Wednesday Round-Up: Picture Books
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
STEVEN: In this week’s Wednesday Roundup we’ll look at picture books. This is one of those less likely Newbery categories that has actually done pretty well in recent years. We had a rare winner in 2016 with LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET. Since then we’ve seen a couple picture books win Honors (CROWN and WATERCRESS) as well as a picture book poem (UNDEFEATED) that some libraries put in with picture books. It had been a more unusual occurrence before that. Unless I’m missing something (and I usually am), the only two picture books with Newbery Honors from 1970 – 2015 were SHOW WAY (2006) and DOCTOR DESOTO (1983). What do you think has changed, Emily?
EMILY: I think LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET really made a statement about a picture book being capable of winning the Newbery. I pulled a Steven and took a look at it to see how it hit the Newbery Criteria and this is what I have:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
- Interpretation of theme– Keep positive, beauty in everything. Nana really drives this home with her language: “a tree’s trunk is a straw, some people see the world with their ears.”
- Presentation of information– Simple language with vivid imagery where the text does stand on its own.
- Plot development– Beginning at a church, riding on a bus and then ending at a soup kitchen is a simple but beautiful journey that shows what’s important in life.
- Delineation of characters– Witnessing CJ ask questions and learn is a joy for anyone to read.
- Delineation of setting– This goes hand in hand with plot development, and the vivid language really makes you feel present in the moment.
- Appropriateness of style– This is something that can be questionable in picture books, but the language and style really fit and make this book come together so well.
STEVEN: Yes, good examples of how the Newbery criteria can be applied to picture books. It reminds me what a multi-layered book LAST STOP is. And many picture are intentionally not that: they focus on one clear theme and get at it more directly.
EMILY: I also really appreciated this blog post which tells students’ opinions on LAST STOP and I think really showcases the books long lasting influence. Do we have a title like LAST STOP this year?
STEVEN: I haven’t found any picture books so far that seem Newbery-ish to me this year. One of my favorites is DRAWN ONWARD by Daniel Nayeri: a beautiful story, and cleverly told: the title and the full text are palindromes! But the illustrations carry so much weight…it almost works as a wordless books, which was the original plan. I have similar struggles with THE TABLE, a creative, thought-provoking book about two families from the point of view of a table that they both owned. But again, the illustrations, by Caldecott honoree Jason Griffin, work almost inextricably with the words. It’s an outstanding book that’s hard for me to see in Newbery terms.
EMILY: I just read DRAWN ONWARD and think it’s a beautiful story, but that we depend on the illustrations too much. My big question is… what makes a picture book? Several nonfiction titles shouted out this year could be deemed picture books… GREAT GUSTS, OUTSPOKEN PAUL ROBESON, THE IGUANADON’S HORN. Of those I think THE IGUANADON’S HORN AND OUTSPOKEN PAUL ROBESON both tell an incredible story and hit the Newbery criteria. Speaking of this, has a nonfiction picture book won anything yet? Steven?
STEVEN: I guess BOX (2021 Honor) could almost be called a nonfiction picture book…but it’s also poetry, and that language is what must have earned the Newbery Honor. DARK EMPEROR (2011 Honor) also has nonfiction content and looks like a picture book, but again, it’s the poetry. So I’m pretty sure there haven’t been any nonfiction picture book Newberys yet.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
STEVEN: I’d love to see a more simple picture book win a Newbery someday. I don’t think WHAT A MESS CAN MAKE has a real chance, but to me it’s a good example of text that does exactly what it needs to do, building the theme in a series of short rhymes, then bringing it all together in the end.
EMILY: That’s the thing about a picture boom winning the Newbery. It really has to be exceptional to stand next to all this middle grade fiction. It’s hard to compare when these authors only have 32 pages to do so.
STEVEN: Other possibilities from this year that I’m wondering about include THE HOUSE BEFORE FALLING (historical story set in 1950 Korea during the war), BEFORE THE SHIPS (inspirational poem celebrating Black history), and A MAP FOR FALASTEEN (I haven’t seen this one yet, but it sounds powerful: a girl tries to learn why she can’t find her homeland of Palestine on the map).Would love to hear more ideas for Newbery-possible-picture books!
EMILY: Our genres poll is still open if you want to think about past winners. LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET and WATERCRESS are leading the picture book surge. We’re skipping a week of the Wednesday Roundups and our next is books on the upper age range on October 30.
Filed under: Book Discussion

About Steven Engelfried
Steven Engelfried retired from full-time library work a couple years ago and now works as a part-time Youth Librarian at the West Linn Public Library in Oregon. He served on the 2010 Newbery committee, chaired the 2013 Newbery Committee, and also served on the 2002 Caldecott committee. You can reach him at sengelfried@yahoo.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
How to Do Just About Everything in 2025
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
How to Draw a Secret | This Week’s Comics
When Book Bans are a Form of Discrimination, What is the Path to Justice?
Audiobook Review: Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho
ADVERTISEMENT
Thank you, Emily, for sharing that post about kids’ reactions to LAST STOP. Sometimes one poem can have a bigger impact than a 300-page novel. I think reading LAST STOP aloud without the pictures highlights how poetic the language is.
One of my favorite picture books this year is THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS VEGETABLES by Kyle Lukoff. It’s not exactly poetic, but it’s a clever story about vegetables trying to avoid being eaten by arguing that they’re not really vegetables because the idea of a vegetable is a social construct. I’m not sure it’s Newbery-worthy but I think it illustrates how sometimes a shorter story can address a theme better than hundreds of pages (particularly for younger readers).
I agree about VEGETABLES, Dest. And Kyle Lukoff also has two more picture books worth thinking about this year:
JUST WHAT TO DO is a perfectly nuanced look at how a person might respond when someone they care about has lost a loved one. It’s not a long book, and grief is a topic that has been looked at in many picture books, but he uses exactly the right words.
I’M SORRY YOU GOT MAD looks at apologies, with text that mostly consists of misguided apologies by Jack, until he finally starts to understand what a real apology should be like (with some guidance from his teacher). The text here is intertwined with the illustrations to a point that makes it hard to analyze in Newbery terms, but again: he captures a tricky and important theme with real thoughtfulness and insight (but still makes it kind of funny).
Kyle L. won a Newbery Honor for the novel TOO BRIGHT TO SEE (2022), but has impressive picture book skills as well…