Calling Caldecott final ballot is OPEN

box

         Aaaaand they’re off! Here is a link to the second and final ballot. We’ll leave the polls on this one open until Thursday morning and aim to post the final results Thursday noon. If you missed the results of the first ballot, they are here. Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story [...]

VOTE NOW! Mock Caldecott polls are open.

voting2012c

Here’s a link to the official Calling Caldecott Ballot #1. Note that you will vote for your first, second, and third choices, just like the real committee. The polls will close at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning (Tuesday, January 17) and we will try to get the results up at noon. Tallying Caldecott votes is a [...]

Our mock Caldecott ballot list

box

Robin and I have put our heads together and come up with a ballot of 15 books. On the real committee, once the ballot is decided there is more discussion before voting, so that’s how we will do it here. We’d like to hear lots of comments. Lurkers, it’s time to be heard! Be as [...]

Little White Rabbit

Little White Rabbit

I’ve been a fan of Kevin Henkes’s “thick line” books ever since the first one came out — Kitten’s First Full Moon, the year I was on Caldecott. All of these books work well with very young children and have a timeless feeling, as if Henkes was channeling the spirit of Margaret Wise Brown when [...]

For your listening pleasure

Horn Book Book Podcast logo

Yes, I still have two posts to write but have been (still am) sick so I’ll take the easy route for now. Back in the day, the Horn Book had a podcast. My favorite was one that Roger recorded in January 2008 when he was on the Caldecott committee. What I love about this is [...]

If You Lived Here

If You Lived Here

According to my calulations, there are three more books for us to blog about before we finish up our list: If You Lived Here by Giles Laroche; Tweak Tweak by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier, and Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes. I’m not sure how many people are online this week — I’m [...]

Review of The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse

The Artist Who Painted 
a Blue Horse by Eric Carle; illus. by the author Preschool    Philomel    32 pp. 10/11    978-0-399-25713-1    $17.99 In its simplest interpretation, Carle’s book is about an artist—perhaps a child, perhaps an adult—who paints animals the “wrong” color. There is the titular blue horse, a red alligator, green lion, and even a [...]

Caldecott winner formula

Travis Jonker has distilled the elements most likely to win a book the Caldecott Medal. Check out his logic over at Scope Notes!

Why I love my job

Martha by Susan Meddaugh

Here’s a glimpse at what came out of a FedEx box I found on my desk this morning: nine pages of watercolor from Susan Meddaugh, plus nine more in black and white with word balloon text. Such a good way to start the week! Susan (or rather Martha) has written an article about the transition [...]

We want to hear your mocks

mockcaldecotts

We’ll get back to our own book discussions this weekend, but first we want to hear about any Mock Caldecotts you have led or participated in. If the results are in, what were they? If you have books you plan to discuss, share your list. We’d love to let this blog be the repository for [...]