Newbery Medal 1964: Complete list of winners

The 1964 Newbery Medal went to Emily Cheney Neville for It’s Like This, Cat, a deceptively simple novel that captured something authentic about adolescence that resonated with the award committee and generations of young readers alike. Neville’s story of a fourteen-year-old boy named Dave and his relationship with a stray tomcat became a landmark in children’s literature precisely because it refused to talk down to its audience. Published in an era when much children’s fiction still maintained a certain primness, It’s Like This, Cat brought vernacular speech and real emotional complexity to the page, proving that award-winning children’s books could be both literary and genuinely compelling to their intended readers.

The Newbery Medal, one of the most prestigious honors in American children’s literature, has long served as a bellwether for what literary establishment values in writing for young people. That Neville’s protagonist was an ordinary city kid grappling with friendship, family friction, and self-discovery—rather than embarking on some fantastical quest—speaks to a shifting perspective in 1964 about what stories mattered for children. The novel’s New York City setting and its frank treatment of adolescent concerns gave it a modernity that stood apart from many of its contemporaries.

Below, explore the full details of this year’s Newbery Medal recognition and what made It’s Like This, Cat such a distinctive choice for the award.

Children’s Literature

• It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Cheney Neville