What is the difference between a Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor?

One Medal is awarded each year. Honor books are the runners-up the committee also wants to recognize, and there may be several in a given year. Honor books are frequently as good as the winner — Charlotte's Web and Because of Winn-Dixie were Honor books, not Medal winners.

Newbery Award-Winning Books: A Parent & Teacher's Guide

Q: What is the Newbery Medal?

The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in the preceding year. First given in 1922, it is the oldest children's book award in the world. It honors writing, not illustration — illustration is recognized by the Caldecott Medal.

Q: What age are Newbery books for?

The award's terms define children as up to and including age 14, so the winners span picture books through books aimed at eighth graders. In practice most Newbery Medal winners land in the 8 to 12 range, but the spread is wide enough that the medal alone is not a reliable age guide — Last Stop on Market Street is a picture book and The Giver is routinely taught in middle school.

Q: Are Newbery books good for reluctant readers?

Some are excellent for reluctant readers and some are the opposite. New Kid is a graphic novel, The Crossover is written in verse and can be finished in an afternoon, and Holes has one of the tightest plots in middle grade. Others are quiet, character-driven, and slow to start, which is exactly the wrong prescription for a child who has decided reading is boring.

The gold Newbery sticker is the most recognizable mark in children's publishing, and it is also the most commonly misread. Parents pick a book off the shelf assuming the medal means “safe, appropriate, and about right for a nine-year-old.” It doesn't mean any of those things. It means a committee of librarians judged it the most distinguished piece of American writing for children published that year — which has produced picture books, verse novels, graphic novels, and books that open with a child being executed.

That's what makes the list valuable and why it needs a guide. Below is the complete run of Medal winners from 2010 through 2025, then the classics grouped by the age they actually suit, with honest notes on which ones will land and which ones need a conversation afterward.

What the award actually is: The John Newbery Medal has been given every year since 1922, making it the oldest children's book award in the world. It's administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, and named for John Newbery, the eighteenth-century English bookseller generally credited with inventing children's publishing as a business. The author must be a US citizen or resident. Crucially, the medal honors the writing, not the pictures — illustration is the Caldecott Medal's territory. Winners are announced each January.

Newbery Medal Winners, 2010–2025

2025The First State of Being — Dianne K. Salerni
2024The Eyes and the Impossible — Dave Eggers
2023Freewater — Amina Luqman-Dawson
2022The Last Cuentista — Donna Barba Higuera
2021When You Trap a Tiger — Tae Keller
2020New Kid — Jerry Craft
2019Merci Suárez Changes Gears — Meg Medina
2018Hello, Universe — Erin Entrada Kelly
2017The Girl Who Drank the Moon — Kelly Barnhill
2016Last Stop on Market Street — Matt de la Peña
2015The Crossover — Kwame Alexander
2014Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures — Kate DiCamillo
2013The One and Only Ivan — Katherine Applegate
2012Dead End in Norvelt — Jack Gantos
2011Moon Over Manifest — Clare Vanderpool
2010When You Reach Me — Rebecca Stead

A few things stand out in that stretch. New Kid was the first graphic novel ever to take the Medal, which was genuinely contentious at the time and has been quietly vindicated by how many reluctant readers it has converted since. Last Stop on Market Street was a picture book, aimed at four- to seven-year-olds, sitting on the same list as books taught in seventh grade. The Crossover is written entirely in verse and runs about 240 fast pages. The committee's willingness to reward unusual forms is the most useful thing to know about the modern Newbery.

The recent winners worth buying first

New Kid (ages 8–12) — Jordan Banks is a Black seventh grader from Washington Heights sent to an elite mostly-white private school. It's funny, it's a comic, and it handles casual racism with a lightness that lets kids see it clearly. This is the single best Newbery winner to hand a child who says they hate reading.

The Crossover (ages 9–13) — Twin brothers, basketball, and a father with a secret, told in verse that moves like the game it's about. Enormously effective with kids who find long paragraphs intimidating, and a favorite of teachers because it can be read aloud. Be aware that a parent dies; it hits hard.

The One and Only Ivan (ages 7–10) — A gorilla in a shopping-mall enclosure narrates in short, spare chapters. Based loosely on a real gorilla. It is one of the most reliable read-alouds on this entire list for second through fourth grade, though the death of an elephant will require a conversation.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon (ages 9–12) — Proper fairy-tale fantasy with a witch, a swamp monster, and a small dragon. The best pick here for a child who has finished Harry Potter and wants more of that feeling.

