The Newbery Medal

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

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The Newbery Medal is the oldest children’s book award in the world. It has been given each year since 1922 by the American Library Association (ALA) to the writer of the book chosen as “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year” (“Terms and Criteria”). Besides weighing each contender’s appropriateness for its audience and its contribution to American literature, the selection committee is to consider “Interpretation of the theme or concept; presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization; development of a plot; delineation of characters; delineation of a setting; [and] appropriateness of style” (“Terms and Criteria”). The…

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Citation: Burke, Richard C. . "The Newbery Medal". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 June 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=17631, accessed 19 March 2024.]

17631 The Newbery Medal 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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