In 1937 two awards of $250 each were established by the New York Herald-Tribune for the best books for younger children and for older children published between January and June. In 1941 the system of awards was revised. Three awards, of $200.00 each, were given to the best books in the following three classes: young children, middle-age children, and other children. Each year a jury, composed of distinguished experts in the field of juvenile literature, was chosen to make the selections.
1937 Seven Simeons, by Boris Artzybasheff. For younger children. Illustrated by the author. (Viking.)
The Smuggler’s Sloop, by Robb White III. For older children. Illustrated by Andrew Wyeth. (Little.)
1938 The Hobbit, by J. R. Tolkien. For younger children. Illustrated by the author. (Houghton.)
The Iron Duke, by John R. Tunis. For older children. Illustrated by Johari Bull. (Harcourt)
1939 The Story of Horace, by Alice M. Coats. For younger children. Illustrated by the author. (Coward.)
The Hired Man’s Elephant, by Phil Stong. For older children. Illustrated by Doris Lee. (Dodd.)
1940 That Mario, by Lucy Herndon Crockett. For younger children. Illustrated by the author. (Holt)
Cap’n Ezra, Privateer, by James D. Adams. For older children. Illustrated by I. B. Hazelton. (Harcourt.)
1941 In My Mother’s House, by Ann Nolan Clark. For younger children. Illustrated by Velino Herrera. (Viking.)
Pete by Tom Robinson. For middle-age children. Illustrated by Morgan Dennis. (Viking.)
Clara Barton, by Mildren Mastin Pace. For older children. (Scribner.)
1942 Mr. Tootwhistle’s Invention, by Peter Wells. For younger children.
Illustrated by the author. (Winston.)
I Have Just Begun to Fight: The Story of John Paul Jones, by
Commander Edward Ellsberg. For middle-age children. Illustrated
by Gerald Foster. (Dodd.)
None But the Brave, by Rosamond Van der Zee Marshall. For
older children. Illustrated by Gregor Duncan. (Houghton.)
1943 Five Golden Wrens, by Hugh Troy. For younger children. Illus-
trated by the author. (Oxford.)
These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For middle-
age children. Illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle.
(Harper-.)
Patterns on the Wall, by Elizabeth Yates. For older children.
(Knopf.)
1944 A Ring and a Riddle, by M. Ilm and E. Segal. For younger children.
Illustrated by Vera Bock. (Lippincott)
They Put Out to Sea, by Roger Duvoisln. For middle-age children.
Illustrated by the author. (Knopf.)
Storm Canvas, by Armstrong Sperry, For older children. Illustrated
by the author. (Winston.)
1945 Little People in a Big Country, by Norma Cohn. For younger children. Illustrated by Tashkent Children’s Art Training Center in Soviet Uzbekistan. (Oxford.)
Gulf Stream by Ruth Brindze. Illustrated by Helene Carter. For middle-age children., (Vanguard.)
Sandy, by Elizabeth Janet Gray. For older children. (Viking.)
1946 Farm Stories. Award divided between Gustaf Tenggren, illustrator, and Kathryn and Byron Jackson, authors. For younger children. (Simon & Schuster.)
The Thirteenth Stone, by Jean Bothwell, illustrated by Margaret Ayer. For middle-age children. (Harcourt)
The Quest of the Golden Condor, by Clayton Knight. Illustrated by the author. For older children. (Knopf.)
Other than The Hobbit and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s These Happy Golden Years, has anyone read or reviewed any of these prize-winning books? I know of the authors Jean Bothwell, Elizabeth Janet Grey, Armstrong Sperry, Roger Duvoisin, Elizabeth Yates, John Tunis, and Ann Nolan Clark, but not these particular books of theirs.
What a fascinating list of book. I’ve only heard of a couple of them. There might be some hidden nuggets of gold, IF you can still find them in a library somewhere.