Widely popular fantasy writer Neil Gaiman is “amazed and delighted” after being awarded the top prize for children’s literature: The John Newberry Medal.

On Monday January 26, the American Library Association announced the the top books, videos and audiobooks for children and young adults, including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, Schneider Family and Printz awards, at its Midwinter Meeting in Denver.

Judges of the 88th annual Newbery Awards turned their attention towards Gaiman, who has written best-selling science fiction and fantasy novels for children as well as adults, and honored him with the John Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature for “The Graveyard Book” (HarperCollins).

Partly inspired by by Rudyard Kipling's classic "The Jungle Book," about a boy raised by animals, the novel follows the adventures of a child who is abandoned in a graveyard after the vicious murder of his parents and sister, then raised by a vampire, a dead witch and the ghosts of the departed. The book was illustrated by Dave McKean.

“I am so wonderfully befuddled,” the 48-year-old best-selling author told the Associated Press on Monday after finding out he was the winner of what is widely considered the most prestigious honor in children’s literature. This is the first such award for Gaiman, a prolific creator of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. He is known as one of the world’s top ten living post-modern writers, most famous for his haunting and mature “Sandman” comic book series.

In a blog post on his website, the author, who is currently promoting a new animation film based on his book, “Coraline,” slated for a February 6 release, recalled he was sleeping in a hotel in Los Angeles when his assistant called him to inform him about the award.

“I never really thought of myself as a Newbery winner. It's such a very establishment kind of award, in the right kind of way, with the world of librarians pointing at the book saying, `This is worthy of the ages.' And I'm so very used to working in, and enjoying working in, essentially the gutter,” he added.
The prize committee delivered the good, super-secret advance news about the Newbery Medal.

“A child named Nobody, an assassin, a graveyard and the dead are the perfect combination in this deliciously creepy tale, which is sometimes humorous, sometimes haunting and sometimes surprising,” said Newbery Committee Chair Rose V. Treviño of “The Graveyard Book.”

The Newbery committee faced criticism for their winning book choices in the past because the books were too difficult for children. It is not the case for Gaiman’s book which has already sold over 71,000 copies.

Among the other award winners announced by the American Library Association was Beth Krommes, honored with the Randolph Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in “The House in the Night,” written by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin).