Grace Lin, 2010 Newbery honoree for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, created our stunning cover for the May/June 2022 Horn Book Magazine: Special Issue: The Newbery Centennial. Now here is a little backstory behind the creation of this very special cover:

Back in early January, Grace agreed to take on this project and by later that month we had received an initial black-and-white concept drawing that has stayed pretty much the same since then, but with the addition of vibrant colors and the attention to detail that we always love so much in Grace's art.

Case in point, in her attempt to show as many Newbery titles as possible, Grace asked for our help gathering photos of Newbery spines we'd like to see included. Myself and Horn Book interns Monica de los Reyes and Julie Bowden tracked down the original spines of all 100 Newbery winners for Grace, who also scattered on the shelves the original spines for many popular/well known Newbery honor books (including her own!). Grace chose to shelve all the winning books vertically in chronological order from left to right, top to bottom, with the girl in the center reading this year's winner, The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera; the honor books are shelved horizontally.

Over the following months, Grace sent us revised sketches with labeled shelves to help us envision how the final illustration would look, where books would go, etc., and we inspected it for duplicate titles and worked with her to figure out how/where our text would be incorporated. While creating the final art, she shared this post on Instagram.

When she finished in late March, we were overjoyed with the illustration we received...and, as I'm sure many of you have also done, we immediately pulled out our magnifying glasses to look at all those gloriously illustrated tiny spines! If you, like us, would love a key to aid in your appreciation of this work of art, never fear, because Grace has provided that as well (see below for a list of all the titles included on our cover in order from top left to bottom right)!

Grace shared some beautiful final thoughts about the project here and here on Instagram, including information about how you can order a poster of the art (sign up for her newsletter!) that she is creating with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, the proceeds of which will go to EveryLibrary, an organization that helps libraries fight book banning.

One hundred THANK YOUs, Grace Lin, for creating such a breathtaking cover for this special Newbery Centennial issue for the Horn Book — it's everything we had hoped it would be and more. Our sincerest thanks as well to Victoria Stapleton, executive director of school & library marketing at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Horn Book designer Irving Cumberbatch, who both helped me facilitate this project.

Newbery cover key

Shelf 1:

1922 The Story of Mankind – Hendrik Willem van Loon
1923 The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle – Hugh Lofting
1924 The Dark Frigate – Charles Boardman Hawes
1925 Tales from Silver Lands – Charles J. Finger
1926 Shen of the Sea – Arthur Bowie Chrisman
1927 Smoky, the Cowhorse – Will James
1928 Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon – Dhan Gopal Mukerji
1929 The Trumpeter of Krakow – Eric P. Kelly
1930 Hitty, Her First Hundred Years – Rachel Field
1931 The Cat Who Went to Heaven – Elizabeth Coatsworth
1932 Waterless Mountain – Laura Adams Armer
1933 Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze – Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
1934 Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women – Cornelia Meigs
1935 Dobry - Monica Shannon
1936 Caddie Woodlawn – Carol Ryrie Brink
1937 Roller Skates – Ruth Sawyer

Shelf 2:

1938 The White Stag – Kate Seredy
1939 Thimble Summer – Elizabeth Enright
1940 Daniel Boone - James Daugherty
1941 Call It Courage – Armstrong Sperry
1942 The Matchlock Gun – Walter D. Edmonds
1943 Adam of the Road – Elizabeth Janet Gray
1944 Johnny Tremain – Esther Forbes
1945 Rabbit Hill – Robert Lawson
1946 Strawberry Girl – Lois Lenski

Honors

The Windy Hill by Cornelia Meigs (1922)
Floating Island by Anne Parrish (1931)
Jane's Island by Marjorie Allee (1932)
Cedric the Forester by Bernard Marshall (1922)
Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs (1933)
The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery by Padraic Colum (1926)

Shelf 3:

1947 Miss Hickory – Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
1948 The Twenty-One Balloons – William Pène du Bois
1949 King of the Wind – Marguerite Henry
1950 The Door in the Wall – Marguerite de Angeli
1951 Amos Fortune, Free Man – Elizabeth Yates
1952 Ginger Pye – Eleanor Estes
1953 Secret of the Andes – Ann Nolan Clark

Honors

Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág (1929)
Honk, the Moose by Phil Stong (1936)

Shelf 4:

Honors

The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes (1943)
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater (1939)
Blue Willow by Doris Gates (1941)

1954 ...And Now Miguel – Joseph Krumgold
1955 The Wheel on the School – Meindert DeJong
1956 Carry On, Mr. Bowditch – Jean Lee Latham
1957 Miracles on Maple Hill – Virginia Sorensen
1958 Rifles for Watie – Harold Keith
1959 The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Elizabeth George Speare
1960 Onion John – Joseph Krumgold

Shelf 5:

Honors

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (1957)
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander (1966)
To Be a Slave by Julius Lester (1969)

