Foiled Again?

WHEN I heard who had won this year’s Newbery Medal, which is to children’s literature what the Pulitzer is to journalism, I walked around humming. The Newbery is the great prize for children’s-book authors: Its gold-foil medallion on the cover of one’s book brings a measure of fame; but, more important, because schools routinely stock medalists in their libraries and use them in their curricula, it means an opportunity to shape the literary experience of rising generations.

Too often, the medal has gone to books that, while not crudely didactic, nonetheless reflect a generally left-wing worldview. Innumerable Newberys sell the virtues of racial diversity and countercultural eccentricity, for instance, but in only a few do patriotism or religious faith figure prominently. I know children who flinch from the golden disk as from a spoonful of cod-liver oil.

About the Author

Meghan Cox Gurdon

Meghan Cox Gurdon writes regularly about children’s books for the Wall Street Journal.

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WHEN I heard who had won this year’s Newbery Medal, which is to children’s literature what the Pulitzer is to journalism, I walked around humming. The Newbery is the great prize for children’s-book authors: Its gold-foil medallion on the cover of one’s book brings a measure of fame; but, more important, because schools routinely stock medalists in their libraries and use them in their curricula, it means an opportunity to shape the literary experience of rising generations.

Too often, the medal has gone to books that, while not crudely didactic, nonetheless reflect a generally left-wing worldview. Innumerable Newberys sell the virtues of racial diversity and countercultural eccentricity, for instance, but in only a few do patriotism or religious faith figure prominently. I know children who flinch from the golden disk as from a spoonful of cod-liver oil.