The awards are coming! The awards are coming!

I am so excited for Monday!  I think the ALSC ALA awards are one of the best days of the year in the book world.  Of course, every day that a new children's book is published and hits the shelves is an exciting day, but awards' announcement day is akin to the Oscars or the Grammys!  (Okay granted, without all the fancy dress aspects.)  But wait!  I may be on to something.  This might be a fun idea for next year, maybe I could dress up and visit each classroom making the announcement and posting the winners!  No, likely not, this idea is one for the "Friday afternoon outlandish thoughts" bin.

Back to the awards!  My first grade students have been learning about the Caldecott Award. We have been reading old winners and discussing the award and its criteria for a few weeks.  

This week, we have read six potential Caldecott Award winning books. I chose six books which I thought would make them think about the criteria and, which I hoped, would help them experience what it is like to have to judge a book based upon certain criteria. These six books have appeared on Caldecott prediction lists as well as on some of my favorite blogs (Watch. Connect. Read; 100 Scope Notes; and, Book-A-Day Almanac).  

The Allen County Public Library staff maintains a great Mock Caldecott competition and keeps the list moving. The "Calling Caldecott" mock Caldecott competition on the Horn Book site has a description of the voting process.

Here are the books we read:

Our six Mock Caldecott books

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

Blackout by John Rocco -- 

  Book Trailer

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith -- 

  Book Trailer

I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen --

  Book Trailer

Red Sled by Lita Judge

Stars by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Marla Frazee

My students loved all of these books and there were many questions, such as what to do if you identified with one book (i.e., sledding and Red Sled) but you felt that another book (i.e., Blackout) better matched the criteria. I love how thoughtful my students were today and how seriously they took this experience.

I showed them the ballot box, which I now show you under duress because I made it in my spare five minutes during lunch. (Despite the important message in Peter H. Reynolds' book, So Few of Me, there are days I really do wish I could clone myself because there are so many things I want to do, but that is only some days, most days are more manageable!)  Back to our project.

It was Voting Day Today!  
At least that is how my students and I felt.  Excitement and energy abounded.

The ballot box was unveiled,

the ballots were cast

And are waiting to be counted.

Want to know which illustrator my first graders think was "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children?"  Check in tomorrow to find out...