Now in its 16th year, the Mock Caldecott is a joint endeavor between the English Department and the Children’s and Adolescent Literature Community (ChALC), one of our department-sponsored student organizations, with support from the Manhattan Public Library (MPL).
In the pre-COVID times, faculty, students, and community members gather at MPL on a weekend in early December to read some of the top-reviewed picture books of the year and anticipate, through a modified selection process, which ones will receive recognition by the American Library Association the following month.
This year, our Mock Caldecott will continue to be HyFlex: we’ll have an asynchronous component before our synchronous event on Saturday December 2 at 2:00pm CT, which will be held both in person at MPL and concurrently on Zoom.
Since 1937, the Caldecott Medal has honored the “most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States” in the previous calendar year, taking its name from Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886), a noted English artist and illustrator. Since 1980, a committee appointed by the American Library Association (ALA) brings together fifteen librarians, university educators, and reviewers to select a winner and as many honor books as the committee sees fit. Their decision is a highlight of the ALA Mid-Winter Meeting each January.
As of November 29, we’ll be posting here the list of titles that made an initial cut for our Mock Caldecott, sharing links to video readings of the books:
- An American Story by Kwame Alexander (author) and Dare Coulter (illustrator)
- Big by Vashti Harrison
- Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
- Jumper by Jessica Lanan
- The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker
- There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds (author) and Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey (illustrators)
- The Skull by Jon Klassen
- Nell Plants a Tree by Anne Wynter (author) and Daniel Miyaries (illustrator)
- Little Land by Diana Sudyka
- We Are Here by Tami Charles (author) and Bryan Collier (illustrator)
- Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner
- In Every Life by Marla Frazee
- In the Night Garden by Carin Berger
- Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll by Tonya Bolden (author) and R. Gregory Christie (illustrator)
- A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes (author) and Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney (illustrators)
- Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport by Caren Stelson (author) and Selina Alko (illustrator)
- The Artivist by Nikkolas Smith
- Finding Papa by Angela Pham Krans (author) and Thi Bui (illustrator)
- Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari (author)and Diana Sudyka (illustrator)
Between November 29 and December 1, we invite you to review the videos and vote on your favorites at https://tinyurl.com/chalcbookvote2023. (Note: the survey will ask you to rank-order the titles.).
Then, on Saturday December 2, 2:00-3:00pm CT, we’ll gather to discuss together a short list of titles and vote in real time to select our 2023 Mock Caldecott winner and honor books.
What are the criteria for a Caldecott Award-winning picture book?
Be looking for “Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed,” “Excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept,” “Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept,” “Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures,” and “Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.”
The focus should be on “distinguished illustrations in a picture book” and “excellence of pictorial presentation for children” (and “not for didactic intent or for popularity”), so you can make a “decision primarily on the illustration,” as the ALA web site explains.
If you aren’t joining us in person at MPL on Saturday Dec 2 and need the Zoom link to join us online, you can register for the discussion at https://tinyurl.com/chalc2023mockcaldecott. (Education majors: as in past years, this event can count for “Service to the Profession: Professional Growth”!)
We hope to see you back here on November 29 to explore our long-list of contenders for this year’s Mock Caldecott and vote on your first-round favorites — and then, on December 2, join us for discussion, debate, and a final vote!
[Edited to add, following our event: Want to see our results? Visit the post on Twitter and Instagram.]
— Karin Westman, Department Head / Faculty Advisor for ChALC
K-State English 