Home/Newbery by Year/Newbery Title Index/Newbery Subject Index/Newbery Author Index

1936

Editor's Note: Many of the books are out of print. The header information will be as complete as I can make it.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (Simon & Schuster, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0027136701.	The Medalist The antics of a high-spirited girl and her large family on the Midwestern frontier. In the vein of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Good strong female character but there is a sellout (by modern standards) of sorts at the end of the story. Nice historical detail. Good lesson about what whites did to Native Americans. Would work well with Thimble Summer.
Honk, the Moose by Phil Strong (E.M. Hale and Company, fourth-grade level). Out of print	Honor Book A couple of boys enjoy themselves immensely when a moose wanders into a small town's stable and takes up residence. This book retains the ability to produce a chuckle despite its age. The small town in Wisconsin is inhabited by Finnish settlers, so the reader can pick up a few tidbits about that culture.
The Good Master by Kate Seredy (Econo-Clad, $12.25, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0808573470.	Honor Book A spoiled young Hungarian city girl goes to live on the farm with her uncle and his family and turns into a wonderful little tom boy who appreciates those around her. Despite its age, a cute story of a high-spirited girl. Interesting look at Hungarian culture, too. Seredy follows this book with a sequel, called The Signing Tree, which contains the same characters but deals with the far more topical issue (1939) of the coming German onslaught. Note: This book works well with several other books about city girls getting their comeuppance in the country, among them The Golden Name Day and Phebe Fairchild to name a couple.
Young Walter Scott by Janet Elizabeth Gray (Viking, seventh-grade level). Out of print	Honor Book Key experiences from the famous novelist's youth are presented for fans who want to mine his novels for biographical details. Scott was born to a moderately wealthy family who lived in Edinburgh. He was lame, whatever that means, so he had to work exceptionally hard to prove his ruggedness to his combative brothers. He displayed the soul of a poet and the mnemonic prowess of a quiz-show master. He made friends easily among his peers and older, powerful adults. Most of the dialogue and a portion of the narrative is written in Scottish dialect and slang so it is at times nearly incomprehensible. The insights it offers are miniscule and would amuse only the most religious of Scott's fans. This is a Newbery book that should rest comfortably in obscurity.
All Set Sail: A Romance of the Flying Cloud (fourth-grade level).	Honor Book A boy in the mid-1800s follows the call to the sea and has a great adventure aboard a clipper ship racing from New York to San Francisco. Kids will enjoy the action sequences but the text, meaning language, and sensibility is dated. Makes some mention of the California gold rush, so fourth-grade teachers should at least read this for background.

Copyright David Ross 2003