Newbery Award & Honor Books

The Newbery award is different than the Caldecott award. The Caldecott award honors an illustrator's work. According to Essentials of Children's Literature (2005), the Newbery award is given to, "The most distinguished contribution to children's literature published in the previous year." Like the Caldecott award, the Newbery is also given to an American author.

2001 Winner:

A Year Down Yonder

By: Richard Peck

This is a delightful tale of a young lady named Mary Alice who finds herself living with and learning from her Grandma Dowdel, even though she dreaded the thought of having to live with her. The story takes places in the early 1900's in the time of the recession. Mary Alice is sent to live with her Grandma because her family is going through a difficult time financially. Although, Grandma is feared by most of the town, Mary Alice soon finds that her hard exterior doesn't reveal the true Grandma inside of her. What should have been a terrible year turns into a roller coaster ride of adventures for Mary Alice. From fox hunting to catching mischievous trick-or-treaters, this story never stops. Grandma surprised Mary Alice and me too. She is a loving, charitable person with a hard outer appearance. I fell in love with her along with Mary Alice.

If you are in the mood for a heartwarming tale that will keep you intrigued from beginning to end, this is the book for you. The book reminds me of my own adventures with my Mamaw. Of course, we all have times when we are embarrassed by our relatives. However, it is always exciting to see what new things they can teach us. My Mamaw sprinkled my childhood with lessons on how to cross stitch, how to make juice for a ham, and how to dye a fabulous Easter egg. Although, she wasn't nearly as feared as Grandma Dowdel, or trigger happy for that matter, she was still full of delightful surprises. I learned as much from her as Mary Alice did from Grandma Dowdel.

This book stands out among other books. Although it is not a lengthy book, it is complete from beginning to end. At no point during the story did it lose steam or fall short of my expectations. This is a true to the country style book, it reminds me of books such as Little House on the Prairie by: Laura Ingalls Wilder and Sarah, Plain and Tall by: Patricia MacLachlan.

From this book I learned that children's literature can be full of life lessons. This book helped me to recognize the importance of family relationships and relationships in general. Overall, this book helped support the phrase, "It's what's on the inside that counts."