Mock Caldecott Program for Class Visits

Has anyone ever done a Mock Caldecott program before? I think it sounds like a lot of fun and something that would be memorable for the kids. I'm thinking of doing the program with first and second graders...kindergarten might be too young.

Here is how my current program outline:
1. Gather about 16-20 books. There are a lot of lists of possible contenders published by other libraries and there is even a spreadsheet created by Jim Averbeck showing which books appear most often on those lists.

2. Print out slips of paper with numbers 1-3. Each number has its own color. For example, 1 is on blue paper, 2 on red, 3 on green, etc.

3. When the class comes, I will explain what the Caldecott award is, show an example, and lead a discussion about the illustrations in picture books.

4. I'll divide the class into 4 or 5 groups and handout the numbered slips to everybody.

5. Each group will examine 4 books at a time.

6. After everyone gets a chance to look at the books, the kids get to vote by raising their slips of paper. Each book will have a number, and one child in each group will be the recorder to record how many votes each book received. (I think I'll create a spreadsheet for the recorder to make it easier.)

7. After everyone votes, I'll rotate the books on to the next group. This will continue until everyone has seen every book or until time runs out.

8. When the class returns, I will read the top 3 books and the kids will vote again to select their Mock Caldecott winner. I'll also announce the national Caldecott winner. This year, the national winner will be announced Monday January 26.

Is this type of a program possible with first and second graders?? Any suggestions?

Result: With a first grade class this was very chaotic. I think for first grade next time I will modify the program--I'll handout the voting slips, read 3 stories, and then have the kids vote and discuss. Perhaps this program is better geared towards grade 3-4. The kids were capable in small groups, but having 5 groups of first graders was just too much.

A Close Friend's Debut Children's Novel

The Truth About Horses, Friends, and My Life as a Coward. Sarah P Gibson. Ill. by Glin Dibley. Marshall Cavendish Children: Tarrytown, NY. 2008. 146 pp.


Mixing the droll, deadpan understatements of the traditional Maine storyteller and the tongue-in-cheek humor of a Sciezska or a Pinkwater, Sarah P. Gibson offers 16 delightful vignettes of native, Maine Islander Sophie Groves’ struggle deciphering what’s easier: living with three crafty, ornery, downright nasty horses or discovering true friendship among her classmates. Her seemingly doomed attempts to win the respect of her family’s three horses, while at the same time navigating the social world of the pre-teen, looking for a friend who is a true friend and not just a (shudder) “horse lover,” provides a unique and funny look at growing up in Maine.


Each chapter is an unexpected and humorous tale of trials and tribulations showing the horses who’s in charge and trying to convince new found friends that horses are not the adorable, noble steeds they are thought to be. Sophie Groves’ understated, dead-on, Laocoön-like predictions of the horses’ behavior along with her friends shocked surprise upon experiencing the true nature of horses, never fails to provoke a laugh. Gibson allows the reader to experience the sweet sensation of knowing better than the characters that enter into Sophie’s life.


Will anyone ever listen to Sophie when it comes to Sweetheart, Fancy Free, and Really? Are sweets the only means of convincing the horses to cooperate? Can she cope with the Carpwells? How easy is it to tell a moose from a horse on Halloween Night? Is there a true friend for Sophie? Find out the truth behind all these questions in Gibson’s The Truth About Horses, Friends, and My Life as a Coward.