During the 1930’s, the Great Depression affected all of America. As a result of the collapse of the American stock market, one third of the population of America was unemployed. Since television was not introduced to the public at the 1939 World’s Fair, many children still turned to books for entertainment. More great books were obviously penned during this time of hardship in America.
1931 Medal Winner: “The Cat Who Went to Heaven” by Elizabeth Coatsworth
Honor Books
- “Floating Island” by Anne Parrish
- “The Dark Star of Itza: The Story of A Pagan Princess” by Alida Malkus
- “Queer Person” by Ralph Hubbard
- “Mountains are Free” by Julie Davis Adams
- “Spice and the Devil’s Cave” by Agnes Hewes
- “Meggy MacIntosh” by Elizabeth Janet Gray
- “Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes” by Herbert Best
- “Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer” by Alice Lide & Margaret Johansen
1932 Medal Winner: “Waterless Mountain” by Laura Adams Armer
Honor Books
- “The Fairy Circus” by Dorothy P. Lathrop
- “Calico Bush” by Rachel Field
- “Boy of the South Seas” by Eunice Tietjens
- “Out of the Flame” by Eloise Lownsbery
- “Jane’s Island” by Marjorie Allee
- “Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy” by Mary Gould Davis
1933 Medal Winner: “Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze” by Elizabeth Lewis
Honor Books
- “Swift Rivers” by Cornelia Meigs
- “The Railroad To Freedom: A Story of the Civil War” by Hildegarde Swift
- “Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia” by Nora Burglon
1934 Medal Winner: “Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women” by Cornelia Meigs
Honor Books
- “The Forgotten Daughter” by Caroline Snedeker
- “Swords of Steel” by Elsie Singmaster
- “ABC Bunny” by Wanda Gág
- “Winged Girl of Knossos” by Erik Berry, pseud. (Allena Best)
- “New Land” by Sarah Schmidt
- “Big Tree of Bunlahy: Stories of My Own Countryside” by Padraic Colum
- “Glory of the Seas” by Agnes Hewes
- “Apprentice of Florence” by Ann Kyle
1935 Medal Winner: “Dobry” by Monica Shannon
Honor Books
- “Pageant of Chinese History” by Elizabeth Seeger
- “Davy Crockett” by Constance Rourke
- “Day On Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic” by Hilda Von Stockum
1936 Medal Winner: “Caddie Woodlawn” by Carol Ryrie Brink
Honor Books
- “Honk, the Moose” by Phil Stong
- “The Good Master” by Kate Seredy
- “Young Walter Scott” by Elizabeth Janet Gray
- “All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud” by Armstrong Sperry
1937 Medal Winner: “Roller Skates” by Ruth Sawyer
Honor Books
- “Phebe Fairchild: Her Book” by Lois Lenski
- “Whistler’s Van” by Idwal Jones
- “The Golden Basket” by Ludwig Bemelmans
- “Winterbound” by Margery Bianco
- “The Codfish Musket” by Agnes Hewes
- “Audubon” by Constance Rourke
1938 Medal Winner: “The White Stag” by Kate Seredy
Honor Books
- “Pecos Bill” by James Cloyd Bowman
- “Bright Island” by Mabel Robinson
- “On the Banks of Plum Creek” by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1939 Medal Winner: “Thimble Summer” by Elizabeth Enright
Honor Books
- “Nino” by Valenti Angelo
- “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” by Richard & Florence Atwater
- “Hello the Boat!” by Phyllis Crawford
- “Leader By Destiny: George Washington, Man and Patriot” by Jeanette Eaton
- “Penn” by Elizabeth Janet Gray
1940 Medal Winner: “Daniel Boone” by James Daugherty
Honor Books
- “The Singing Tree” by Kate Seredy
- “Runner of the Mountain Tops: The Life of Louis Agassiz” by Mabel Robinson
- “By the Shores of Silver Lake” by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- “Boy with a Pack” by Stephen W. Meader
See also:
Newbery Medal Winners: 1922-1930