Mock Caldecott: Round 1 Results

Each January, the American Library Association awards the Caldecott Medal to the artist of "the most distinguished American picture book for children." Who will win in 2014? Well, first- and second-graders are going to make their pick in library, and we'll see how our choice lines up with the national award.

After round one, the following were cleared to move on with near unanimity:

Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
Bob Shea

Despite a few concerns over the use of the word "stupid" and the "girly"-ness of unicorns, most students were highly entertained by this account of Goat realizing that Unicorn isn't all that bad to hang out with ... in fact, Unicorn is actually jealous of Goat in a few areas! The kids greatly enjoyed the spread where the protagonists imagine being superheroes: "Taste my cloven justice! You've been unicorned!"

We discussed magic tricks (if someone needs you to close your eyes while they're doing a trick, it's not a good trick) and trying new foods (like tomatoes, broccoli, and bacon ... although if I were P.M.'s mom, I would have encouraged her to NOT try the bacon so I could eat it all myself!).


That Is Not a Good Idea
Mo Willems

Can Mo Willems do no wrong? From the silent movie design to the Greek chorus of baby geese to the twist ending, this is another instant classic. A lot of students recognized his name from the Pigeon and Elephant & Piggie books. And they loved this one just as much as they love those.

I am a huge Buster Keaton fan and plan to introduce him next week before checkout ... see 1:04 and 2:48 for dialogue cards and 2:18 for an amazing stunt.