Newbery Metrics: The Newbery and the Illustrators

Steven Herb

Author photo: Steven HerbSteven Herb worked in support of the literature choices and literacy rights of children for over 45 years in classrooms, public libraries, and academic libraries. He served as 1996–97 ALSC President and followed that honorable assignment with three years of service as chair of ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. He also served on the 2006 Newbery Award Committee.

Editor’s Note: Steven Herb was excited to contribute to this special issue; sadly, he passed away in December 2021 before publication.

Erratum

We regret the omission of Grace Lin from the “Double Dipping” list on page 24. Grace is also a member of this exceptional group of author-illustrators who have garnered both Newbery and Caldecott recognition. She received a 2010 Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and a 2019 Caldecott Honor for A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Congratulations, Grace!

I began reading Newbery Medal and Honor Books in elementary school, so I have been aware of the award for nearly three quarters of the life of children’s literature’s most famous prize. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1944)1 was an early favorite of mine, probably because of the Boston setting and Johnny’s painful adventure with molten silver.

My discovery of baseball statistics, and especially the use of SABRmetrics2 (or Sabermetrics, for spelling convenience) began when I became a serious fantasy baseball practitioner twenty-five years ago—someone who “owns” an imaginary baseball team made up of real players from the major league teams each year.3 A fantasy team combines the actual batting and/or pitching statistics of the real players drafted or acquired by an owner, and then is ranked against other league owners’ daily, weekly, or monthly statistics. Sabermetrics, this fascinating (and quite nerdy!) empirical analysis of baseball adds an extra layer of excitement I have not experienced with numbers since I decided not to major in mathematics in college after all. Three of my favorite statistical measures are on-base percentage (OBP),4 slugging percentage (SLG),5 and wins above replacement (WAR).6

This article is my tribute to two of my lifelong passions: reading and baseball, in metric syncopation.7

Newbery Honor Stats

Number of Honor Books Per Decade

The numbers of Newbery Honor titles vary from year to year, ranging from no titles (three times in the 1920s) to eight titles (twice in the 1930s), and everywhere in between, except seven.8

The 326 Total Newbery Honors, By Decade

27 honors in the 20s

50 honors in the 30s

41 honors in the 40s

40 honors in the 50s

26 honors in the 60s

24 honors in the 70s

28 honors in the 80s

26 honors in the 90s

34 honors in the 00s

30 honors in the 10s

326 total Newbery Honors9

Number of Honor Books Per Year

  1. 1923, 1924, 1927
  2. 1926, 1965, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1999
  3. 1925, 1928, 1943, 1955, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2012, 2015, 2019
  4. 1933, 1935, 1938, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018
  5. 1936, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1958,1959, 1968, 1975, 1984, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2020
  6. 1922, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1972, 1983, 2003, 2021
  7. 1929, 1930, 1932, 1937
  8. None
  9. 1931, 1934

Longest repeated sequence—Between 1940 and 1946, only 1943 didn’t produce four Honor titles.

Longest gap between a repeated number—It was 39 years between two single Honor Book years (1926 to 1965).

Longest wait for a repeated number, and counting—It has been 94 years since the last 0 Honor Books year.

Average Honor Books per year—3.26

Three Newbery Metrics

Multiple Appearances on the Newbery Medal/Newbery Honor List

Nine writers have had their work recognized four times among Newbery Medals and Honors. They are:

Two writers have had five books recognized. They are:

Double Dipping: Newbery/Caldecott Combos

A small group of artists have appeared in both award camps for years. It is extraordinary to be able to illustrate a children’s book at a level that receives the Caldecott Medal or Honor, but to also write at a level that receives the Newbery Medal or Honor seems nearly impossible. The rules have changed over time, so the earliest Newbery winners faced some restrictions in repeating that accomplishment. Also, until 1977, a particular book had to be considered for one award or the other, but not both.

In the entire history of the two awards since the Caldecott joined the Newbery in 1938, there are only fifteen children’s book creators (one couple) found on both complete lists.

Henkes is the only living member of this outstanding group. He says, “The names on this list are among those I came to know and admire when I was a teenager studying children’s books and dreaming of becoming a published author and illustrator. I’m thrilled and honored to be included in their company.”*

Congratulations to Kevin and that remarkable collection of talented people, and here’s to expanding the list of all Newbery recipients for the next 100 years.†

* Kevin Henkes, Letter, October 26, 2021.

