Hi all! Just letting everyone know that I'm planning on taking the month of December off. I've noticed that reading groups tend to slow down over the holidays and I have a lot of other reading I'd like to catch up on. So in January the Newbery club will resume with 1928's Medal winner - Gay Neck the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji. I'm still reading and discussing Smoky the Cowhorse for anyone who wants to join in! If not hope to see some of you discussing in January :-)

That's right -- the first books were by Edward Stratemeyer, who also originated Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, et al. He came up with the idea of having a collective of freelance writers to produce standardized series of books.

Tahleen wrote: "Isn't The Hardy Boys a series that was written by a team? I know Nancy Drew was."

Yes, both series were written by ghost writers. Most of the early Hardy Boys books were written by Leslie McFarlane while Mildred Benson wrote most of the early Nancy Drew books. They were both products of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which published many series books for kids, all written by ghost writers. There some really interesting books out there about Benson, McFarlane and the Stratemeyer Syndicate, but, of course, I'm drawing a complete blank on their titles. Grrrr . . .

Isn't The Hardy Boys a series that was written by a team? I know Nancy Drew was.

Interesting Elizabeth. I didn't think about that. Winnie the Pooh is English, right? What about the Hardy Boys? I really don't know much about the series. I guess what I'm getting at is that when I think about 'classic' children's lit I think about British lit. What about you guys?

what else was being published at this time?

Winnie the Pooh and The Hardy Boys

what else was being published at this time?

Winnie the Pooh and The Hardy Boys

Chandra wrote: "Haha! I promise! What a dreary decade for children's lit. It would be interesting to see what else was being published at this time and compare it to the Newbery winners. "

It would, but I don't think I'm brave enough to try! Any takers? We will worship you forever!

Haha! I promise! What a dreary decade for children's lit. It would be interesting to see what else was being published at this time and compare it to the Newbery winners.

Chandra wrote: "We're almost out of the 20s!!..."

You promise, Chandra???

Just a reminder that 1927's Newbery medal winner Smoky the Cow Horse is coming up in November! I have it on reserve at my library :-) We're almost out of the 20s!! There were no honor books that year so for December we'll be moving on to 1928's winner - Gay Neck the Story of a Pigeon.

Hi everyone! Today is the last day of September and so it's time to move on to October's selection which is: The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery. This was the Honor book for 1926. It is by Padraic Colum who also had an honor book in 1922 - The Golden Fleece and The Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles.

I haven't been able to track down much information about The Voyagers, but I'm still planning on trying to get ahold of it. Also, since I didn't finish The Golden Fleece I may try to finish that one in October as well.

I know everyone is just participating as the mood/interests strikes them so if either one of these books appeal to you jump on in! I'm going to put up a thread for The Voyagers today.

Hi everyone! I'm hoping to be more active now that summer is almost over! It was an insane summer, but the dust is finally settling. I spent the last half of the summer traveling and just spending time with my daughter. She started kindergarten yesterday and it's really been a transition for me (not to mention her!) I'm still planning on finishing Tales from Silver Lands before this month is up (in the next couple of days). I'm also looking forward to reading Shen of the Sea in September. It looks like it's another short story collection so it should be interesting to compare the two.

Gaiman actually did get asked about this issue. On his blog he says, "I have British citizenship, and a Green Card...I've never taken US Citizenship, probably never will: I still think of myself as English."

Miriam - I believe you're right. I think an author could qualify if he is a permanent resident.

That's quite the loophole ;-)

I'm not sure whether they mean the author has to be a permanent resident or just residing in the States at the time of writing, and I wasn't able to figure out what Gaiman's status is. However, he has lived in Minneapolis for quite a few years and I believe his kids grew up there, so he may be a permanent resident. And I've noticed that when any individual is successful more countries are eager to lay claim to them.

I feel somewhat ambivalent about the "citizen or resident" clause actually, as I really see the Newbery as an award for American children's literature. In much the same way that the Carnegie Medal is meant for British children's literature. Still, I hear that Gaiman's book is superb, and I'm looking forward to reading it, for its own sake.

@Chandra: The criteria for the Newbery only require that "The book must be published in English in the United States the previous year. The author must be a citizen or resident of the United States."
Gaiman is a resident of Minnesota.