When You Reach Me (ages 10–13) — A time-travel mystery set in 1979 New York that is also, deliberately, a love letter to A Wrinkle in Time. Reading them back to back is one of the most satisfying pairings in middle-grade fiction.

The Classics, Organized by Age

The medal has been awarded for over a century, so “a Newbery book” covers everything from a talking-animal story for six-year-olds to a novel about slavery for thirteen-year-olds. Here's the sorting that matters.

Ages 6–9: Early chapter books and read-alouds

Sarah, Plain and Tall (1986) — Under 60 pages, a mail-order bride arriving at a prairie farm, told in prose so clean it's used in writing classes. The gentlest possible entry point to the medal and a superb first “real chapter book” read-aloud.

The Tale of Despereaux (2004) — A mouse with oversized ears, a princess, a rat, and soup. Short numbered chapters and a narrator who addresses the reader directly make it ideal for bedtime. Darker in the dungeon sections than the cover suggests.

Flora & Ulysses (2014) — A squirrel gets vacuumed up and acquires superpowers and the ability to write poetry. Illustrated with comic panels throughout, genuinely funny, and a good bridge from picture books to prose.

Ginger Pye (1952) — A stolen puppy and the children who track him down. Slower-paced than modern readers expect, but a lovely read-aloud if your household enjoys older prose.

Ages 8–12: The core middle-grade years

This is where the Newbery list is deepest, and where most of the books people remember live.

Holes (1999) — Stanley Yelnats is sent to a desert juvenile camp where boys dig holes all day. Three timelines that lock together with a click at the end. The most tightly plotted book on this list and close to universally successful with fourth through seventh graders, including reluctant ones.

A Wrinkle in Time (1963) — Meg Murry crosses the universe to rescue her father from a disembodied brain. Famously rejected by dozens of publishers for being too strange for children, which is precisely why it still works. Some kids bounce off the early chapters; it rewards pushing through.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968) — Two siblings run away to live inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art and solve an art mystery. Endlessly appealing to kids because the logistics of hiding in a museum are described in such loving detail.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1972) — A widowed mouse discovers a colony of rats made hyper-intelligent by laboratory experiments. Smarter and more melancholy than its talking-animal premise suggests, and a good bridge into science fiction.

The Westing Game (1979) — Sixteen heirs, a set of cryptic clues, and a will that turns an apartment building into a puzzle. The best mystery on the list, and a rare Newbery winner that kids reread purely to catch what they missed.

Number the Stars (1990) — A ten-year-old in occupied Denmark helps hide her Jewish best friend. Short, tense, and the standard classroom introduction to the Holocaust for this age — it conveys real danger without depicting atrocity.

Maniac Magee (1991) — A homeless orphan becomes a tall tale in a racially divided town. Written in a folk-legend register that some kids love immediately and others need a chapter to settle into.

Shiloh (1992) — A boy hides a beagle from its abusive owner and has to lie to everyone to do it. A genuinely good ethics discussion at a fourth-grade level. Animal cruelty is present but off-page.

Walk Two Moons (1995) — A road trip with grandparents wrapped around a story-within-a-story, building to a reveal that flattens most readers. Best for kids who are ready for a book to make them cry.

Bud, Not Buddy (2000) — A ten-year-old in Depression-era Michigan goes looking for the father he believes is a jazz bandleader. Funny, warm, and one of the best-voiced narrators in middle grade.

Island of the Blue Dolphins (1961) — A girl survives alone on an island off California for eighteen years, based on a true account. The definitive survival story for this age band.

Dear Mr. Henshaw (1984) — A boy processes his parents' divorce through letters to an author. Cleary at her most serious, and quietly one of the most useful books on this list for a child going through the same thing.

The Whipping Boy (1987) — A spoiled prince and the boy punished in his place run away together. Around 90 pages, fast, and consistently effective with third and fourth graders.

Ages 10–14: Older readers and classroom books

These are the heavier ones. Every book here is excellent; several will require a conversation afterward.

The Giver (1994) — A boy in a painless, choiceless society is made the keeper of the community's memories. The book that launched a generation of YA dystopia and still the best of them. Note for parents: there is a scene involving the killing of an infant that is described plainly and lands very hard. Most schools teach it around sixth or seventh grade for that reason.

