Friday, July 15, 2011

Storyteller's Journey

The Newbery Medal Award is something that is mentioned frequently in my themed post - Bibliophile's Corner - on Mondays. Those writer types, who view my blog, are quite aware of the significance of the award. However, for my family and friends who may not be familiar with it, I feel a brief description of it might be helpful.

The John Newbery Medal is awarded each year to the author making the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children from the previous year. This award is given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It is named for John Newbery, an 18th century English publisher of juvenile books. Besides the Newbery Medal, additional citations are given to worthy runners-up, referred to as a Newbery Honor. I have found that without exception, the books I've read that have received the "Newbery Nod" have been stories of the highest quality. (Excerpts taken from Wikipedia.)