I created this challenge in 2014 as an encouragement for myself to read more Newbery Award winners and Newbery Honor books. It worked! So far this year, I've read eleven Newbery books, and I'm hoping to sneak a few more in before the end of the year.

I also discovered that there were people out there like me who wanted to read more Newbery books, so I've decided to host this challenge again in 2015. The rules are basically the same. Check it out below, and I hope you decide to join us!

Each book you read is worth points. You get:

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Medal Winner (Gotta give the picture books some love, too.)

In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

You can get to this level with any combination of points you want. You can read all Newbery Medal winners. You can throw in a few Honor Books. If you want, you can even read 75 Caldecott Medal winners! How you get to your point level is totally up to you. 

Also, anywhere is the point range for your level counts as completing that level. So for example, if you signed up for the Avi level and read 46 points' worth of books, then you have completed that level!

Challenge Guidelines:

• Rereads count (because you were probably a kid when you read it last, and your perspective on the story just might have changed since then).
• Audiobooks and ebooks count.
• And paper books count, too. :)
• All books must be read between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2015. Books begun before January 1 don’t count.
• Books can be used for other challenges as well.
• You don’t have to have a blog to participate. You can link up reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, etc., or just hang out with us in the comments!
• Reviews are encouraged, but not necessary. There will be a headquarters page for you to link up your reviews if you want to share your thoughts.
• Choose your point level. You can always aim for a higher point level, but you can't move to a lower one.

To join the Newbery Reading Challenge:

• Write a post (or a comment) stating your intention to join. Choose your point level. You can find the challenge button below to use in your post.
• Add your link to the Linky at the bottom of this post. Make sure you include the link to your sign-up post, not just your homepage.

Grab the Challenge Button!

  <div align="center"><a href="http://www.smilingshelves.com/home/introducing-the-newbery-reading-challenge-2015" title="2015 Newbery Reading Challenge"><img src="http://www.smilingshelves.com/uploads/8/3/4/5/8345014/502160_orig.png" alt="2015 Newbery Reading Challenge" style="border:none;" /></a></div>  

I hope everyone is enjoying their reading so far for the Newbery Reading Challenge. We're getting closer to the finish line, so another mini-challenge might be just what you need to push you to complete the challenge. Good thing it's time for another Mini-Challenge! Mini-challenges are great ways to get a few extra points along the way. 

We've had three mini-challenges announced so far. You can check out all the details here:
Mini-challenge #1
Mini-challenge #2
Mini-challenge #3

If you remember way back when you signed up for this challenge, you picked a level to complete. These were your options:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

So here's the mini-challenge: Any book you read by the author whose level you picked is worth one extra point. So if you are aiming for the L'Engle level and you read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, then that book would be worth 4 points instead of 3. Newbery Honor books by the author whose level you are working on would be worth 3 points instead of 2.

Keep reading those Newbery books! As always, check out the Newbery Reading Challenge headquarters for all details on this challenge. This is also where you can post your reviews.

This is the last mini-challenge for the year. The place to link up your wrap-up posts will be coming on December 2. Happy reading!

I hope everyone is enjoying their reading so far for the Newbery Reading Challenge. And now, it's time for another Mini-Challenge! Mini-challenges are great ways to get a few extra points along the way. They just might be what pushes you to aim for the next level!

We've had two mini-challenges announced so far. You can check out all the details here:
Mini-challenge #1
Mini-challenge #2

And here's the new one! Any book you read from the year you were born is worth one extra bonus point. So for example, I was born in 1984. The Newbery winner that year was Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary. If I were to read that book for the challenge, I would earn 4 points instead of 3. Newbery Honor books from the year you were born would be worth 3 points instead of 2.

Enjoy your reading! Keep racking those points up!

As always, check out the Newbery Reading Challenge headquarters for all details on this challenge. This is also where you can post your reviews.

Come back soon! Mini-Challenge #4 will be posted September 25!

