I'm not sure it's a good idea to generalize about The Newbery Award These Days from the books I've been describing; if nothing else, you have to remember that these are the books I kept putting off because they sounded the least intrinsically appealing. And Turtle in Paradise, at least, includes literal pirate treasure, which is clearly much higher on the "delight" scale than the "improve."
But more generally "delight" and "improve" are two values that have long been in tension for American children's books (at least since the 1860s, when St. Nicholas Magazine first started publication with a clarion call on the "delight" side), and the Newberys have always had difficulty balancing them. Pick almost any decade and there's generally at least one "Oh God you chose this book to teach children an Important Lesson about Death, didn't you?" book.
...Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if the 2010s turn out to have listed hard in the "improve" direction. But the pendulum will inevitably swing back.
no subject
But more generally "delight" and "improve" are two values that have long been in tension for American children's books (at least since the 1860s, when St. Nicholas Magazine first started publication with a clarion call on the "delight" side), and the Newberys have always had difficulty balancing them. Pick almost any decade and there's generally at least one "Oh God you chose this book to teach children an Important Lesson about Death, didn't you?" book.
...Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if the 2010s turn out to have listed hard in the "improve" direction. But the pendulum will inevitably swing back.