Good tidings, dear reader. I come to you today from the netherworld, a fleeting, flickering phantasm.
Ah, but when I lived, how I did live! I was as jolly and lively a gentleman as any you would wish to meet.
Eternally at your service, I am the esteemed Englishman John Newbery (1713-1767). Back in my day, I was known as “Jack the Whirler,” for I was forever on the go as a bookseller, publisher and author.
How I did love the printed word! My passion for reading began when I was but a lad, a mere farm boy who fancied books at a time when the only books for children were dreary volumes forever warning of eminent death and the daily dispensing of dismally draining rules.
Leaving childhood and the rural life behind, I moved to London to pursue a career in bookselling and publishing. Harkening back to my youth, I knew full well how youngsters yearned for exciting, engaging stories to read. Whilst some parents feared such books would corrupt their children, I firmly believed that reading should be a pleasure for boys and girls.
And so in 1744 I published “A Little Pretty Pocket-Book” with cheery tales and delightful illustrations, all wrapped cunningly in gilt, floral covers. Lads and lassies loved my books! They were equally thrilled with my introduction of a children’s magazine comprised of rollicking rhymes, stories and even recipes. My next creation? A children’s novel!
My creations proved wildly popular, and my publishing days were endlessly brisk and bustling, every moment a pleasure beyond words. As well you know, all stories must come to an end, as does the life of a man. I passed from this world in 1767. Ah, but as a good tale is timeless, so, too, am I.
My name, John Newbery, lives on, for in 1922 editor Frederic Melcher suggested that the American Library Association establish an annual award for the worthiest contribution to American literature for children. Most fittingly, he wished to have the award named in my honor, John Newbery. I was, after all, an advocate of books for children!
Now in its hundredth year, the Newbery Medal is considered the highest honor a children’s author can receive. The world changes, and so, too, have the winning titles. Increasingly, medal winners have reflected our diversified world. Newbery Medal judges strive continually to seek out books representative of all ethnicities and lifestyles, so that young readers can both see themselves and embrace and honor those different from themselves.
The 2022 book, “The Last Cuentista” by Donna Barba Higuera, is a most compelling story of Petra, a young Latino girl who wishes to be a storyteller like her grandmother. When planet Earth is nearly destroyed, Petra and her family are chosen to make a new life on a new planet.
But the new world of promise soon becomes a dystopian nightmare. Petra must follow her dream to keep her stories and fellow survivors alive. The novel is a riveting blend of fantasy and folklore of the Latino world.
As my name lives on in so illustrious a medal, I am continually humbled and amazed by how far we have come in our creation of books for children. Notwithstanding the world of technology, raining down upon us tablets and digital devices, the printed word is eternal. Books are treasures, as rich and precious as that shiny medal that will forever bear my name, John Newbery.
Radio Storytime: Early bird time
Tune in to Boerne Radio (KBRN FM 103.9) for a weekly Saturday storytime at a new early bird time of 7:45 a.m. Enjoy a dramatic reading of a quality story suitable for the whole family. This storytime is generously sponsored by Mathnasium of Boerne We are most grateful to Boerne Radio and Mathnasium of Boerne for this opportunity to bring the wonder of literature to the community.
Staying informed
You can contact us at 830- 249-3053, or visit our website at www.boernelibrary.org. Email us at [email protected]. Track us down on Facebook, where you can like the library, or Boerne Library Children’s Corner. You can also follow us on Instagram.
To maintain your library account, go to www.boernelibrary.org and click on “My Account.”
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