Final answer:
The Newbery Medal was created to encourage the production of high-quality children's literature and it is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year.
Step-by-step explanation:
The original purpose of the Newbery Medal was to encourage the creation of high-quality literature for children. This prestigious award, established by the American Library Association in 1922, is named after eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is given annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published the previous year. Unlike the Nobel Prize in Literature, which honors an author's lifetime of work contributing to the arts of letters, or the PEN/Faulkner Award, which recognizes the best work of the year written by a living American citizen, the Newbery Medal is specifically aimed at children's literature.
The development of children's literature over time has evolved from primarily providing moral education to becoming a fully-fledged literary genre that entertains while it informs. Classics such as Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings', and J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series exemplify the richness of this genre. By honoring outstanding books for children, the Newbery Medal plays a pivotal role in promoting quality literature that can be cherished by young readers for generations.