† I also hope that the next Newbery Century will offer additional metrics—three I wish for are a country and state-by-state birth distribution. I loved the US President list from World Book when I was young even if James Buchanan was a disappointment as our sole representative from Pennsylvania, my home state. Also, how about the jury members—who and where from? And, textual analytics?

Ages of Newbery Winners

Did You Ever Wonder about Newbery Illustrators, e.g., Who Worked on the Most Titles?

Apparently, I have.

There are three seven-time illustrators and their authors whose books have graced the lists during this Newbery century. To be asked that often to work with top writers is quite a tribute, but to be part of seven books to win the Newbery Medal or an Honor citation—extraordinary!

Pictured in this 1964 photo are, from left, Emily Neville, winner of the Newbery Medal; Maurice Sendak, winner of the Caldecott Medal; and Ruth Gagliardo, President of the Children’s Services Division. Standing left to right: Helen Sattley, chair of the Newbery-Caldecott Awards Committee and Ursula Nordstrom, juvenile editor of Harper & Row, publisher of both the winning books.

Pictured in this 1964 photo are, from left, Emily Neville, winner of the Newbery Medal; Maurice Sendak, winner of the Caldecott Medal; and Ruth Gagliardo, President of the Children’s Services Division. Standing left to right: Helen Sattley, chair of the Newbery-Caldecott Awards Committee and Ursula Nordstrom, juvenile editor of Harper & Row, publisher of both the winning books.

Like Sendak and Seredy, Ward also illustrated more than one Newbery Medal or Honor Book in the same year. In Ward’s case, he did it twice. In addition to Spice and the Devil’s Cave in 1931, Ward also illustrated the Newbery Medal winner—The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth. He did it once more in 1944—sharing Fog Magic with the Newbery Medal Winner—Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. &

References

  1. All years associated with book titles in this article will be the Newbery or Caldecott year, rather than the copyright year, so the actual copyright year may be gleaned by simply subtracting one.
  2. SABR comes from the Society for American Baseball Research, founded in (the actual) 1971.
  3. I must acknowledge the inspiration of seven major league baseball heroes of my childhood and teen years—Henry Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Bob Gibson, Micky Mantle, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, and Carl Yastrzemski. Great players all, and also statistical legends who helped start me on the sabermetrics path. I chipped my front tooth biting my thumb nail watching Clemente play in the 1971 World Series, but dropped any blame before the game even ended.
  4. In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) is the percentage of plate appearances where a batter reaches base for any reason other than an error or a fielder’s choice.
  5. Slugging percentage represents the total number of bases a player records per at-bat. Unlike on-base percentage, slugging percentage deals only with hits and does not include walks and hit-by-pitches in its equation. Slugging percentage differs from batting average in that all hits are not valued equally.
  6. WAR measures a player’s value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he’s worth than a replacement-level player at his same position.
  7. My Newbery metric choices focus on things one can’t find in any list, anywhere, without some time and arithmetic —and ignores the easy-to-find facts. For example, can you find the list of the six two-time Newbery winners? Try it—see, not so hard. Kate DiCamillo for The Tale of Despereaux in 2004 and Flora and Ulysses in 2014; E. L. Konigsburg for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in 1968 and The View from Saturday in 1997; Joseph Krumgold for . . . And Now Miguel in 1954 and Onion John in 1960; Lois Lowry for Number the Stars in 1990 and The Giver in 1994; Katherine Paterson for A Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981; and Elizabeth George Speare for The Witch of Blackbird Pond in 1959 and The Bronze Bow in 1962.
  8. This article was completed in November 2021 at the conclusion of the year that the one-hundredth Newbery Medal was named, along with five Honor Books. Since the Newbery moves on to 101 in 2022, many metrics will change, but these numbers may be considered a snapshot of the Newbery at 100.
  9. All decade-by-decade data are organized and presented from one to ten (for example 1961 to 1970), as decimal data are typically presented. The only exception is that 2021 is presented with the 1922 to 1930 numbers to allow for ten relatively equal decades.
  10. Since the announcement and awarding dates shifted during the 100 years of Newbery, a uniform date was selected to represent the annual awarding, mostly for the determination of winners’ ages. To accentuate the celebration of books written in the United States, July 4 was selected.
  11. Sixty-four Newbery Medal winners have passed away and thirty-six were alive as of November 2021.

Extraordinary Feats in a Single Year