Critics are reporting that Newberry winning books are too challenging for young readers. According to an article by Valerie Strauss in this week's Washington Post:

"Now the literary world is debating the Newbery's value, asking whether the books that have won recently are so complicated and inaccessible to most children that they are effectively turning off kids to reading. Of the 25 winners and runners-up chosen from 2000 to 2005, four of the books deal with death, six with the absence of one or both parents and four with such mental challenges as autism. Most of the rest deal with tough social issues."

My take on the issue: I didn't know it at the time, but apparently my childhood reading was heavy on the Newberry winners. As a child, I read Sarah, Plain and Tall, Dear Mr. Henshaw, Jacob Have I Loved, Bridge to Terabithia, M.C. Higgings the Great, Caddie Woodlawn, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, A Wrinkle in Time, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and The Wheel on the School. From what I remember, many of those books dealt with tough issues, and I read most of them at school with the support of my teacher. Some, like The Wheel on the School, were even read aloud to the class. As an adult, I've read Holes and The View from Saturday and really enjoyed them both. I admit though, that I haven't read many of the recent Newberry winners because they just don't look very fun. If kids are assigned the books though, and given support by teachers in classroom, I hope they are discovering and enjoying the literary aspects of the stories.

Checkout this list of Newberry Award Winning books at our library and tell us what you think! Have you or your children read any of these books? Do you agree with the critics -- are these books too challenging? In your opinion, should an award winning book encourage reading or recognize great writing? Or both?