The Washington Post has an article about how the Newbery Award could even discourage children from reading!  Now, yes, I am a critic of recent choices by the Newbery committee.  I feel that in recent years we could have seen some of the fabulous AND kid-friendly titles win the big prize.  It seems that instead they are relegated to the Honor row. 

But the Newbery dampening reading?  I don’t know about that.  Yes, if teachers use the Newbery prize list as a unit the recent winners would probably sit lonely on the shelves passed over for older winners with more kid appeal.  But most kids do not spontaneously head out to the library looking for books with that large gold seal on the front.  So I can’t see it dampening reading much at all.

Could the Newbery start to stand for both quality and a book that children will want to read perhaps even talk about with friends and promote themselves because it is sooo good?  Yes.  But I have to believe that the relationship between children and books is healthy, resilient and constantly questing for the next great read.  To do any less would be to despair over children and reading.  And that ain’t happening!