Apologies for no cover images – the uploading software has a glitch. Will load them when they fix the bug.
2019 – I conducted 4 Mock Caldecott elections with a total of about 200 K-3rd graders at Bedminster School. I used the basic procedure here (using The Man Who Walked Between the Towers illustrated by Uri Shulevitz and Flotsam by David Wiesner as samples of previous winners and mentioning how the Caldecott Committee is meeting in secret and no one knows which books they are considering – we are all guessing!).
And the winners are…
I Am a Cat by Galia Bernstein (3 Gold, 1 Silver)
Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise by David Ezra Stein (1 Gold, 2 Silver)
Honors…
Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (1 Silver)
Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat (1 Silver)
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall (1 Silver)
Island Born by Junot Diaz, illustrated by Leo Espinosa (1 Silver)
Ocean Meets Sky by Eric & Terry Fan (1 Silver)
The Rough Patch by Brian Lies (1 Silver)
9 a.m. Wednesday (Valentine, Rosnell, Oliveri/McCoy, Skiba) Cat, Chicken, Drawn
10 a.m. Wednesday (Isello, Davies, Grundstrom) Cat, Blue, Lighthouse
9 a.m. Friday (McFarland, Hogan) Cat, Chicken, Rough Job
10 a.m. Friday (Spero, Lovejoy) Chicken, Ocean/Sky, Cat, Island Born
1/2019
2018 -- I conducted 7 Mock Caldecott elections this year with a total of about 300 K-4th graders. I used the basic procedure outlined here (using Snowflake Bentley illustrated by Mary Azarian and Snow by Uri Shulevitz as samples of previous winners and mentioning how the Caldecott Committee is meeting in secret and no one knows which books they are considering – we are all guessing!). I read aloud the 6-7 books that had received the most preliminary votes in each class, and had the kids give me feedback on the illustrations between each. I also made a change with a couple of the later groups: after the “gold” was chosen, I had the kids who had chosen it disperse to their second choice, and then to their third. This got us past The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors and Claymates to have the kids consider some of the other titles.
And the winners are…
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex (4 Gold, 2 Honors)
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge (2 Gold, 3 Honors)
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (1 Gold, 2 Honors)
After the Fall by Dan Santat (3 Honors)
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim (3 Honors)
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers (2 Honors)
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Chris Appelhans (2 Honors)
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein (1 Honor)
Egg by Kevin Henkes (1 Honor)
Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin (1 Honor)
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken (1 Honor)
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper (1 Honor)
Mentioned during some of the programs:
- relating to The Boy and the Whale http://www.radiolab.org/story/149761-whale-saying-thank-you/ (this event was not photographed or video recorded) https://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/whalethanks.asp) but another rescue was http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/humpback-whale-saved-tangled-net-14195095
- relating to After the Fall – a silly rhyme about Humpty Dumpty:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Eating black bananas.
Where do you think he put the skins?
Down the king’s pajamas!
Specific results:
Bradley Gardens Afterschool:
Gold: Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Honors:
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim
Bedminster School:
Isello/Rosnell/Wysocki:
Gold: Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Honors:
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Chris Appelhans
Lewis/Deegan/Oliveri/Resotka:
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors:
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Chris Appelhans
After the Fall by Dan Santat
Roth/Tarulli:
Gold: Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Honors:
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
close behind:
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
After the Fall by Dan Santat
Valentine/McFarland/Hogan (2nd Grade):
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors: (very close second) Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Lovejoy/Spero/Skiba/Hofman:
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors:
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim
After the Fall by Dan Santat
Egg by Kevin Henkes
Milltown Afterschool:
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors:
Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers
Books included and preliminary ballot results (Note, I kept the bookmark ballots from 5 classes but some went missing. *indicates one of the ballots was missing in the final count so I extrapolated preliminary votes):
After the Fall by Dan Santat -- 61
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper -- 48
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson – 99* (79/4)
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken – 37
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein – 86* (70/4)
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge – 89* (72/4)
A Different Pond by Bao Phi – 40* (32/4)
Egg by Kevin Henkes -- 85* (69/4)
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin – 97* (77/4)
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Chris Appelhans – 60
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers -- 37
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim – 74* (59/4)
Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin – 62* (50/4)
Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex – 119* (95/4)
Muddy by Michael James Mahin – 39* (23/3)
A Perfect Day by Lane Smith -- 66* (51/4)
Robinson by Peter Sis -- 44
This House Once by Deborah Freedman – 71* (43/3)
2/18
“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” ~ Helen Keller