1961 Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell
1962 The Bronze Bow – Elizabeth George Speare
1963 A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
1964 It’s Like This, Cat – Emily Neville
1965 Shadow of a Bull – Maia Wojciechowska
1966 I, Juan de Pareja – Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Honors

Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes (1944)
My Father's Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett (1949)
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (1953)

Shelf 6:

Honors

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (1961)
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (1959)
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (1958)
The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1956)

1967 Up a Road Slowly – Irene Hunt
1968 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E. L. Konigsburg
1969 The High King – Lloyd Alexander
1970 Sounder – William H. Armstrong
1971 Summer of the Swans – Betsy Byars
1972 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – Robert C. O’Brien
1973 Julie of the Wolves – Jean Craighead George
1974 The Slave Dancer – Paula Fox

Shelf 7:

Honors

Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel (1973)
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (1982)
Graven Images by Paul Fleischman (1983)

1975 M. C. Higgins, the Great – Virginia Hamilton
1976 The Grey King – Susan Cooper
1977 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor
1978 Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
1979 The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin

Shelf 8:

1980 A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 – Joan W. Blos
1981 Jacob Have I Loved – by Katherine Paterson
1982 A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers – Nancy Willard
1983 Dicey's Song – Cynthia Voigt
1984 Dear Mr. Henshaw – Beverly Cleary
1985 The Hero and the Crown – Robin McKinley
1986 Sarah, Plain and Tall – Patricia MacLachlan
1987 The Whipping Boy – Sid Fleischman

Shelf 9:

Honors

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1942)
One-Eyed Cat by Paula Fox (1985)

1988 Lincoln: A Photobiography – Russell Freedman
1989 Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices – Paul Fleischman
1990 Number the Stars – Lois Lowry

Shelf 10:

1991 Maniac Magee – Jerry Spinelli
1992 Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1993 Missing May – Cynthia Rylant
1994 The Giver – Lois Lowry
1995 Walk Two Moons – Sharon Creech
1996 The Midwife’s Apprentice – Karen Cushman

Shelf 11:

Honors

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (1960)
Figgs & Phantoms by Ellen Raskin (1975)
Knee Knock Rise by Natalie Babbitt (1971)
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (1976)

1997 The View from Saturday – E. L. Konigsburg

Shelf 12:

1998 Out of the Dust – Karen Hesse
1999 Holes – Louis Sachar
2000 Bud, Not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis
2001 A Year Down Yonder – Richard Peck

Shelf 13:

Honors

Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle (1990)
Abel's Island by William Steig (1977)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (1979)
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (1984)

2002 A Single Shard – Linda Sue Park
2003 Crispin: The Cross of Lead – Avi
2004 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread – Kate DiCamillo

Shelf 14:

2005 Kira-Kira – Cynthia Kadohata
2006 Criss Cross – Lynne Rae Perkins
2007 The Higher Power of Lucky – Susan Patron
2008 Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village – Laura Amy Schlitz
2009 The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
2010 When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
2011 Moon over Manifest – Clare Vanderpool

Shelf 15:

Honors

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (2020)
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus (2011)
Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers (1993)

2012 Dead End in Norvelt – Jack Gantos
2013 The One and Only Ivan – Katherine Applegate
2014 Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures – Kate DiCamillo
2015 The Crossover – Kwame Alexander
2016 Last Stop on Market Street – Matt de la Peña

Honors

26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola (2000)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2010)
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (2009)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (2006)
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (2011)
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (2003)
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (2005)
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson (2018)
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan (2016)
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson (2016)
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2018)
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (2008)
Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson (2006)

Shelf 16:

Honors

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (2004)
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (2020)
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat (2021)
Watercress by Andrea Wang (2022)
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman (1995)
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (1988)
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (2015)
El Deafo by Cece Bell (2015)
The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz (2017)

2017 The Girl Who Drank the Moon – Kelly Barnhill
2018 Hello, Universe – Erin Entrada Kelly
2019 Merci Suárez Changes Gears – Meg Medina
2020 New Kid – Jerry Craft
2021 When You Trap a Tiger- Tae Keller

Shelf 17:

Honors

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle (2009)
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm (2007)
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (2016)
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (2013)
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes (2014)
A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger (2022)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1998)
Whittington by Alan Armstrong (2006)
Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath (2002)
Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca (2022)

Shelf 18:

Honors

Freedom over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan (2017)
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams (2020)
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck (1999)
Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff (2022)
The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell (1967)
Rules by Cynthia Lord (2007)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (1996)
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (2019)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (2005)
Savvy by Ingrid Law (2009)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (2011)
One Came Home by Amy Timberlake (2014)
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (2010)
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (1945)

Center circle:

2022 The Last Cuentista - Donna Barba Higuera

Single copies of this special issue are available for $15.00 including postage and may be ordered from:

Kristy South
Administrative Coordinator, The Horn Book
Phone 888-282-5852 | Fax 614-733-7269
ksouth@juniorlibraryguild.com

Full subscription information is here.