Library's 1st Annual Mock Caldecott Event!

Happy holidays to all! I’m at work today after a 4-day vacation and, needless to say, I’m having some focus issues. It’s never easy to be tied to your desk when the rest of your family is playing Uno and making fudge at home on a gray day.

I’ve been ultra-super-duper busy lately planning our library’s 1st Annual Mock Caldecott Event, which took place last Tuesday. Surprisingly, it is the first one our library system has ever had. I was a wee bit nervous, as no one ever seems to be as gushy and enthusiastic over the books as I am, but my fears were completely unfounded. I might go so far to say that some of the discussions were impassioned. No kids at this one – only 70 or so librarians! Based on a series of voting beforehand, the five books we discussed were:

1. The Magic Rabbit by Annette Cate
2. The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington
3. Old Penn Station by William Low
4. The Wall by Peter Sis
5. Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems

I said to my mentor beforehand: “Mark my words, The Wall won’t be anywhere near the top of the voting.” I was very very wrong. The Wall seemed to be the most polarizing, the most intriguing, the most discussion-inducing book of the group. Lots of opinions about that one. So what were the results?

MOCK CALDECOTT AWARD WINNER:

The Wall by Peter Sis

MOCK CALDECOTT HONOR WINNER:
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington, illus by Shelley Jackson

The other three books were very, very close so we only ended up with one Honor book. When the announcement was made, half the room erupted in cheers and the other half gaped because they couldn’t figure out how The Wall came out on top. Go figure. Kind of like the real awards, right?

We’ll absolutely do it again next December – it was some of the best fun I’ve had since starting my job a year ago. In fact, there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for a Mock Newbery too!