| Established 1922. A medal presented annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in the United States in the preceding year. The recipient must be a citizen or resident of the United States. |
| 1997 E.L. Konigsburg The View From Saturday |
| 1996 Cushman, Karen The Midwife's Apprentice |
| 1995 Creech, Sharon Walk Two Moons |
| 1994 Lowry, Lois The Giver |
| 1993 Rylant, Cynthia Missing May |
| 1992 Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds Shiloh |
| 1991 Spinelli, Jerry Maniac Magee |
| 1990 Lowry, Lois Number the Stars |
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| 1989 Fleischman, Paul Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices |
| 1988 Freedman, Russell Lincoln: A Photobiography |
| 1987 Fleischman, Sid The Whipping Boy |
| 1986 MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah, Plain and Tall |
| 1985 McKinley, Robin The Hero and the Crown |
| 1984 Cleary, Beverly Dear Mr. Henshaw |
| 1983 Voigt, Cynthia Dicey's Song |
| 1982 Willard, Nancy A Visit to William Blake's Inn |
| 1981 Paterson, Katherine Jacob Have I Loved |
| 1980 Blos, Joan A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal |
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| 1979 Raskin, Ellen The Westing Game |
| 1978 Paterson, Katherine Bridge to Terabithia |
| 1977 Taylor, Mildred Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry |
| 1976 Cooper, Susan The Grey King |
| 1975 Hamilton, Virginia M.C. Higgins, the Great |
| 1974 Fox, Paula The Slave Dancer |
| 1973 George, Jean Craighead Julie of the Wolves |
| 1972 O'Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH |
| 1971 Byars, Betsy The Summer of the Swans |
| 1970 Armstrong, William H. Sounder |
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| 1969 Alexander, Lloyd The High King |
| 1968 Konigsburg, Elaine From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler |
| 1967 Hunt, Irene Up a Road Slowly |
| 1966 de Trevino, Elizabeth Borton Juan de Pareja |
| 1965 Wojciechowska, Maia Shadow of a Bull |
| 1964 Neville, Emily C. It's Like This, Cat |
| 1963 L'Engle, Madeleine A Wrinkle in Time |
| 1962 Speare, Elizabeth George The Bronze Bow |
| 1961 O'Dell, Scott Island of the Blue Dolphins |
| 1960 Krumgold, John Onion John |
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| 1959 Speare, Elzabeth George The Witch of Blackbird Pond |
| 1958 Keith, Harold V. Rifles for Watie |
| 1957 Sorenson, Virginia Miracles on Maple Hill |
| 1956 Latham, Jean Lee Carry On, Mr. Bowditch |
| 1955 DeJong, Meindert The Wheel on the School |
| 1954 Krumgold, John ...And Now Migue |
| 1953 Clark, Ann Nolan Secret of the Andes |
| 1952 Estes, Elanor Ginger Pye |
| 1951 Yates, Elizabeth Amos Fortune, Free Man |
| 1950 de Angeli, Marguerite The Door in the Wall |
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| 1949 Henry, Marguerite King of the Wind |
| 1948 du Bois, William Pene The Twenty-One Balloons |
| 1947 Bailey, Carolyn S. Miss Hickory |
| 1946 Lenski, Lois Strawberry Girl |
| 1945 Lawson, Robert Rabbit Hill |
| 1944 Forbes, Esther Johnny Tremain |
| 1943 Gray, Elizabeth Janet Adam of the Road |
| 1942 Edmonds, Walter D. The Matchlock Gun |
| 1941 Sperry, Armstrong Call it Courage |
| 1940 Daugherty, James Daniel Boone |
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| 1939 Enright, Elizabeth Thinmble Summer |
| 1938 Seredy, Kate The White Stag |
| 1937 Sawyer, Ruth Roller Skates |
| 1936 Brink, Carol Ryrie Caddie Woodlawn |
| 1935 Shannon, Monica Dobry |
| 1934 Meigs, Cornelia Invincible Louisa |
| 1933 Lewis, Elizabeth Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze |
| 1932 Armer, Laura Waterless Mountain |
| 1931 Coatsworth, Elizabeth The Cat Who Went to Heaven |
| 1930 Field, Rachel Hitty, Her First Hundred Years |
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| 1929 Kelly, Eric P. The Trumpeter of Krakow |
| 1928 Mukerji, Dhan Gay-Neck |
| 1927 James, Will Smoky |
| 1926 Chrisman, Arthur Shen of the Sea |
| 1925 Finger, Charles Tales from Silver Lands |
| 1924 Hawes, Charles The Dark Frigate |
| 1923 Lofting, Hugh The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle |
| 1922 Van Loon, Hendrick The Story of Mankind |
