Our Newbery Ranking

Several years ago, we made a (somewhat frivolous) goal of reading all the Newbery Medal books. For those who don't know what we're referencing, this is the Medal given annually by the American Library Association to the book considered to be the greatest contribution to the world of American children's literature. The reason we wanted to do this is that many of our favorite children's reads over the years have been Newbery winners, and in fact the medal has never steered us wrong.

It took us about 10 years, but on September 25, 2015, we read the final one ("The High King")  Here's the complete list.

A few facts first:

1. There is something called the Newbery Honor Book. Do not be confused. Though these books are also usually good, they are the runners up, and the collection is too long to be sidled with all these.

2. The collection started in 1922, so there's a lot of these.

3. Only 6 authors have won it twice: EL Konigsburg ("From the Mixed-up Files..." and "The View From Saturday"), Lois Lowry ("Number the Stars" and "The Giver"), Elizabeth George Speare ("The Witch of Blackbird Pond" and "The Bronze Bow"), Joseph Krumgold ("Onion John" and "...and Now Miguel"), Katherine Paterson ("Jacob Have I Loved" and "Bridge to Terebithia"), and most recently Kate DiCamillo ("Despereaux" and "Flora and Ulysses").

4. There is only one "R" in "Newbery".

5. A disclaimer: Eric and Rachel have read some different books (marked by their initials) and some books were read so long ago that they cannot be certain if they liked book x more than book y anyway. Also, Rachel doesn't like books about dogs, really. So don't take this list entirely to heart. We just like making lists.

From Most Favorite to Least Favorite:

1. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry - 1994*
2. "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle - 1963
3. "Holes" by Louis Sachar - 1999*
4. "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli - 1991
5. "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg - 1968*
6. "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Patterson - 1981
7. "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park - 2002*
8. "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert DeJong - 1955
9. "The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare - 1962*
10. "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman - 2009
11. "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien - 1972
12. "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead - 2010
13. "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera - 2022
14. "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool - 2011
15. "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill - 2017
16. "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech - 1995
17. "Secret of the Andes" by Ann Nolan Clark - 1953
18. "Crispin: Cross of Lead" by Avi - 2003*
19. "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin - 1979*
20. "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg - 1997
21. "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor - 1977
22. "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata - 2005 (E)
23. "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman - 1987
24. "The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle" by Hugh Lofting - 1923*
25. "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry - 1990*
26. "Crossover" by Kwame Alexander - 2015
27. "Sarah, Plain and Tall" by Patricia MacLachlan - 1986
28. "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare - 1959
29. "A Year Down Yonder" by Richard Peck - 2001
30. "Caddie Woodlawn" by Carol Ryrie Brink - 1936 (R)
31. "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham - 1956*
32. "Up a Road Slowly" by Irene Hunt - 1967 (R)
33. "I, Juan de Pareja" by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino - 1966 (E)
34. "The Hero and the Crown" by Robin McKinley - 1985 (R)
35. "The Tale of Despereaux" by Kate DiCamillo - 2004*
36. "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant - 1993*
37. "The High King" by Lloyd Alexander - 1969 (R)
38. "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voice From a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz - 2008
39. "When You Trap a Tiger" by Tae Keller - 2021
40. "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - 1992 (R)
41. "Rifles for Watie" by Harold Keith - 1958
42. "New Kid" by Jerry Craft - 2020
43. "Flora and Ulysses" by Kate DiCamillo - 2014
44. "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate - 2013
45. "Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze" by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis - 1933*
46. "Call It Courage" by Armstrong Sperry - 1941*
47. "Dicey's Song" by Cynthia Voight - 1983 (R)
48. "Bridge to Terebithia" by Katherine Paterson - 1978*
49. "Dobry" by Monica Shannon - 1935 (E)
50. "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman - 1996 (R)
51. "The Grey King" by Susan Cooper - 1976 (E)
52. "Adam of the Road" by Elizabeth Gray Vining - 1943
53. "Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon" by Dhan Gopal Mukerji - 1928 (E)
54. "Waterless Mountain" by Laura Adams Armer - 1932 (E)
55. "Shadow of a Bull" by Maia Wojciechowska - 1965
56. "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis - 2000 (R)
57. "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina - 2019
58. "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli - 1950
59. "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Cleary - 1984*
60. "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes - 1944 (E)
61. "The Twenty-One Balloons" by William Pene du Bois - 1948*
62. "Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices" by Paul Fleischman - 1989 (E)
63. "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Peña - 2016
64. "Onion John" by Joseph Krumgold - 1960 (R)
65. "The Trumpeter of Krakow" by Eric P. Kelly - 1929*
66. "It's Like This, Cat" by Emily Cheney Neville - 1964 (E)
67. "Ginger Pye" by Eleanor Estes - 1952*
68. "A Visit to William Blakes's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers" by Nancy Willard - 1982 (E)
69. "Shen of the Sea" by Arthur Bowie Chrisman - 1926 (E)
70. "The White Stag" by Kate Seredy - 1938
71. "Tales From Silver Lands" by Charles Finger - 1925 (E)
72. "...And Now Miguel" by Joseph Krumgold - 1954 (E)
73. "Thimble Summer" by Elizabeth Enright - 1939
74. "Rabbit Hill" by Robert Lawson - 1945 (E)
75. "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George -1973 (R)
76. "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell - 1961*
77. "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly - 2018
78. "Hitty, Her First Hundred Years" by Rachel Field - 1930 (R)
79. "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse - 1998 (E)
80. "The Cat Who Went To Heaven" by Elizabeth Coatsworth - 1931 (E)
81. "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos - 2012 (E)
82. "Criss Cross" by Lynn Rae Perkins - 2006 (R)
83. "The Higher Power of Lucky" by Susan Patron - 2007 (E)
84. "King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry - 1949 (R)
85. "Miss Hickory" by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey - 1947 (E)
86. "A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal" by Joan Blos - 1979 (R)
87. "Lincoln: A Photobiography" by Russell Freedman - 1988 (R)
88. "Roller Skates" by Ruth Sawyer - 1937 (R)
89. "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorenson - 1957 (R)
90. "Summer of the Swans" by Betsy Byars - 1971 (R)
91. "M.C. Higgins, the Great" by Virginia Hamilton - 1975 (R)
92. "Strawberry Girl" by Lois Lenski - 1946 (R)
93. "Amos Fortune, Free Man" by Elizabeth Yates - 1951
94. "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong - 1970 (R)
95. "Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women" by Cornelia Meigs - 1934 (R)
96. "The Slave Dancer" by Paula Fox - 1974*
97. "The Dark Frigate" by Charles Hawes - 1924 (R)
98. "The Matchlock Gun" by Walter D Edmonds - 1942
99. "Smoky the Cowhorse" by Will James - 1927 (E)
100. "The Story of Mankind" by Hendrik Willem van Loon - 1922 (E)
101. "Daniel Boone" by James Daugherty - 1940 (E)

*read aloud