My 2020 Mock Caldecott

Awards season isn't just for Oscars and Golden Globes--every book person knows the biggest awards are the ones announced by the ALA at their midwinter conference.  The Caldecott Medal is the one I look forward to most; something about the art of visual storytelling really gets me.  It's also the perfect award to have a mock voting for in the classroom or library, since the contenders are usually picture books, perfect to use at your usual read aloud time, or to incorporate during morning meeting (or anytime, really).  This is my first year doing a mock Caldecott, and while I already know things I'll change in the future (like, um, starting it sooner), I'm sharing the books I'm sharing for 2020, how I chose them, and how I grouped them.

How I Chose My Contenders
When I was going through Caldecott shortlists, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to include everything.  Time constraints are one challenge--even after I decided to try to do 2 read alouds per class, I couldn't do them all.  I also looked at the interest level of the books; since I'm doing this with 1st grade, I left out a few books that I felt appealed more to older students.  I also left out a few that I thought would be tougher to share as read-alouds--some books are brilliant but just don't lend themselves quite as much to this.


The Books I Chose

Fry Bread (Author: Kevin Noble Maillard, Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal) 
My Papi Has a Motorcycle (Author: Isabel Quintero, Illustrator: Zeke Peña)
My Heart (Corinna Luyken)
Truman (Author: Jean Reidy, Illustrator: Lucy Ruth Cummins)
The Fisherman and the Whale (Jessica Lanan)
Another (Christian Robinson)
Daniel's Good Day (Micha Archer)
Saturday (Oge Mora)

How I'm Grouping Them: A Timeline

Week 1: Read Hello Lighthouse (last year's winner!) to introduce the unit and talk about what the Caldecott is for.

Week 2: Fry Bread and My Papi Has a Motorcycle
These two stories have such a focus on family, culture, and tradition that it made sense to me to read them on the same day.  Both of these not only have incredible artwork, but wonderful written stories as well.

Week 3: My Heart and Truman
Both of these tug at your heartstrings in the sweetest way possible.  They gave me a feeling of warmth and calm, and prove that quieter stories are just as good as loud ones.

Week 4: The Fisherman and the Whale and Another
It just makes sense to combine the wordless picture books, right?  The artwork styles here are very different, but they both use visual storytelling to tell interesting, compelling stories: one about what a boy and his father do when a whale gets caught in their net, the other about a girl who finds another dimension.  Since some students struggle with the concept of "reading" without words, I wanted to do these together so we could deep dive into this type of storytelling.

Week 5: Daniel's Good Day and Saturday
These are both stories about how ordinary days can be the most special ones, especially when you spend them with people you love.  Not only are the themes similar, but they both feature bold, colorful artwork.  Which isn't to say that they're different iterations of the same story--these are two unique books, both deserving of the award.

(Want to know my pick for the winner?  I'm rooting for Truman.  The deceptively simple line drawings perfectly capture Truman's range of emotions, making him a small, relatable hero who finds bravery in doing the things that seem simplest to the reader--something that children, no doubt, will relate to.  That said, I don't think it will win; from everything I've read, it looks like Saturday is most people's top pick, or possibly Vamos! Let's Go to the Market!)