast.

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Shop for every Newbery winner since 1922

By Amina Luqman-Dawson
2023
By Donna Barba Higuera
2022
By Tae Keller
2021
By Jerry Craft
2020
By Erin Entrada Kelly
2018
By Kelly Barnhill
2017
By Matt de la Peña
2016
By Kwame Alexander
2015
By Katherine Applegate
2013
By Jack Gantos
2012
By Clare Vanderpool
2011
By Rebecca Stead
2010
By Neil Gaiman
2009
By Susan Patron
2007
By Lynne Rae Perkins
2006
By Cynthia Kadohata
2005
By Kate DiCamillo
2004
By Linda Sue Park
2002
By Richard Peck
2001
By Christopher Paul Curtis
2000
By Louis Sachar
1999
By Karen Hesse
1998
By E. L. Konigsburg
1997
By Karen Cushman
1996
By Sharon Creech
1995
By Lois Lowry
1994
By Cynthia Rylant
1993
By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1992
By Jerry Spinelli
1991
By Lois Lowry
1990
By Russell Freedman
1988
By Sid Fleischman
1987
By Patricia MacLachlan
1986
By Robin McKinley
1985
By Beverly Cleary
1984
By Cynthia Voigt
1983
By Katherine Paterson
1981
By Ellen Raskin
1979
By Katherine Paterson
1978
By Mildred Taylor
1977
By Susan Cooper
1976
By Virginia Hamilton
1975
By Paula Fox
1974
By Jean Craighead George
1973
By Robert C. O'Brien
1972
By Betsy Byars
1971
By William H. Armstrong
1970
By Lloyd Alexander
1969
By Irene Hunt
1967
By Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
1966
By Maia Wojciechowska
1965
By Emily Cheney Neville
1964
By Madeleine L'Engle
1963
By Elizabeth George Speare
1962
By Joseph Krumgold
1960
By Elizabeth George Speare
1959
By Harold Keith
1958
By Virginia Sorensen
1957
By Jean Lee Latham
1956
By Meindert DeJong
1955
By Joseph Krumgold
1954
By Ann Nolan Clark
1953
By Eleanor Estes
1952
By Elizabeth Yates
1951
By Marguerite de Angeli
1950
By Marguerite Henry
1949
By William Pène du Bois
1948
By Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
1947
By Lois Lenski
1946
By Robert Lawson
1945
By Esther Forbes
1944
By Elizabeth Janet Gray
1943
By Walter D. Edmonds
1942
By Armstrong Sperry
1941
By James Daugherty
1940
By Elizabeth Enright
1939
By Kate Seredy
1938
By Ruth Sawyer
1937
By Carol Ryrie Brink
1936
By Monica Shannon
1935
By Cornelia Meigs
1934
By Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
1933
By Laura Adams Armer
1932
By Elizabeth Coatsworth
1931
By Eric P. Kelly
1929
By Dhan Gopal Mukerji
1928
By Will James
1927
By Arthur Bowie Chrisman
1926
By Charles Finger
1925
By Charles Boardman Hawes
1924
By Hendrik Willem van Loon
1922
Newbery books have been read by multiple generations in many languages around the world. Some are not only cherished stories, but valuable collectibles too. Explore our collection of beautiful first edition Newbery Medal winners and Honors books.