—Russell Freedman,
winner of the 1988 Newbery Medal for Lincoln: A Photobiography

The post Russell Freedman’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

—Sharon Creech,
winner of the 1995 Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons

The post Sharon Creech’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

That’s a hard one. I know the leading candidates—The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, A Wrinkle in Time, The High King, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. All books I loved as a child, and read, and re-read. I think it has to be A Wrinkle in Time (1963), because it did weird things to the inside of my head. I do not think I saw the universe in the same way after reading it.

—Neil Gaiman,
winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal for The Graveyard Book

The post Neil Gaiman’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

The Horn Book Magazine

Over the next few weeks, we’re putting readers to the test with a Medalist matching game. For each author or illustrator, you’ll be given three possible titles. Click on the correct one and you’ll see that person’s writing about his or her fave; click on the other choices for surprises from The Horn Book.

We kick things off with 2009 Newbery Medalist and Boston Globe–Horn Book Award honoree Neil Gaiman.

To see all game entries, click on the tag matching game. Also check out the July/August 2012 Horn Book Magazine for all the answers, along with the 2012 Newbery, Caldecott, and Coretta Scott King Award speeches, The Horn Book‘s Mind the Gap Awards (books that didn‘t win), and much more!

The post Put on your thinking caps! A Medalist matching game appeared first on The Horn Book.

Reason: My parents read me the Doctor Dolittle books when I was five. To me they were not stories as much as dispatches from a world I craved: a world of wanderlust, talking animals, and subversive kindness (because let’s face it—the Doctor is both a sweetheart and an anarchist).

—Laura Amy Schlitz,
winner of the 2008 Newbery Medal for
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

The post Laura Amy Schlitz’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

I, Juan de Pareja

—Linda Sue Park,
winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal for A Single Shard

The post Linda Sue Park’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

Smoky, the Cowhorse

—Robin McKinley,
winner of the 1985 Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown

The post Robin McKinley’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

—Lois Lowry,
winner of the Newbery Medal in 1990 for Number the Stars
and in 1994 for The Giver

The post Lois Lowry’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

—Susan Cooper,
winner of the 1976 Newbery Medal for The Grey King

The post Susan Cooper’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.

Illustration by Devon Johnson

My favorite Newbery is IslandoftheBlueDolphinsTheWitchofBlackbirdPondOutoftheDustASingleShardSarahPlainand TallMissingMayKiraKiraWalkTwoMoonsAWrinkleinTime. I love this work for its deft, graceful use of language and insight into the human heart, and for its extraordinarily fine storytelling.

—Susan Patron,
winner of the Newbery Medal in 2007 for The Higher Power of Lucky

The post Susan Patron’s Favorite Newbery appeared first on The Horn Book.