Literary award · United States · since 1922

Newbery Medal

Annual award for writing a children's book published in the United States. Established 1922.

About Newbery Medal

The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are often recognized and popular to the point of being widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are often interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations have been written on winning works. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G.

From the Wikipedia article “Newbery Medal”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2025Erin Entrada Kelly—
2024The Eyes and the Impossible—
2024Dave Eggers—
2023Freewater—
2023Amina Luqman-Dawson—
2022Donna Barba HigueraThe Last Cuentista
2021Tae KellerWhen You Trap a Tiger
2019Meg MedinaMerci Suárez Changes Gears
2018Erin Entrada KellyNone

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Newbery Medal for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data