Mock Caldecott Time!

For the first time, we've decided to have a Mock Caldecott at my library. To make it happen, I've joined forces with the energetic Alison Morris, whose knowledge of children's literature I greatly admire. Alison works at First Book and is married to graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.

The first step for us was creating a list of semi-finalists; that list contained 33 titles. We then narrowed it down to 15 finalists, which we will discuss at our Mock Caldecott event on Saturday, January 24, from 1-4 p.m. at the Takoma Park Maryland Library, located at 101 Philadelphia Ave. in Takoma Park, Md. We hope you'll join us! We only ask that you register, so we have an idea of how many folks to expect (and how many cookies to purchase!). The library owns copies of all the finalists, and we ask Mock Caldecott participants to read as many as they can ahead of time. Because some of the finalists may be checked out, however, we also plan to have a second "reference" copy of each book; these books can be read at the library, but not checked out. We plan to have this "reference set" available by this weekend. Other local library systems also likely will have copies of the books.

This Mock Caldecott is an "adults-only" event, aimed at adults who love children's literature. We have another forum where kids can make their voices heard -- our monthly Caldecott Club, which has become a family book club connecting kids, parents and books. Our next meeting is Monday, Jan 12 at 7 p.m., where we'll choose our 2015 Caldecott winner. We'll vote on the finalists from each of our club meetings from July through December after looking briefly again at each one.We'll also decide whether to have any honor books. There's no registration required for this event, and we will be serving lemonade and cookies.

So, without further ado, here are our finalists, for both the Mock Caldecott and the Caldecott Club. I'm listing the Caldecott Club finalists first, since that event happens first, and then the Mock Caldecott finalists; you'll see that, not surprisingly, there is some overlap.


CALDECOTT CLUB FINALISTS AT THE TAKOMA PARK MARYLAND LIBRARY
(presented in the order of the months they were chosen):

JULY FINALIST:
Bad Bye, Good Bye, written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Jonathan Bean

AUGUST FINALIST:

Froodle, written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis

SEPTEMBER FINALIST:

Quest, written and illustrated by Aaron Becker

OCTOBER FINALIST:

The Iridescence of Birds, written by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Hadley Hooper

NOVEMBER FINALIST:

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen

DECEMBER FINALIST:

Blizzard, written and illustrated by John Rocco

MOCK CALDECOTT FINALISTS AT THE TAKOMA PARK MARYLAND LIBRARY
(presented in alphabetical order by authors' last names)

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen

The Baby Tree, written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

The Right Word, written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Nana in the City, written and illustrated by Lauren Castillo

Draw!, written and illustrated by Raul Colon

Firebird, written by Misty Copeland and illustrated by Christopher Myers

A Dance Like Starlight, written by Kristy Dempsey and illustrated by Floyd Cooper

The Farmer and the Clown, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee

Extraordinary Jane, written and illustrated by Hannah E. Harrison

Firefly July, edited by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

The Iridescence of Birds, written by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Hadley Hooper

Viva Frida, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales

A Boy & a Jaguar, written by Alan Rabinowitz and illustrated by Ca’Tia Chien

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art, written by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Mary GrandPre

Bad Bye, Good Bye, written by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Jonathan Bean

News Round-Up: The Kids' Lit World Is Hopping!

Children's Book Week has just wrapped up, but there's still lots happening in the world of children's & teen literature. Here's a quick round-up of the latest happenings:

There's been quite a kerfluffle -- no, make that outrage -- over the fact that conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh won the Children's Choice Book Award for Author of the Year for his book, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims. How was the choice made? Well, it's an online voting process created by the Children's Book Council. The council, which is a national, non-profit trade association of children's book publishers, is the same organization that sponsors Children's Book Week. As part of the celebration, the council created the Children's Choice Book Awards; the finalists generally are the authors and illustrators who have sold the most books. So, in this year's author category, in addition to Limbaugh, other finalists included Diary of a Wimpy Kid author/illustrator Jeff Kinney, Heroes of Olympus author Rick Riordan, Allegiant author Veronica Roth, and Dork Diaries author Rachel Renee Russell.

