January Carnival of Children’s Literature | Delightful Children's Books

[...] post by Betsy Bird at Fuse #8). Children’s book bloggers also announced the winners of the mock Caldecott and mock Newberry awards (Me…Jane by Patrick McDonell and Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming) [...]

Posted : Jan 29, 2012 05:45

Bill Wright

My third grade class and I have been doing mock Caldecotts in class for quite a number of years, and this year our medal choice was All the Water in the World. Honors went to Blue Chicken, Never Forgotten, Orani, and The Secret River. We had looked at A Ball for Daisy, but the consensus in the class was that it was cute, but not distinguished. This year's class was very much into details, hence the attraction to Orani and the Dillon's two books. So great to read what other kids and adults have been choosing!

Posted : Jan 24, 2012 04:35

Robin

Susan-- Yes there are some powerful images in A NATION'S HOPE, but there have been some pretty serious concerns about the story itself. The depiction of Max Schmelling as "Hitler's German" has been discussed at some length in a number of reviews and on online sites. Schmelling was not a Hitler supporter and it would be easy to read the book and think he was. Also, there was no backmatter to extend or explain the story. I have no idea about anything that went on in the committee deliberations, but I would not be surprised if these concerns were part of the discussion.

Posted : Jan 24, 2012 02:32

Patricia Lee Gauch

In the Hyde Park, New York area three libraries hold a mock Caldecott, getting together at the end to vote a last time for the winner. The mock Caldecott committees of this Hudson River Valley voted for Blackout as their first choice. They loved the retro originality of the art, the surprising perspectives, the simple power of image - and the powerful visual reminder that less may be more. Even now. Their runnerups were A Nation's Hope; the presenter for this book did an amazing presentation; it showed just how good it really was. The other runnerup was the popular Me, Jane, which everyone loved.

Posted : Jan 21, 2012 12:41

Kathy Lauterbach

My third graders voted for Blackout as their favorite Caldecott book too. Their honor books were Grandpa Green, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, All the Water in the World, and Red Sled. In Blackout, they loved the silhouette images and the contrast of light and dark and the candle bringing color to the city scape. We also lost power this fall for 7 days in our area and I think it brought back fond memories.

Posted : Jan 20, 2012 08:29

Roger Sutton

Good job, you guys! (And not just because you picked my favorite.) Will be on the ground with Martha Monday morning to hear what they think.

Posted : Jan 20, 2012 02:57

Allison

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I can't wait for Monday. But I am on the west coast so I don't know how early I'll have to get up!

Posted : Jan 20, 2012 05:32

Allison

John Rocco follows this blog?! How exciting.! And congratulations on the great book, Mr. Rocco. I enjoyed it for many reasons (and so did my 5-year old son!) and was very glad that it made honor on our mock here on the blog. Why were all the books in our top 5 made honor books? Would that be realistic? Or did you both (Robin and Lolly) just love them all too much to eliminate any as honors after our 2nd vote? I'm very sad that books like Naamah and the Ark at Night, Swirl by Swirl, and Orani didn't make the finals. However, the emotions I'm feeling are over the books that I didn't like enough to think that they should have been considered at all. I'll just briefly list them because I already commented about them on other postings and don't want to become your dreaded whiner/reader/commenter. I'm baffled by 'I Want My Hat Back'. I really respect Mr. Klassen's art and appreciate the book. But I do not think it should have been an honor book on our mock. I just read Robin's posting above saying it is her classes' favorite, so I'm sorry that I have such a contrasting view. I also love the art in Grandpa Green, but don't think it should be here as an honor (although I understand why everyone wants it to be!). Maybe it is just my own criteria that if the book isn't really appropriate for the age group then it shouldn't be considered. I guess some others who have won in the past wouldn't have won the Caldecott if I my criteria were used. I feel like Grandpa Green is more for adults than kids as so many references are too old for the apparent intended age. OK, so I've said it here and I promise not to mention this again! I have loved this process, and feel privileged to be able to participate in a mock Caldecott vote after months of interesting discussion of many, many lovely books with Lolly, Robin and the readers of this blog. Thank you!

Posted : Jan 20, 2012 03:49

Robin Smith

I think I fixed it, John. Darn transparency. (and when I say "darn," it is just because my students might be reading.) Funny how that whole adding thing works when one is racing, talking on a cell phone to Lolly, and looking at the clock. (That crazy post was finished while my students were in the library for 30 minutes!) Funny thing is, that total is what I had written down. 0 & 9 are dangerously close together when my fat fingers are concerned. I will be posting about the mysteries of honor book selections soon. No numbers will be involved. Well, actually there will be numbers involved. Hope for the best. And--congratulations on your virtual prize. Perhaps next year Lolly and I will call the winners at some god-awful hour--in the interest of authenticity, of course.

Posted : Jan 20, 2012 03:05

John Rocco

Yowza! Please thank your second graders for me, Robin. This has been such a fun blog to follow, so many thanks to Lolly and Robin for doing this. I am thrilled to be getting a Calling Caldecott Mock honor and having Blackout displayed with those lovely books. One minor quibble, which doesn't effect the outcome at all, but the math is wrong on the final tally. Could that be a hanging chad?

Posted : Jan 20, 2012 01:40

Robin Smith

I posted this on the thread about Mock Caldecotts, but I will repeat the results of my sixteen second graders here: Winner: Blackout by John Rocco (which was a bit of a surprise to me based on the discussions) Honors: Balloons Over Broadway Grandpa Green Neville We considered all the books that we discussed on Calling Caldecott. I was not surprised that Blackout was honored, but I was surprised by the margin. Neville won an honor because it received so many second and third place votes. I think they were trying to make me happy. That's how it works sometimes in second grade. A number of books dropped off after the first vote, but I was most surprised that I Want My Hat Back received just one second place vote and three third place votes. That's such a class favorite. Here are the books that received votes in the first round, but dropped off: Bone Dog A Ball for Daisy Where's Walrus? Tweak! Tweak! I Want my Hat Back

Posted : Jan 19, 2012 06:38