You've been an excellent leader in this endeavor, Chandra, so don't worry about missing a few books here and there. This IS supposed to be for fun! :)

Sounds great Abigail!

No worries, Chandra! We've all had a busy summer, I'm sure! I'm currently away from home for two weeks, so I understand how it goes. And I'm quite glad (as always) for the idea of a catch-up month! I know I keep saying this, but I really do want to participate, I've just been distracted by other priorities. I think that starting in September I'll keep with the group, and try to catch up with the titles I've missed as we go along.

Just wanted to let everyone know I have forgotten about the bookclub - just been a busy summer and I've had a hard time getting my hands on July's selection. So, now we're in August and I still don't have it, but expect it to arrive soon. I will likely be skipping the honor books for this year, but I'd love to hear from anyone else who gets their hands on them and reads them. So, if no one objects I'm going to mark August as a catch up month for myself and anyone else. Then in September we'll move to 1926's Medal Winner - Shen of the Sea.

Also, I have a question. I noticed that Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book won 2009's medal and I'm curious how that's possible since he's British?

I wanted to add a note about the upcoming medal and honor books for 1925. I just did a quick search and it seems that all three books are out of print.

The titles are:

1925 Medal Winner:

Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger

Honor Books:

Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Annie Carroll Moore
The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish

So, if you're interested in reading these you might want to start looking into your library's availability, etc.

I'm going to be out of town for a lot of July so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to participate with these, but I'll definitely get a thread up for July's book Tales from Silver Lands. And IF I can get it easily from my library I'll try to read as much as I can before I leave.

And then in August we'll try to discuss the 2 honor books - hopefully some of us will be able to get our hands on them.

Hi everyone - I've started a thread for The Dark Frigate for anyone ready to discuss. I'm hoping to start this book either this weekend or early next week!

I'm reading The Dark Frigate now. And I'm finding it harder to get into, but will keep plugging along. I read that he died suddenly of an illness when he was 35.
I found a copy at my local library.

I'm still in, though I feel like I should be catching up some more... still haven't read The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle. Maybe I'll just take a trip to the library and take out all that I can haha. That might motivate me. If all else fails, betterworldbooks.com here I come. (You all should check out that site, not as many discounts as Amazon but no shipping and apparently it promotes literacy?).

Abigail - we were posting at the same time! I'm excited that you'll be joining this month! That's right about The Great Quest. If I remember correctly there is very little information about this author because I believe he died rather young.

Lynn - I hadn't thought about the connection with modern day pirates, but that is very interesting! I was actually telling my daughter the other day that pirates ARE real and that they even exist today - it blew her mind! I've actually always wanted to read Treasure Island and might make it part of my reading this month to compare/contrast. And I hope since you've read the book already that you'll pop in and join us from time to time in our discussion!

Jennifer - I haven't done much background research on this book. I'm going to have to do a little in the next week or so. In any event I hope you're able to find a copy. This is the first of the Newbery books that I found to be pretty readily available for purchase even IN actual physical bookstores. Many bookstores actually have a Newbery section.

I too am planning to read The Dark Frigate this month, although I probably won't start on it until later in June... Jennifer: I'm not really that familiar with this one. It's interesting that Charles Boardman Hawes also wrote one of the 1922 Honor Books, The Great Quest. Did anyone read that one? (Still on my to-do list!)

Interesting...I'm trying to relpy to Chandra's Dark Frigate post and I get Tahleen's comment from ages ago come up as what I am replying to...hopefully this works right.

Chandra, I'm ready to start The Dark Frigate as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. My library doesn't have one. I'm planning a trip to the used book store, but if all else fails I will buy a copy from Amazon. Anyone know if there are any problems with this book like there were with Dr. Doolittle?

I read the Dark Frigate. Even though the writing is a bit old school, the story is good. it reminds me of Treasure Island although the pirates are not glamorized into soft hearted people. With all that's happening in the news with pirates it could be a timely book

Hello Newbery buddies! As most of you are aware we decided to take the month of May off to let people catch up/take a break. I spent my month reading some great Louisa May Alcott books! So, for June we've got 1924's Medal Winner - The Dark Frigate - on the agenda. I just wanted to check in and gauge interest and see if people are still interested in going ahead with this one in June.

