The John Newbery Medal The Newbery Medal was first offered in 1921 by Fredric G. Melcher as an incentive for better quality in children's books. Named after John Newbery, the famous 18th-century publisher and seller of children's books, it is now donated annually by the Melcher family and awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. It is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published during the preceding year. 2006 Criss Cross, Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins) 2005 Kira-Kira, Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/S&S) 2004 The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick) 2003 Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Avi (Hyperion Books for Children) 2002 A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin) 2001 A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck (Dial Books for Young Readers) 2000 Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte Press) 1999 Holes, Louis Sachar (Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 1998 Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse (Scholastic) 1997 The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg (Jean Karl/Atheneum) 1996 The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman (Clarion) 1995 Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech (HarperCollins) 1994 The Giver, Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin) 1993 Missing May, Cynthia Rylant (Jackson/Orchard) 1992 Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Atheneum) 1991 Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli (Little, Brown & Co.) 1990 Number the Stars, Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin) 1989 Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, Paul Fleischman (Harper & Row Junior Books) 1988 Lincoln: A Photobiography, Russell Freedman (Houghton Mifflin) 1987 The Whipping Boy, Sid Fleischman (Greenwillow Books) 1986 Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan (Harper & Row Junior Books) 1985 The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley (Greenwillow Books) 1984 Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary (William Morrow & Co.) 1983 Dicey's Song, Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum/Macmillan) 1982 A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, Nancy Willard (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) 1981 Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1980 A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32, Joan W. Blos (Scribner/Macmillan) 1979 The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin (E.P. Dutton) 1978 Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1977 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor (Dial Books for Young Readers) 1976 The Grey King, Susan Cooper (McElderry/Macmillan) 1975 M.C. Higgins the Great, Virginia Hamilton (Macmillan) 1974 The Slave Dancer, Paula Fox (Bradbury Press) 1973 Julie of the Wolves, Jean C. George (Trophy/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1972 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien (Atheneum/Macmillan) 1971 Summer of the Swans, Betsy C. Byars (Viking Penguin) 1970 Sounder, William Armstrong (Harper & Row) 1969 The High King, Lloyd Alexander (Henry Holt & Co.) 1968 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg (Atheneum/Macmillan) 1967 Up a Road Slowly, Irene Hunt (Berkley) 1966 I, Juan de Pareja, Elizabeth B. de Trevi�o (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 1965 Shadow of a Bull, Maia Wojciechowska (Atheneum/Macmillan) 1964 It's Like This, Cat, Emily C. Neville (Harper & Row Junior Books) 1963 A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 1962 The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth G. Speare (Houghton Mifflin) 1961 Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell (Houghton Mifflin) 1960 Onion John, Joseph Krumgold (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1959 The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth G. Speare (Houghton Mifflin) 1958 Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1957 Miracles on Maple Hill, Virginia Sorensen (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) 1956 Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean L. Latham (Houghton Mifflin) 1955 The Wheel on the School, Meindert De Jong (Trophy/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1954 And Now Miguel, Joseph Krumgold (Crowell/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1953 Secret of the Andes, Ann N. Clark (Viking Penguin) 1952 Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) 1951 Amos Fortune, Free Man, Elizabeth Yates (E.P. Dutton) 1950 The Door in the Wall: Story of Medieval London, Marguerite de Angeli (Doubleday) 1949 King of the Wind, Marguerite Henry (Checkerboard/Macmillan) 1948 The Twenty-One Balloons, William Pene du Bois (Viking Penguin) 1947 Miss Hickory, Carolyn S. Bailey (Viking Penguin) 1946 Strawberry Girl, Lois Lenski (Lippincott/Harper & Row Junior Books) 1945 Rabbit Hill, Robert Lawson (Viking Penguin) 1944 Johnny Tremain, Ester Forbes (Houghton Mifflin) 1943 Adam of the Road, Elizabeth J. Gray (Viking Penguin) 1942 The Matchlock Gun, Walter D. Edmonds (Putnam) 1941 Call It Courage, Armstrong Sperry (Macmillan) 1940 Daniel Boone, James Daugherty (Viking) 1939 Thimble Summer, Elizabeth Enright (Henry Holt & Co.) 1938 The White Stag, Kate Seredy (Viking Penguin) 1937 Roller Skates, Ruth Sawyer (Penguin) 1936 Caddie Woodlawn, Carol R. Brink (Aladdin/Macmillan) 1935 Dobry, Monica Shannon (Viking) 1934 Invincible Louisa, Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown & Co.) 1933 Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, Elizabeth F. Lewis (Henry Holt & Co.) 1932 Waterless Mountain, Laura A. Armer (Random/McKay) 1931 The Cat Who Went to Heaven, Elizabeth Coatsworth (Aladdin/Macmillan) 1930 Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Rachel Field (Macmillan) 1929 The Trumpeter of Krakow, Eric P. Kelly (Aladdin/Macmillan) 1928 Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon, Dhan G. Mukerji (E.P. Dutton) 1927 Smoky, the Cow Horse, Will James (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1926 Shen of the Sea, Arthur B. Chrisman (E.P. Dutton) 1925 Tales from Silver Lands, Charles J. Finger (Doubleday) 1924 The Dark Frigate, Charles B. Hawes (Little, Brown & Co.) 1923 The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, Hugh Lofting (Delacorte Press) 1922 The Story of Mankind, Hendrik W. Van Loon (Liveright) Topics: Awards,