The Newberry Medal

This morning, carrying on an 87 year tradition, the winner of the Newberry Medal for the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children was announced.

I woke my kids up early and we watched a live web cast announcing the winner from the midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, this year in Denver. I am grooming them to be nerds. Ten other awards for children’s literature were also announced, including The Geisel Award, and Wilder Medal. But the Newberry, perhaps because it was the first children’s book award ever, remains the Gold Standard.

And the winner is… The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

How did the Newberry originate and where does the name come from?

In 1921, at the American Library Association convention, Fredric Melcher, promoter of children’s literature, book seller, publisher, editor, and the man who helped create Children’s Book Week, proposed a new idea. His idea, to create an annual award to recognize excellence in children’s literature and name the award after John Newberry was immediately accepted.

Naming the award after John Newberry is the equivalent of recognizing the year's
most significant contribution to the chocolate industry by awarding the Milton Hershey Medal. Although John Newberry had been dead 154 years before an award was named after him, he is to many, the father of children’s literature.

John Newberry was born in 1713, in England, the son of a farmer. He is credited with being the first person to publish books specifically for children’s entertainment, creating an entirely new market. Newberry had very little formal education. At 16, he became an apprentice to William Carnan, helping to produce and print his Newspaper. Eight years later, when Carnan died, John Newberry inherited half of the newspaper (the other half went to his brother) and married his widow. That would for sure make the cover of People had it been around in the 18th century.

Now, I can’t wait to go get into bed and start reading The Graveyard Book. I’ll let you know my humble opinion (and my kids' not so humble opinions) soon.

Presidential Info and Dough

With perhaps the most historic Presidential Inauguration upon us, there is no better time to get The Presidential Dollars Coin Collecting Kit and Book from Scholastic. This handy collecting kit has space for each presidential dollar coin that has been and will be released in the coming years as well as a 64 page color book detailing each president. The easy to read and colorful format includes a “Life in Brief” and “Did You Know?” section. For example, did you know that during Woodrow Wilson’s term during World War I, there was a shortage of workers to care for the White House Lawn? Wilson arranged to have sheep graze on the lawn to keep it trimmed and in turn donated their wool to the Red Cross to help make soldiers uniforms. In addition, each president’s page has a list of quick facts such as the birth date, birthplace, vice president, and first lady. The first four coins were released in 2007 – Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison. This year, look for Presidents Harrison, Tyler, Polk, and Taylor.