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reading Newbury award books - in order?


Noreen Claire
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Has anyone ever started reading the Newbery Award winning books to their kids at the first book (from 1922) and then reading one each month until finished the entire list?

 

I'm thinking that it is possible to finish the entire list before DS8 finishes 10th grade, and then read them all again before the baby finishes high school...

 

Any cons to this plan? FWIW, I would use the rest of our read aloud time on shorter books, other classics, whatever the kids fancy, and picture books while the kids are small...

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I have a dad friend who did this but read them himself to familiarize himself with the books and choose the best ones for the kids as they grew. He read them in order to himself as a way to keep track and because that's the kind of orderly person he is. I don't think he read them to the kids in order as he has three with very different interests.

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If you do this, you'll be mostly reading books written by temporarily able-bodied white Protestants, about temporarily able-bodied white Protestants - with a heavily racist slant in the earlier books.

 

There's a host of awards out there for children's literature, highlighting books from different groups. And those books are just as good as Newbery winners. I think rotating through awards will get you a more diverse selection. I wouldn't limit myself to the Newbery.

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No, I wouldn't limit myself to reading Newburys, much less in order/out of order. But that's because IMO:

- Not all of the Newbury books are that great.

- The list is missing a TON of great high-quality books.

- Many of the Newbury books are more appropriate for teens than for late elementary ages, and a few are more appropriate/of interest for young elementary ages.

Edited by Lori D.
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If you do this, you'll be mostly reading books written by temporarily able-bodied white Protestants, about temporarily able-bodied white Protestants - with a heavily racist slant in the earlier books.

 

There's a host of awards out there for children's literature, highlighting books from different groups. And those books are just as good as Newbery winners. I think rotating through awards will get you a more diverse selection. I wouldn't limit myself to the Newbery.

 

Off the top of my head, I'm only familiar with Newbery books. Could you point me in the direction of other book awards? (Off to google...)

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Off the top of my head, I'm only familiar with Newbery books. Could you point me in the direction of other book awards? (Off to google...)

Yes, please.  I would love to incorporate more racially diverse books as well as great ones from other countries.

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The Schneider Family Award "...honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences."

 

http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/schneider-family-book-award

 

The Coretta Scott King Awards "...are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values."

 

http://www.ala.org/emiert/cskbookawards

 

You can visit the American Library Association web site to learn more about the lesser known book awards. 

 

http://www.ala.org/

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Sure. Just off the top of my head:

 

The Schneider Family Award (disability)

 

The Coretta Scott King Award (African-American)

 

The Batchelder Award (translated)

 

The Belpre Medal (Latin@)

 

The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (self-explanatory)

 

The Sidney Taylor Book Award (Jewish, but not necessarily religious in tone)

 

American Indian Youth Literature Award (also self-explanatory)

 

The Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award (LGBT)

 

The Lambda Literary Award (Ditto, but you have to dig to find their YA and kid's selections)

 

Not all these awards are equally well-known or prestigious - and for some of them, they're working in such a small field that there simply isn't much to choose from from year to year.

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Sure. Just off the top of my head:

 

The Schneider Family Award (disability)

 

The Coretta Scott King Award (African-American)

 

The Batchelder Award (translated)

 

The Belpre Medal (Latin@)

 

The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (self-explanatory)

 

The Sidney Taylor Book Award (Jewish, but not necessarily religious in tone)

 

American Indian Youth Literature Award (also self-explanatory)

 

The Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award (LGBT)

 

The Lambda Literary Award (Ditto, but you have to dig to find their YA and kid's selections)

 

Not all these awards are equally well-known or prestigious - and for some of them, they're working in such a small field that there simply isn't much to choose from from year to year.

Thank you. I really appreciate how you have improved the reading threads over the years by helping me find more diverse books.
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I haven't read all of the Newbery Medal winners, but I've read most -- maybe 2/3 -- over the years. You may find that you love many of them, but I agree that there are so many wonderful books to choose from that you could broaden your selection criteria.

 

One point that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that some of the books are part of a series, but are not the first book in the series, so it doesn't really make sense to read them without reading the others in the series as well.

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Even aside from the diversity issues (which I agree - mix it up), and the quality issues (again, I agree - not all Newbery winners are created equal)... there's also the issue that some years they gave it to Frog and Toad are Friends or Last Stop on Market Street... and some years they gave it to Dicey's Song or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Call. There's a huge gulf in between the "perfect" age to read those books and honestly, some of them aren't super appropriate for younger listeners/readers just because of heavy themes or difficult language.

 

ETA: Honestly, if you *did* arrange them loosely by age appropriateness/age interest level (and left some out and also read other books), that would mix them up a bit in a potentially positive way and you could still read through much of the winners list. The Newbery is not the be all end all and shouldn't be treated that way... but most of the books are also decent and it's an okay starting point to add more to, if that makes sense.

Edited by Farrar
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http://sixboxesofbooks.blogspot.com/2008/ has a good overview from someone who did this (though just reading them herself). Obviously, doesn't include any from the past decade (I'm getting old!).

 

(Had a bit of a time tracking it down because I couldn't remember how many boxes of books there were. I was thinking forty.)

Edited by ocelotmom
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What's wrong with Frog and Toad?  <3

 

Oh, you misunderstand. I love both Frog and Toad and Last Stop on Market Street. But they're both books for younger children, while my other examples are books for middle schoolers. And while 12 or 13 yos can enjoy the younger kid books that are of that caliber, it's unlikely that Roll of Thunder is a good read aloud choice for a 6 yo.

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