In 1922, the Children’s Librarians’ Section of the American Library Association created an award named for an eighteenth-century English bookseller, with the purpose of encouraging original creative work in books for children. It was the first, and is still the foremost, award of its kind.

Now overseen by ALA’s Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), the Newbery Award and Newbery Honor seals are sure signs of excellence in writing by an American author. From the first – The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon – to the most recent – When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller – the Newbery awards represent both the hard work and passion of the committee members who read hundreds of books to whittle the field down to a handful, and the distinctive connection between an author and their readers as they explore worlds both real and imagined, together.

On January 24, 2022, the current Newbery committee will announce their choices for the Newbery Medal and Honor books of 2021. Join us for the next few weeks as we discuss some of our favorite books of 2021, maybe throw in your own comments and suggestions, and then we can meet virtually for one last celebration of the year’s best books – let’s see if we can predict what the next Newbery winner will be!

Possible Newbery Contenders:

From November 22 to January 17, we will publish a new blog post every Monday that will talk about a book that the Hudson children’s librarians think has a chance at winning. Titles include:

Nov 22 – Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz

Nov 29 – The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

Dec 6 – The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm

Dec 13 – Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt

Dec 20 – Kaleidoscope by David Selznick

Dec 27 – Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Jan 3 – The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

Jan 10 – Starfish by Lisa Fipps

Jan 17 – Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff

Newbery Bingo Challenge:

Help us celebrate 100 years of Newbery Medal winners by competing in our bingo challenge! Download and print off your bingo board and try to read as many of these Newbery Award winning books as you can before January 24, 2022. You can download a copy of our Newbery Bingo Board here:

More Important Dates:

January 21: Hudson Library’s Mock Newbery virtual discussion. Details forthcoming.

January 24: ALA announces the winner of the Newbery, Caldecott, Sibert, Martin Luther King, Pura Belpre, and many more annual awards for children’s books.

February – December 2022: Watch for special events, challenges, and opportunities to celebrate the Newbery with your Hudson Library Youth Services librarians!