Bridge to Terabithia (1978) — Two lonely kids invent a kingdom in the woods, and then one of them dies. Grief is the entire subject of the second half. It's an extraordinary book and it is not a surprise-free one — know what you're handing over.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1977) — A Black family holding onto their land in Depression-era Mississippi. Racial violence, including a lynching threat and a burning, is on the page, and racial slurs appear in dialogue. It is one of the most important novels ever written for this age and it belongs in a classroom or a household where it can be discussed.

The Graveyard Book (2009) — A toddler whose family is murdered is raised by the ghosts in a cemetery. It opens with a knife and a killer and then becomes surprisingly warm. Excellent for kids who like being scared.

Out of the Dust (1998) — Dust Bowl Oklahoma in free verse. A kerosene fire kills the narrator's pregnant mother, and the language is spare and unsparing. Short, devastating, and frequently taught alongside history units.

Julie of the Wolves (1973) — A young Inuk girl survives on the tundra by being adopted into a wolf pack. Superb nature writing. Note: a brief early scene depicts her much older husband attempting to force himself on her, which is the reason the book is regularly challenged — worth previewing.

Jacob Have I Loved (1981) — A twin's corrosive jealousy of her prettier, more gifted sister on a Chesapeake island. Emotionally sophisticated and best for readers twelve and up.

A Single Shard (2002) — An orphan in twelfth-century Korea apprentices himself to a master potter. Quiet, patient, and beautifully made — a good pick for a thoughtful reader who is tired of plot.

The Midwife's Apprentice (1996) — A homeless girl in medieval England finds a trade and a name. Short, gritty, and unsentimental about the period; includes childbirth described frankly.

Sounder (1970) — A sharecropper's family, a dog, and an arrest. Brutal and brief. Worth knowing that the book has been criticized over the years for leaving the Black family unnamed while the dog is named; that critique is itself a good discussion.

The Hero and the Crown (1985) — A king's disregarded daughter becomes a dragon-slayer. Real epic fantasy with a genuinely great heroine, and the right handoff for a reader who has aged out of middle-grade fantasy.

Older winners worth knowing about

The pre-1960 winners are a mixed bag, and honesty helps here: some are enduring, some are period pieces, and a few contain racial caricature that has aged extremely badly. Johnny Tremain (1944) remains a staple of Revolutionary War units. The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1959) is genuinely gripping historical fiction about Puritan Connecticut. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (1956) still converts kids who like ships and math. Caddie Woodlawn (1936) and The Door in the Wall (1950) hold up reasonably well.

Others, including the 1923 winner The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, contain material most families will not want to hand over unedited. The medal is a historical record as much as a recommendation list, and the early decades reflect their era.

How to actually use this list

Don't treat the sticker as an age rating. A gold Newbery seal tells you a book is well written. It tells you nothing about whether a parent dies in it. The age bands above are more useful than the medal.

Match the format to the reader, not the reading level. A child who resists reading will finish New Kid or The Crossover and stall on a quiet character study, regardless of what their measured level says. If you want to sort out what the numbers actually mean, we've written about reading levels and how to find a book's reading level.

Look at the Honor books too. Only one Medal is awarded each year; the Honor books are the runners-up, and they're often just as good. Charlotte's Web and Because of Winn-Dixie were both Honor books, never Medal winners.

Read the heavy ones alongside your kid. Bridge to Terabithia, The Giver, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry are all better experiences when there's someone to talk to at the end of the chapter. That's not a warning to avoid them — it's the reason to read them.

Newbery FAQ

What is the Newbery Medal?

An annual award from the Association for Library Service to Children, part of the American Library Association, for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published the previous year. First given in 1922 and the oldest children's book award in the world. It honors writing; the Caldecott honors illustration.

What age are Newbery books for?

The award defines children as up to and including age 14, so winners range from picture books to books taught in eighth grade. Most land in the 8–12 range, but the medal alone is not an age guide.

Are Newbery books good for reluctant readers?

Some are ideal — New Kid is a graphic novel, The Crossover is verse, Holes is relentlessly plotted. Others are quiet and slow-building, which is the wrong medicine for a resistant reader.

What's the difference between a Medal and an Honor?

One Medal per year; Honor books are runners-up the committee also wanted to recognize, and there can be several. Honor books are frequently as beloved as the winners.

Who was John Newbery?

An eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher, generally credited as the first person to treat books for children as a commercial category worth publishing deliberately.