Reading Together: Mock Caldecott Awards

This edition of "Reading Together" is going to be a little different.

I'm not just going to go over a few of our favorite books lately. For this post, the picture books below are a few of our favorites from this year's Kansas City Mock Caldecott & King Awards list. Next Tuesday, I will be attending the Kansas City Mock Literary Awards, which is a local discussion of the best picture books, middle grade fiction books, and young adult fiction books from the previous year (2011). Mock Literary Awards discussions will be going on all over the country during the month of January in anticipation of the official awards announcement at the ALA Midwinter Meeting on the morning of January 23rd.

I've been fervently reading the 12 selected books for the Mock Newbery Awards. Currently, I'm at 7 out of 12 and will be writing about them all when I finish later this weekend.

As always, this is just a list of books we liked reading together.

Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes

We've checked out this book a couple times this year and are obviously Kevin Henkes fans (see here and here). He's found something very special with his illustration style that really speaks to children and adults alike. Kevin Henkes won the Caldecott Medal for his book Kitten's First Full Moon back in 2005.

Hopper and Wilson by Maria Van Lieshout

I seen a few reviews that relate Hopper and Wilson to a Piglet and Pooh, which I think is pretty accurate. Stuffed animals on an adventure, full of simple wisdom.

All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson

I think this was fantastic. It was lyrical and to the point. And the illustrations.... well, the illustrations you just have to see for yourself.

Me... Jane by Patrick McDonnell

We read this one a lot over the summer!

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

In 2006, Chris Raschka was awarded the Caldecott Medal for The Hello, Goodbye Window. Checked this one out over the summer. I love the illustrations, but LBD seemed to prefer Rrralph over Daisy.

Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee

This is such a cute book. I like it so much that I'm pretty sure I'm going to create a storytime about "stars" just so I can read it aloud.

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

I especially enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure the audience it is written for. It seems that the adults ohh and ahh when they see it, but I haven't seen many kids pick it up.

Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes

One of my favorite children's poetry books is Dark Emperor (which won a Caldecot Honor), so naturally when Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes paired up for Swirl by Swirl I was an instant fan. Beth Krommes was previous awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2009 for House in the Night.

Blackout by John Rocco

This was another one I checked out over the summer and really enjoyed. Brought it home to show Will not thinking LBD would like it, but she did. It was just the perfect length and the pictures were simple enough to keep her attention. Will and I like it because it takes place in NYC during the first major blackout in the 70's.

Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat by Philip Christian Stead

The illustrations in this book are nice. The story is a little bizarre, but LBD liked looking at the pictures. Philip C. Stead won the Caldecott Medal last year for his A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

A Nations's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legand Joe Louis  by Matt De La Pena, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

This book was a selection for both the Caldecott and the King discussion. This is my favorite by far. LBD didn't pay much attention to it, as most of the books nominated for the King award were too long for her, but I couldn't resist not having it up here. I still can't get that image of Joe Louis as a young boy out of my mind. An incredible story with incredible illustrations.

All the Mock Coretta Scott King Award books were a little out of LBD's league. They are all for a much older reader. BUT I do want to mention how much I enjoyed Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans, Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson (same illustrator as the above book, A Nation's Hope... my bets are on him winning the King award this year), Roots and Blues by Arnold Adoff and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, and Giant Steps to Change the World by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee and illustrated by Sean Qualls (probably going to use this one for Martin Luther King Jr. Day Storytime in a couple weeks).

Now, it's time for me to get back to reading while the wee one takes her afternoon nap.

Gotta finish that Mock Newbery list.

***'Reading Together is a sampling of picture books I'm currently reading aloud to LBD (also known as L or Little L), my toddler daughter. As a children's librarian, I'm always bringing home stacks and stacks of books to share together. Old and new. These are our favorites. Sometimes read over and over and over again…. Times thirty. To the tenth power.***

image source: white rabbit, hopper and wilson, water in the world, jane, ball for daisy, stars, grandpa green, swirl, blackout, jonathan, joe louis