The Carnegie Medal people have come up with a list of the 10 Best or Most Important Carnegie Award winning books of the past 70 years; Fuse 8 one-ups them with her own list of the 10 best Newbery Award winning books.
I’m going to choose my ten best from both lists combined:
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. Newbery Award, 1944.
The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Carnegie Medal, 1952.
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. Carnegie Medal, 1956. (Even though I don’t think this one is the best of the Narnia books, it’s the one that won the Carnegie. And C.S. Lewis on a bad day is better than most anyone on a good day.)
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Phillippa Pearce. Carnegie Medal, 1958.
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth Geroge Speare. Newbery Award, 1962.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Newbery Award, 1963.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Newbery Award, 1968.
Watership Down by Richard Adams. Carnegie Medal, 1972.
Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson. Newbery Award, 1978.
Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt. Newbery Award, 1983.
I probably chose more Newbery books than Carnegie books because
a) I’m American and
b) I’ve read more of the Newbery books.
My list is heavy on the fantasy/sci-fi genre with five titles. Two historical fiction titles and three contemporary realistic fiction titles round out the list. I don’t have anything after 1983 because, honestly, I haven’t read as many of those newer books.
However, after I finish my Newbery project, I might change the list. Or maybe I’ll start a Carnegie Medal book reading project.
The Carnegie organization has a Living Archive with more information on the Carnegie Medal books.