Sophie Blackall's The Baby Tree was named to the NYT Best Illustrated List this year. Last year Blackall wowed us with her innovative, almost-3D pictures for The Mighty Lalouche — which fact is of course irrelevant to this discussion, since books from previous years are absolutely not allowed on the Caldecott table, literally or figuratively.

But one of the things I so appreciate about Blackall's work is that it's always recognizably her own yet it morphs to fit each text or subject's needs. The Baby Tree is a gentle, sunny, playful domestic story; the Chinese ink and watercolor illustrations are gentle, playful, and sunny. The palette is, if not strictly pastel, definitely in that universe.

The book opens so appropriately, with a close-up, child-focused, step-by-step unfolding of a little boy's morning. A series of eight vignette illustrations on a spread take the boy from waking up to waking his parents up (he has to wake up Dad twice) to getting dressed to having breakfast. The progression is easy to follow and very informative; we learn a lot about this little boy and his family. (He loves his cat and takes good care of him; his family is close-knit and easy-going; they all care more about books than they do furniture.) A page-turn bring us to a double-page spread in which the parents tell the little boy that "a new baby is coming." See how the composition puts all the focus on the little boy, as Mom and Dad lean in on either side of him to tell him the big news. All is calm and attentiveness and happiness, and the boy, still processing the news, can only think to ask for a second helping of "cocopops" cereal. The next page-turn, though, shows the boy again, this time inside a whirlwind of activity as Mom and Dad, running late, rush about (Mom is shown with five arms — simultaneously doing her hair, hugging her son, wiping down the kitchen table, and pocketing her smartphone; Dad is only juggling three tasks at once so he has three arms. Good call, Ms. Blackall). Look at the expression on the boy's face amidst all this commotion. The illustration focuses our attention on that face, and we can almost see the wheels turning in the boy's head as he realizes that what he really wants to know is: "Where are we going to get the baby?" This one picture speaks volumes about a particular childhood truth: the adult world, however benign and caring, doesn't always move at a child's pace or have room for a child's concerns.

And now the structure of the rest of the book is set up, with each new person to whom the boy addresses the question of where babies come from providing a slightly different answer. Shown in large thought balloons that take up most of a double-page spread, we see the boy imagining a baby tree; a hospital with a swaddled newborn in every window and marching out the door; a flying stork carrying a baby in its beak; a nest in which a baby has just hatched from a speckled egg. These imagined scenarios are somehow perfectly balanced: funny, but also respectful of the child's imagination as he tries to make sense of his world.

Speaking of humor, it's (gently) rampant. See the picture of the stork in Grandpa's house; see the cat named Brian with his/her kittens on the back flap. If you look very closely, you can even follow the quirky behavior of one of the boy's classmates.

This picture book has tons of child appeal; a satisfying structure; uses a style appropriate to its story, audience, and theme; movement throughout the book, and effective page-turns. Caldecott criteria: check! How will it hold up against the competition? One of which, by the way, is surely another 2014 Sophie Blackall picture book (though we won't have time to cover it here): Judith Viorst's And Two Boys Booed. Please let us know your thoughts.