Time to stock the bookcase! Learn about the book that won the coveted Newbery Medal, and find out which other children's and young adult books took top honors this year.
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Delicious food earns Michelin stars, great movies win Oscars and truly exceptional children’s books receive the Newbery Medal. Awarded by the American Library Association (ALA) as part of its Youth Media Awards, the Newbery recognizes outstanding contributions to literature for children, putting them on par with poetry, plays and novels. For more than 100 years, it has honored must-read classics like The Giver, Holes and A Wrinkle in Time, celebrating stories that continue to inspire young readers.
But the ALA doesn’t stop there. Through other prestigious prizes—including the Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award and Printz Award—the organization recognizes dozens of exceptional media, videos and books for children and teens.
This year, the association took to the Hilton Chicago on Jan. 26 to announce this year’s Newbery Medal winner, along with other Youth Media Awards. Each pick serves as an incredible resource for parents, educators, librarians and readers. After all, children’s books—especially diverse children’s books—help kids feel seen and understood, offer new ways for them to make sense of the world and leave the kind of impression that sticks with them long after they’ve turned the last page.
Read on to find out which books won and which earned special recognition. The bottom line: It’s time to update your reading list!
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What book won the Newbery Medal in 2026?
Reader's Digest, Via Amazon.com
The award goes to … All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson. Written in moving verse and prose, the middle-grade novel about grief and friendship follows 13-year-old Sage as she struggles to cope with the sudden death of her best friend. After joining a counseling group, she discovers that grief—and healing—looks different for everyone. As she navigates through her pain, loneliness and sadness, unexpected moments of light begin to break through, helping her slowly learn to forgive herself and move forward.
This is Watson’s first Newbery Medal. Her 2018 novel, Piecing Me Together, was a Newbery honoree and a Coretta Scott King Author Award winner.
“Here’s to loving and living, to grieving and remembering, to growing and most of all to letting ourselves feel joy even in the midst of sorrow,” Watson wrote in an Instagram post when announcing her win. “There is much to rage against, and also, there is so much to celebrate.”
What are the Newbery Honor Books of 2026?
Think of these awards as runners-up trophies to the Newbery Medal. They go to children’s books deemed worthy of special recognition.
Though the Newbery Medal is the most well-recognized children’s book award, the ALA also bestows honors on other excellent works of literature in various categories, from picture books to young adult fiction.
To land on these winners, committees of children’s librarians and other kid-lit experts come together to assess the best books of the year. Here’s a rundown of some of the recipients.
Caldecott Medal
Reader's Digest, Via Amazon.com
The Randolph Caldecott Medal recognizes the most distinguished American picture book for children. The runners-up earn the title of Caldecott Honor Book.
Winner: Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Cátia Chien
The Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizes African American authors and illustrators of standout books for children and young adults. Runners-up are named King Author Honor Books or King Illustrator Honor Books.
The Michael L. Printz Award, which recognizes excellence in young adult literature, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It recognizes outstanding works of YA fiction, nonfiction, poetry, anthologies and graphic novels. Runners-up earn a Printz Honor.
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite books for over 100 years. We’ve worked with bestselling authors including Susan Orlean, Janet Evanovich and Alex Haley, whose Pulitzer Prize–winning Roots grew out of a project funded by and originally published in the magazine. Through Fiction Favorites (formerly Select Editions and Condensed Books), Reader’s Digest has been publishing anthologies of abridged novels for decades. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in fiction, including James Patterson, Ruth Ware, Kristin Hannah and more. The Reader’s Digest Book Club, helmed by Books Editor Tracey Neithercott, introduces readers to even more of today’s best fiction by upcoming, bestselling and award-winning authors. For this piece on the Newbery Medal and other award winners, Shyla Watson tapped her experience as a journalist who covers book publishing to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
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