Newbery Medal Winners, 1930-1939

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 5 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #653 in Arts , #13,241 overall

Newbery Winners From The Nineteen Thirties

During the 1930s, Newbery winners were mainly fiction, with a few fictionalized biographies and non-fiction titles. The quality of children's literature started to improve though it was nowhere near the high standards expected of writers today. Still, these are long-standing classics, and well worth reading for entertainment and educational reasons.

1939 Newbery Medal Winner 

Thimble Summer

Garnet, who is nine or ten, finds a thimble and believes it brings good luck to her family. Her father's Wisconsin farm is saved when he receives a government loan, her pig wins a blue ribbon at the fair, and a homeless boy comes to live with them. This book received good reviews for excellent writing.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

1939 Newbery Honor Books 

Leader by Destiny: George Washington, Man & Patriot

A biography of George Washington, covering fifty-two years of his adventurous life, detailing the early history of the United States.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Mr. Popper's Penguins

I enjoyed reading this to my son, and then read it to my daughter. I didn't want her to be left out of the fun. Mr. Popper gets a penguin as a pet, and all kinds of crazyness ensues. Richard Atwater started this book, then became to ill to continue. His wife, Florence, finished it. We're glad she did. The book became very popular!

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Nino

Nino is a child living in Italy around 1900. He lives with his mother and grandfather. His father has gone to America to work, hoping to be able to earn passage for his family.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Penn

As an English Quaker, William Penn loses everything and ends up in prison until he's allowed to go to North America, where he founds Pennsylvania.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Hello, the Boat!

In 1817 a family takes a store boat along the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. People along the river shout, "Hello, the boat!" and the family stops to open their store. As they travel they have adventures and good times.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

1938 Newbery Medal Winner 

The White Stag (Newbery Library, Puffin)

Many people have found fault with this book that somewhat glorifies Attilla the Hun by telling history from his point of view, but it is a great way to learn about culture, and about the legend of the founding of Hungary.

Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1938 Newbery Honor Books, part one 

Bright Island

A young girl named Thankful grew up on an isolated island, but she is sent to the mainland for school. There, she feels strange and out of place, and when she gets home to the island, she's changed. A story about isolation and what it does to people.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

On the Banks of Plum Creek

One of the sweet Little House on the Prairie books. Laura's family is devastated by grasshoppers, but they survive and prosper. I love these books - couldn't stop reading them, one right after the other, about twenty years ago.

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time

Pecos Bill was raised by coyotes. He was disappointed to learn he was human. He becomes a cowboy and does amazing things.

Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1937 Newbery Medal Winner 

Roller Skates (Newbery Library, Puffin)

Lucinda, age ten, is left with two teachers in New York while her parents go overseas for a year. She has a wonderful time meeting people around the neighborhood, all the time, wearing her skates.

Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1937 Newbery Honor Books 

Audubon

A biography of John James Audubon, the famous painter of birds, for whom the Audubon Society is named.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Phebe Fairchild: Her Book (Illustrated)

A girl is sent to live with relatives in the Connecticut countryside in 1830 while her parents are away from home.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Codfish Musket

Young Dan becomes a secretary for Thomas Jefferson. He's sent on a mission into the frontier to give a message to Merriwether Lewis. On the way he finds gun thieves giving guns to natives.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

 

The Golden Basket

Remember Madeline? She made her first published appearance in this lengthy picture book. The Golden Basket is the name of a hotel that two English girls stay at with their father. One day while out exploring Bruges, Belgium, they come across twelve girls out walking - one of them being our old friend, Madeline. This character was named after the author's wife.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Whistler's Van

Gwilyn decides to wander through Wales after his grandfather disappears. He is lucky to run into the Ringos, a family of gypsies that give him adventures, horses, and fun.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Winterbound

During the depression, two teenagers manage their home and the lives of their two younger siblings during a winter when their parents are gone.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

1936 Newbery Medal Winner 

Caddie Woodlawn

The adventures of an eleven year old girl and her brothers while living in rural Wisconsin, in 1864. Based on the life of the author's grandmother.

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

1936 Newbery Honor Books 

All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud (Nonpareil Book, 35.)

Thach, age fifteen, helps to design and build a clipper ship, the Flying Cloud. Then he joins the crew and travels around the Horn. Lots of adventure.

Amazon Price: $11.21 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Honk The Moose (Nature)

A moose takes shelter in Ivar's stable during a miserably cold winter. The townsfolk try to get the moose to leave.

Amazon Price: $16.11 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Good Master (Puffin Newbery Library)

Jancsi's cousin, Kate, is from the city, but while visiting amuses the country folk in Hungary.

Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Young Walter Scott

A fictionalized biography of the childhood of Sir Walter Scott - set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1935 Newbery Medal Winner 

Dobry (Puffin Newbery Library)

Dobry, a Bulgarian peasant boy, wants to become an artist, but his mother doesn't appreciate his choice. She wants him to become a farmer as his ancestors were.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

1935 Newbery Honor Books 

Davy Crockett

An entertaining biography of Davy Crockett.

Amazon Price: $22.75 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic

The story of a day-long ice skating picnic in Holland.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Pageant of Chinese History: From 3000 B.C. To the end of World War II

A well-researched history of China from mythical times, to 1912.

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1934 Newbery Medal Winner 

Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women

Popular biography of Louisa May Alcott.

Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1934 Newbery Honor Books 

The Abc Bunny (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage Book Series)

A bunny hops through the alphabet on its way home from an adventure.

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Apprentice of Florence

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Big Tree of Bunlahy: Stories of My Own Countryside

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Glory of the seas

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

 

New Land: A Novel for Boys and Girls

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Swords of Steel

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Forgotten Daughter

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Winged Girl of Knossos

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1933 Newbery Medal Winner 

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1933 Newbery Honor Books 

Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Swift Rivers

Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

THE RAILROAD TO FREEDOM A Story of the Civil War

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1932 Newbery Medal Winner 

WATERLESS MOUNTAIN

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1932 Newbery Honor Books 

Boy of the South Seas. Illustrated by Myrtle Sheldon

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Calico Bush

Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Jane's Island

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

 

Out of the Flame

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The fairy circus

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1931 Newbery Medal Winner 

The Cat Who Went to Heaven

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1931 Newbery Honor Books 

Floating Island

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Meggy MacIntosh

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Mountains Are Free

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

 

Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Queer person

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

Spice and the Devils Cave

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

The Dark Star of Itza: The Story of a Pagan Princess

Amazon Price: (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1930 Newbery Medal Winner 

Hitty Her First Hundred Years

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/09/2009) Buy Now

1930 Newbery Honor Books 

A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

The Jumping-Off Place

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Little Blacknose: The Story of a Pioneer

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

Pran of Albania

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

 

Vaino: A Boy of New Finland

Amazon Price: (as of 12/08/2009) Buy Now

If you liked this lens, you might also like... 

 

Twenty-five of my favorite Newbery books 

About the Lensmaster 

Lensmaster Linda Jo Martin writes children's novels, so has spent many years reading books from the Newbery list. From the 1930 selections she's read The Cat Who Went To Heaven, Calico Bush, Caddie Woodlawn, Phebe Fairchild: Her Book, Roller Skates, On The Banks of Plum Creek, and Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Her lenses about children's literature include:
Tips For Writing Middle Grade Novels.

Linda maintains a writer's blog: Perspectives on Writing.

Linda's lensography: Linda Martin - My Lensography.

Your comments are welcome. 

Let me know what you think.

submit
  • Reply
    Jason_Wright Jason_Wright Nov 21, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
    What a great lens! You've put a lot of work into this and it really shows. I'd love it if you'd stop by my lens and say hello when you have the chance.
  • Reply
    Martyn Martyn Oct 27, 2008 @ 7:49 am
    The 1930 Newbery Honor book, The Jumping-Off Place, has been reprinted by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press. The new edition has a new afterword by children's author Jean L. S. Patrick, new maps, and completely new packaging. The Press has more information at www.sdshspress.com
  • Reply
    Ener-G Ener-G Oct 21, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
    Linda, you must be the most well-read Squidooer out there. All I've read is On the Banks of Plum Creek.

 


Taste the Purest Tea on the Planet. Shop Numi Now



This page created by Linda Jo Martin of:
Perspectives on Writing
Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape



Fighting Child Protective Services False AccusationsBigfoot SightingsIndependent Homeschooling



Join Gather



Om - Shanti - Shanti - Shanti

by LindaJM

Hi, I'm Linda Martin, an author of children's literature living in Northern California. I've been reading books from the Newbery list since I was a ch... (more)

Explore related pages

Create a Lens!