Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · grades 3–7 · 720L · 1927
Why we'd hand it over
A 1928 Newbery winner that hasn't aged as sweetly as Charlotte's Web, but the war-trauma arc in an animal story is genuinely unusual and teaches real courage through a pigeon's eyes.