NEWBERY · KID-APPROVED

Newbery Medal Winners for Kids — 6 to Start With

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The Newbery Medal is the highest honor in children's books — but some winners gather dust. These six are the page-turners: funny, fast, and impossible to put down. All real medal winners.

Best for grades 3–8 · award-winning + actually fun.

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  1. The One and Only Ivan cover

    by Katherine Applegate · Grades 3rd–7th · 320 pages · 2012

    A gorilla, a baby elephant, and a friendship that won the Newbery. Tears guaranteed.

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  2. The Crossover cover

    by Kwame Alexander · Grades 5th–8th · 240 pages · 2014

    A basketball story told in poetry. Even kids who 'hate reading' finish it in one night.

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  3. When You Trap a Tiger cover

    by Tae Keller · Grades 4th–7th

    Korean folklore meets a girl bargaining with a magic tiger for her halmoni. 2021 Newbery Medal.

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  4. Flora & Ulysses cover

    by Kate DiCamillo · Grades 4th–7th

    A cynical comic-book kid and a superhero squirrel. Funny, weird, Newbery-winning.

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  5. The Girl Who Drank the Moon cover

    by Kelly Barnhill · Grades 4th–7th · 386 pages · 2016

    A witch, a moon-fed baby, and real magic. The Newbery pick for big imaginations.

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  6. Merci Suárez Changes Gears cover

    by Meg Medina · Grades 4th–7th · 368 pages · 2018

    Scholarship kid, big Cuban family, a grandfather slipping away. Quietly perfect — and a Newbery Medal winner.

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