Okay, you know the drill. The Real Committee will meet in less than two weeks to make their final decisions. How in the world are they going to do it? I DON’T KNOW. We had a horrible time putting our ballot together, and we didn’t have hours of discussion and gallons of coffee to aid our thinking. The problem this year was getting the list down to size (and this wide-open year, we decided to err on the side of more rather than less). We always want to include everything and miss nothing. We do NOT want to be surprised on Monday, January 23rd. Holy Toledo! That’s just around the corner.

Here are the 24 titles the three of us have chosen to appear on our mock Caldecott ballot:

1. The Airport Book by Lisa Brown


2. Before Morning, illus. by Beth Krommes


3. Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis


4. Emma and Julia Love Ballet by Barbara McClintock


5. Frank and Lucky Get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins


6. Freedom in Congo Square, illus. by R. Gregory Christie


7. Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan


8. Giant Squid, illus. by Eric Rohmann


9. Henry & Leo by Pamela Zagarenski


10. Ideas Are All Around by Philip C. Stead


11. Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph, illus. by Francis Vallejo


12. March: Book 3, illus. by Nate Powell 


13. Maybe Something Beautiful, illus. by Rafael Lopez


14. Miracle Man by John Hendrix


15. Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe


16. Real Cowboys by Jonathan Bean


17. Snow White by Matt Phelan


18. Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet


19. The Sound of Silence, illus. by Julia Kuo


20. The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles, illus. by Erin E. Stead


21. They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel


22. This Is Not a Picture Book! by Sergio Ruzzier


23. Thunder Boy Jr., illus. by Yuyi Morales


24. We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

Tomorrow (Thursday), Calling Caldecott will become MOCK Caldecott: all of you get to vote for the winners and honor books. When it comes time to vote, please just vote for the three books YOU think are most deserving. We really want to know what YOU think. We know there are many, many lurkers out there who follow the blog and know (at least some of) the books. We love to hear from all of you lurkers! We love to hear from non-lurkers as well. Please, for the love of Pete (as my father says at least once a day), restrain yourself from sending this link to your relatives, co-workers, and college group text buddies to help build support for your special snowflake of a book. That messes things up for us. Please, vote only once. However, DO send this link out to other bookish friends who love picture books and who might like to vote. You do NOT have to have read all the books—that would be impossible. Even those of us who work in libraries and schools cannot do that.

So, take the last few hours before voting opens to take another look at your favorites. Maybe get to a library or bookstore to find the ones you have missed.

Here’s the schedule. All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.

Right now!	Discussion of books on ballot
9 a.m. Thursday, January 12	Ballot 1 open for voting
9 a.m. Friday, January 13	Voting on ballot 1 ends
1 p.m. Friday, January 13	Ballot 1 results announced on Calling Caldecott; ballot 2 opens
9 a.m. Wednesday, January 18	Voting ends
Noon Wednesday, January 18	Calling Caldecott mock vote results posted

 

At this point the Real Committee is busy rereading all their nominated books, making notes on what they appreciate and what concerns them. (Experience tells me that a lot of time will given to the concerns — a person has to be ready to defend against others’ concerns and to lay out their own concerns in a way that the others can hear. Minds will have to be changed!) The books are all shipped to Atlanta by ALA, but I found I liked to carry my seven favorites myself, just so I could read my favorite parts aloud. I tend to use Post-Its liberally and find that having MY copy with me means I will not forget anything. I also bring the books about which I have concerns. I like being especially prepared with those books — if I want to change minds, I have to be prepared, even if my luggage is outrageously full.

The Real Committee starts face-to-face deliberations on Friday, January 20th, so they are down to the wire, just like we are here. And here, we would love to hear your pleas for your favorite books — use the comment section below! The Real Committee will be discussing their books over and over until the final ballot … and there can be many, many ballots. Vote carefully! But please vote!