The choice of Limbaugh as Author of the Year kicked up a lot of dust in the children's book world. 100 Scope Notes Blogger Travis Jonker did a good round-up of links about the discussion going on. I'd add this School Library Journal article to the mix. And here's one more from Roger Sutton, editor of The Horn Book, who notes that lest we all think that the Children's Book Council "is just a big bunch of dittoheads," here's a look at one of the council's efforts to promote more diversity in children's and teen books.

The bottom line for my library is that we're not purchasing Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, given the poor reviews in professional journals, which point to numerous inaccuracies. And the bottom line for me, as a reviewer and librarian, is that there's a good reason that the criteria for the Caldecott and Newbery Medals specifically note that the awards are not for popularity. Basing an award on how many books have been sold -- as the Children's Choice Book Awards do -- leads to exactly what happened last week when Limbaugh was chosen as the Author of the Year, and Grace Lee won Illustrator of the Year for illustrations that she did for a Disney program spin-off book, "Sophia the First: The Floating Palace."

Whew! On a more positive note, the Twitter campaign #WeNeedDiverseBooks already has produced some results. First Book, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit focused on children's literacy, has created the "The Stories for All Project" and pledged to do bulk purchasing of children's books that reflect the nation's diversity.

In the initial phase of the First Book initiative, the organization has chosen two publishers -- HarperCollins and Lee & Low Books --and will purchase $500,000 worth of books highlighting diversity from each of them. The books then will be given or sold at a low cost to educators working with children in need; all the educators have to do is first sign up at www.firstbooks.org. In a nutshell, First Book is stepping up to provide the market that publishers contend they need to publish more diverse books for kids.

In an interview with NPR, First Book CEO Kyle Zimmer explained why it was important for young readers to have books that reflect diverse cultures and communities. Zimmer notes that educators have long understood that "when kids see themselves in books, they are far more likely to become enthusiastic readers. "But we also know that this isn't just about kids seeing themselves in books, this is also about kids seeing other kids in books, and other cultures in books," Zimmer said.

Some of the first books purchased by First Book to distribute to kids in need include: Shooter by Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins); The Storyteller's Candle: La Velita de los Cuentos by Lucia Gonzalez (Lee & Low); and Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki (Lee & Low).

One more quick note of news about kids' books -- no, make that teen books! Scholastic is sponsoring a Twitter campaign called #IReadYA this week. It's a great way to focus on the importance -- and fun -- of reading for teens. Check out the details here. And check out School Library Journal's great summer reading list of cool -- and recent -- books for teens.

Shooter", Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins)

"Tofu Quilt", Ching Yueng (Lee & Low Books)

"In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson", Bette Bao Lord (HarperCollins)

"The Storyteller’s Candle: La Velita de Los Cuentos", Lucia Gonzalez (Lee & Low Books)

"El Bronx Remembered: A Novella and Stories", Nicholasa Mohr (HarperCollins)

"Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story", Ken Mochizuki (Lee & Low Books)

- See more at: http://www.firstbook.org/first-book-story/media-center/press-room/275-first-book-announces-pioneering-new-initiative-to-create-more-diversity-in-childrens-publishing#sthash.aajZ3bvX.dpuf

"Shooter", Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins)

"Tofu Quilt", Ching Yueng (Lee & Low Books)

"In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson", Bette Bao Lord (HarperCollins)

"The Storyteller’s Candle: La Velita de Los Cuentos", Lucia Gonzalez (Lee & Low Books)

"El Bronx Remembered: A Novella and Stories", Nicholasa Mohr (HarperCollins)

"Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story", Ken Mochizuki (Lee & Low Books)

- See more at: http://www.firstbook.org/first-book-story/media-center/press-room/275-first-book-announces-pioneering-new-initiative-to-create-more-diversity-in-childrens-publishing#sthash.aajZ3bvX.dpuf