The Matchlock Gun, Newbery Winner 1942

For some reason I imagined more of the Newbery books to be longer. People always cite Sarah, Plain and Tall as an example of how a short book can go a long ways, yet here I am with another short Newbery winner. The Matchlock Gun took less than an hour to read... while eating lunch, and walking, and stopping to talk to people, you get the idea.
While I liked this book, I was a bit confused as to why it should be considered so great at the time it was written as to merit the award. Books never exist within a vacuum, which is why we end up with literary classics that may seem prejudiced and insensitive. One look at the date and it is easy to imagine where the committee was going with this one.
The story is one about a family who finds themselves and their freedom threatened. But they fight together and protect their land from the invading Indian forces, saving their freedom even at the cost of health and property... Oh I get it.
You see the award year is actually a year past the publication year. So the award in 1942 is given in January and applies to those books which were published throughout 1941. So in January 1942, when the committee voted on and awarded the medal to The Matchlock Gun they probably had headlines and images in their heads like this:

 

Oh, I get it now.

 

You see, to the committee they are voting on contributions to future literature and current literature. I can see how they would find this an important book for children to be reading. The U.S. had just been attacked, but we had been watching a war unfolding in Europe for a while now. The world was about to see one of the devastating wars in history, and the message about protecting freedom would soon be everywhere you looked, The Matchlock Gun simply had a bit of a head start.
So if you're looking for a short historically relevant piece, I highly recommend The Matchlock Gun.