Yay! Now I can catch up too!

Sounds great to me Chandra.

I would love that, Chandra. I'm just now getting to The Old Tobacco Shop.

I certainly DO NOT want you to drop out Abigail!! That would be a real loss to the group and discussion in my opinion!

I do think adjusting our expectations a little and devoting 2 months to those years with multiple honor books would help tremendously. This is already going to be a years long project - extending it by a few months isn't going to hurt in the long run. The truth is that sometimes the books are hard to obtain and also, I know most of us have other reading projects going on.

Any other input is welcome!

I think this is a wonderful idea, Chandra! Especially as I'm one of the ones who's fallen behind! ;) I really do want to discuss these books with like-minded folks, but I'm also committed to reading in order, and have been considering dropping out, as I've watched you all move on. An extra month would be very helpful, as would devoting more than one month to multiple Honor Books.

Hello ALL! I am really enjoying this project and have really appreciated being able to discuss the books with you all. As you all know it's a very ambitious project. Last month there were 5 honor books and it looks like some (including myself) fell a little behind. I am going to propose that we take the month of May off so that people who are interested can play catch up. I also think when there are months with multiple honor books we might even consider devoting 2 months. So, what this means is that we will resume the regular schedule in JUNE with The Dark Frigate. If anyone has any major objections to this please let me know!

Hi Ronda, Stacy, Nancy and any other newcomers!

We're reading the Newbery Medal and Honor books in order from start to finish.

We started in Feb with 1922's Medal winner The Story of Mankind.

March was devoted to the honor books - many of which are out of print and/or difficult to track down. I personally only read two in their entirety. And there are a few that I may go back and try to track down and read. Abigail is actually being very good about sticking with the order and has written some fabulous reviews!

And April has been devoted to April's Medal winner - The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. There were no April honor books so we'll just be moving on to 1924's Medal Winner - The Dark Frigate.

There are threads on each topic and even when we move on to a new book/topic I welcome/encourage you to post on any of the older/past threads. This really is a very loose/fun project and I encourage everyone to participate only when they want - if a book doesn't strike your fancy or if you just don't have the time - no problem! Just join in when you like! Any other questions - don't hesitate to ask! I'm having a lot of fun with this project and I've even started a blog to track my progress and hold myself more accountable.

Hello all-I'm out of touch here and just wondered if someone would go over what the group has decided to do and what kind of timeframe--if any.

What did you decide to do?
Earliest or Dr. D.?

Hello Nancy! Welcome! I hope you enjoy this group! It's a lot of fun and we have a very wide variety of interests from picture books up to YA novels. And the book discussions really are a lot of fun!

Hi Nancy! I'd recommend taking out the 1922 winner from the library... it's pretty dry.

Welcome to the group, Nancy! Glad you're coming on board, so to speak...

Hi all, New to the group and online groups in general...
just spent time catching up with all the messages. I love the idea of reading the Newbery's. I'll start with Dr Dolittle and read 1922's when I have time. I look forward to this discussion.

I really am committed to chronological order also.

Hmm... well, I'm pretty committed to reading them chronologically, although I can see the arguments for doing it the other way. As someone interested in the history of children's literature, as well as the current state, I'm interested in the ways in which standards have evolved. But it's entirely possible that there are those who would prefer to read the more current titles. Have you checked out the Newbery group here on goodreads?

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2241...

Which isn't to say we don't want you here, of course! :) But it's possible that they are organized in a way that will better serve your needs. I haven't looked around too much there...

Is anyone interested in doing this but going from current to earlier? I mean in addition to this group. I just really would like to be more in touch with what is being written today and I don't have time to read everything. I also must admit that I've read most of the early ones I'm interested in already and the rest aren't at the top of my list. I particularly want to do it because of the controversy of the Newbery books: I'd like to see what has been chosen in recent years. Or at least, under this topic of Newbery Award Group, could we start a discussion on the latest book?

If no one else wants to discuss the latest book right now, then just ignore me. My family finds that's often the best tactic. :)

I too hope to participate, although I might not get to it until the later half of the month...

I'm hoping to have time this month! I think it's looking okay...