I'm back from ALA and, if the exhibits were any indication, can tell you one thing that is On Trend: rainbow-themed board books. Not science-rainbow or leprechaun-rainbow but FLAG-rainbow. I counted four. When I questioned the Pride flag's relevance to a board-book-aged audience, Macmillan's Angus Killick gave me What For, so okay, okay. In fact, GLBTQ books for all ages were everywhere, and if that's not a convincing example  of the importance of diversifying publishing personnel I don't know what is. If it works for us it can work for everybody.

Calling Caldecott compares its Mock results with the real ones, and, yes, what happened with Dreamers? Its absence from the roster is surprising, he understated. I remember a similar instance of general disbelief when The Farmer and the Clown was overlooked, but that book had a divided reception from the start while Dreamers received universal acclaim. Do we think the committee found one of those legendary Fatal Flaws? If the system--and it's a good system--works the way it should, we will never know. (But, of course, I'm dying to know. Aren't you?)

And here's a roundup of Horn Book reviews to go with the news from the "Podium" as Dear Leader would say. But this news, delivered from an actual podium, was both good news and real news. Congratulations to all.