The Newbery's were just announced.
I haven't ready any of the winners yet, but I have read Newbery winners from other years.
It has to be a book published in America and when deciding on the book's degree of excellence, the committee takes into consideration the interpretation of the theme or concept, the handling of characters and setting, how the plot is developed, overall presentation and organization and style.
In other words, what are you trying to get kids to think about? Make sure the characters are distinct and have reasons they do what they do and make your setting shine. Have a good plot and make sure your story is accurate, easy to understand and organized. And tell the story in the way a kid would understand it and want to read it.
I have been to the library checking out past winners. I told the librarian today that I wished they put the Newbery winners in a separate section so they would be easier to find. She said they did that before but the children wouldn't check them out, so they mixed them in with the other books.
I also read a review on Amazon of a winner and the reviewer said their child didn't want to read a Newbery winner because they were boring. One of my neighbors, who is a teacher, said she didn't particularly like the winners either.
So what does all this mean?
The last one I read, Dead End in Norvelt, I didn't like either. I felt it started out very slow, went into too much detail in a lot of places and I didn't like the way it ended . . . it was too abrupt of an ending. I also didn't like the father in the book, he seemed to care only about himself and wasn't a very good role model for his son.
Some of my favorite winners are Sarah, Plain and Tall, Because of Winn-Dixie, A Year Down Yonder, Holes and A Long Way from Chicago.
You can click here to see a list of winners from past years.
What do you think of Newbery winners?
What are your favorite ones?
Posted by Janet F. Smart on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.
