Mock Caldecott - Bedminster School K-2 classes

 

Mock Caldecott 2026

Due to sickness & snow, this was rescheduled twice but we finally got to run our annual Mock Caldecott. We had to combine into two groups, used the technique described here:  https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/01/mock-caldecott-committee-be-judge.html

Group One:
Gold: Cranky, Crabby Crow
Silvers: Moon Song, Nunu and the Sea, Papilio

Group Two:
Gold: Broken, Fireworks, Cranky, Crabby Crow, In the World of Whales

Bedminster School 1/27/26

2024 Mock Caldecott - Bedminster School K-2

2024 – I conducted 4 Mock Caldecott elections with a total of about 200 K-2nd* graders at Bedminster School. I used the books and ideas from this blogpost: https://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2023/11/2024-mock-caldecott.html and the basic procedure here (using Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes and Tuesday 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!).  

*Because of snow days, 3rd grade had to bow out.  Here are the results:

Kdg Winner: Big by Vashti Harrison

Honors: In the Night Garden by Carin Berger

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

Once Upon a Book, illustrations by Grace Lin

Also Read: Remember Illustrations by Michaela Goade, Words by Joy Harjo

My Powerful Hair, Illustrations by Steph Littlebird

1st Grade Winner: If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall

Honors: Big by Vashti Harrison

The Skull by Jon Klassen

Once Upon a Book, illustrations by Grace Lin

Remember Illustrations by Michaela Goade, Words by Joy Harjo

Also Read: In the Night Garden by Carin Berger

This is a Story, by John Schu, illustrations by Lauren Castillo
 

2nd Grade Winner: The Skull by Jon Klassen

Honors: Evergreen by Matthew Cordell

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

Jumper by Jessica Lanan

Nell Plants a Tree, illustrations by Daniel Miyares

Also Read: In the Night Garden by Carin Berger

If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall

Remember Illustrations by Michaela Goade, Words by Joy Harjo

All the books we considered are discussed here: https://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2023/11/2024-mock-caldecott.html

2020 Mock Caldecott Election Results Bedminster School K-4

Contenders

Another by Christian Robinson

Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris, Illustrated by LeUyen Pham

A Big Bed for Little Snow by Grace Lin

Carl and the Meaning of Life by Deborah Freedman

Daniel's Good Day by Micha Archer

Elvis is King! by Jonah Winter

Fly by Mark Teague

Going Down Home With Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons, Illustrated by Daniel Minter

Hey, Water by Antoinette Portis

My Heart by Corinna Luyken

River by Elisha Cooper

Saturday by Oge Mora

Small World by Ishta Mercurio, Illustrated by Jen Corace

A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel

Truman by Jean Reidy, Illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Vamos! Let's Go to the Market by Raul the Third

Vroom! by Barbara McClintock

Why? by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Arrived too late to use:

Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard

My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, Illustrated by Zeke Pena

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper, Illustrated by Carson Ellis

Mock Caldecott Results

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)

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin (4 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

2017 Mock Caldecott Results

 

(Look here for the methodology used: carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/01/mock-caldecott-committee-be-judge.html )

Mock Caldecott Results Bedminster School – approximately 300 students – 5 groups

Totals:
Are We There Yet? by Dan Sandat -- Gold (3), Silver (1)
Maybe Something Beautiful illustrated by Rafael Lopez-- Gold (1), Silver (2)
They All Saw a Cat  by Brendon Wenzel --  Silver (3)
The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers-- Silver (3)
Return  by Aaron Becker -- Gold (1) Silver (1)
The Airport Book by Lisa Brown – Silver (2)
Du Iz Tak by Carson Ellis – Gold (1)
Ada’s Violin illustrated by Sally Wern Comport – Silver (1)
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen – Silver (1)

Individual group results:
Valentine, Hofman, & Hogan -- Winner(tie):

Honors:

3rd Grade --  Winner:

Honors:

Kindergarten -- Winner:

Honors:

Lovejoy & McFarland -- Winner:

Honors:

4th Grade -- Winner:

Honors:

Here are the other books the kids considered:

Raw Numbers (Preliminary votes each book received at Bedminster School – I saw 5 classes, if there is a number in parens, it means there were less than 5 bookmarks found)

Ada’s Violin  53
The Airport Book   69
Are We There Yet?   75 
Before Morning   66
The Cat from Hunger Mountain  46
Daniel Finds a Poem  40
Du Iz Tak?   38
Freedom in Congo Square   21 (4)
I am a Story   62
Maybe Something Beautiful   55
The Night Gardener   86 (4)
The Perfect Tree  70
Return   56
School’s First Day of School  62 (4)
Steamboat School     31
There is a Tribe of Kids    62
They All Saw a Cat    85
This is Not a Picture Book   60
Thunder Boy Jr.   44
The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles   43
We Found a Hat   55

 

Bridgewater Library 2017 Mock Caldecott Winner:

Honor Books:

1/2017

Mock Caldecott 2016

 

I just ran a Mock Caldecott at the Bridgewater Branch of the Somerset County (NJ) Public Library System and five Mock Caldecotts with the Kindergarten – 4th grade classes of Bedminster School. 

(Methodology used: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/01/mock-caldecott-committee-be-judge.html )

Here are the results:

A list of all titles shared with the children and the preliminary tallies for each title can be viewed at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x_gkWud_CXXgVy-LgFBqGNgkUmQVQMwds1xdOvT8nNY/edit?usp=sharing

 

I loved getting to read aloud so many wonderful titles -- one of my favorite parts of doing the Mock Caldecott is seeing how the kids respond to the new books -- and seeing the excitement when I come into the room.  The kids really look forward to this program! 

My personal favorites -- I must admit I am a sucker for great illustrations complemented by a great text (even though that is not the "official" guideline):
Last Stop on Market Street (Grandmother/grandchild and city people so well imaged)
Finding Winnie  (charming, so fitting for the story)
Trombone Shorty (so evocative of New Orleans!)
Drum Dream Girl (gorgeously vividly Caribbean)
In a Village by the Sea (great changes in perspective, incredible detail, full-circle story)

1/16

 

Bridgewater Library 2017 Mock Caldecott

Winners (Tie)

Honor Books

1/17