I hope everyone is enjoying their reading so far for the Newbery Reading Challenge. And now, it's time for another Mini-Challenge! Mini-challenges are great ways to get a few extra points along the way. They just might be what pushes you to aim for the next level!

Mini-Challenge #1 was announced in February. You earn one bonus point for each book you read from the 2014 winners. You can check out more about Mini-Challenge #1 by clicking here.

Mini-Challenge #2 is a little bit different. If you read all of the medal winners and honor books from one year, you get 2 bonus points. For example, in 2004, the Newbery Medal winner was The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. The Honor Books were Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes and An American Plague by Jim Murphy. If you read all three of these books, you would normally get 7 points (3 + 2 + 2). But because they are all from the same year, you would also get 2 bonus points - which means reading three books would earn you a total of 9 points!

Enjoy your reading! And enjoy boosting your points!

As always, check out the Newbery Reading Challenge headquarters for all details on this challenge. This is also where you can post your reviews.

And stay tuned for Mini-Challenge #3, coming on July 24!

You may have noticed that a couple of weeks ago, the American Library Association announced this year's winners of the Newbery Medal and Honor Books. Here they are, in all their newly-awarded glory:

2014 Newbery Medal winner: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

To celebrate, I'm introducing the first mini-challenge as part of the 2014 Newbery Reading Challenge. If you remember from the rules, each medal winner you read gets 3 points, and each honor book you read gets 2 points. Exception: the 2014 winners! If you read any of this year's winners, you get an extra bonus point for that book. So reading Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo would earn you 4 points towards your challenge. Reading any of the honor books would earn you 3 points each.

Stay tuned for future mini-challenges in order to earn some more bonus points. The next one will be posted April 3. Also, there is now a page at the top of the blog where you can post your reviews. Start linking up! And enjoy your reading!

I figure it's about time to sign up for my own challenge! I decided to host a Newbery Reading Challenge because it's one of my long-term goals to read all of the Newbery Medal winners. But those books often slip through the cracks of all the adult fiction and nonfiction (and the occasional YA novel) I read. This challenge will keep me on track for someday completing that goal.

The challenge is point-based (click on the challenge badge above to see all the details). I'm signing up for the Spinelli level, which is 30-44 points. If you want to join the fun, check out the introductory post!

It’s been a goal of mine for quite awhile to read all of the Newbery Award winners. I'm sure I read some as a kid, but I also know I only touched the tip of the iceberg. I needed a way to inspire myself to focus on this goal. What better way than a reading challenge?

I'm so excited about hosting this reading challenge that I may have made it a bit more complicated than it needed to be. But I didn't want to leave out the Newbery Honor Books. Are they any less of a good book just because they didn't win the Medal? Certainly not. So here's my compromise:

Each book you read is worth points. You get:

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Medal Winner (Gotta give the picture books some love, too.)

In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

You can get to this level with any combination of points you want. You can read all Newbery Medal winners. You can throw in a few Honor Books. If you want, you can even read 75 Caldecott Medal winners! How you get to your point level is totally up to you.

(And just to make it extra fun, every couple of months I'll give you a mini-challenge. You can earn bonus points by completing mini-challenges!)

Challenge Guidelines:

• Rereads count (because you were probably a kid when you read it last, and your perspective on the story just might have changed since then).
• Audiobooks and ebooks count.
• And paper books count, too. :)
• All books must be read between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014. Books begun before January 1 don’t count.
• Books can be used for other challenges as well.
• You don’t have to have a blog to participate. You can link up reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, etc., or just hang out with us in the comments!
• Reviews are encouraged, but not necessary. There will be a monthly post for you to link up your reviews if you want to share your thoughts.
• Choose your point level. You can always aim for a higher point level, but you can't move to a lower one.

To join the Newbery Reading Challenge:

• Write a post (or a comment) stating your intention to join. Choose your point level. You can find the challenge button below to use in your post.
• Add your link to the Linky at the bottom of this post. Make sure you include the link to your sign-up post, not just your homepage.

Grab the Challenge Button!

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