From: Melody Allen <melody_allen>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 08:18:18 -0500

In Rhode Island, we have been holding an annual Mock Caldecott session since the 1985 publishing year. We usually hold it just before Midwinter, giving us the opportunity to look at some of the best of the year lists as well as starred reviews. Most of the books are ones I have examined firsthand, so my judgment is a component. Librarians in the state can make suggestions too.

There are also some other agendas as this meeting is used by many librarians for selction purposes - for instance, I include extra books written and/or illustrated by Rhode Islanders, and I try to offer a range of age levels and styles. At the session, we feature each year certain criteria for selection, so a couple of books may work toward that feature (how the illustrator makes you turn the pages, how the illustrations tell you more about the characters, setting and plot or how the colors refelct the tone of the book, what makes a good concept book, etc.). I also try to have books that raise questions such as where is the line between an illustrated book and a picture book.

We always hope people will have seen the books selected as winners by the real committee, but we also use this as an educational session. As I am sure the CCBC does, becasue I look at their list every year, we also try to introduce new illustrators and works by a diverse group of illustrators (although the RI list leans to 30 books unlike CCBC's much shorter list - as an aside, Ginny McKee always said the real Caldecott/Newbery voting method which we use would not work with, I think, fewer than 8 books, so our final voting list is usually around 12 books).

It is a lot of fun. Repeatedly we say that you can't say you like or dislike a book without saying why. Right now I am looking at this discussion and taking responses from RI librarians to a draft as I finish our list, probably tomorrow, for our Jan. 13 discussion. Good luck to the real committee.

Melody Allen melody_allen at gw.doa.state.ri.us


Sharon Addy asked how books are selected for mock Caldecott Award discussions. I can't speak for other groups that do this, but I can tell you how we select titles for our award discussions at the CCBC.

First, I should say that any group hosting a mock award discussion selects only a fraction of the books the real award committees are looking at, and that these selections in no way reflect the selections of the actual committee.

Many things influence the small number of books we do select. Like most mock discussions, the intent of the ones we host is to give participants a sense of the process that the actual committees use. For this reason, the means is as important, if not more important, than the end. We try to select books that reflect eligibility and the wide range of different styles that the actual committee faces with the perennial
"comparing apples to oranges" dilemma.

Reviews and best books lists play a smaller role in our decisions than our own experiences with the books themselves. Many of our selections for these end-of-the-year lists are titles that were very positively received in one of our earlier monthly book discussions (and the reverse is true, as well: a book that did not fare as well in one of our monthly discussions is generally not selected for one of the award discussions).
 Others are titles the CCBC librarians have read and selected for CCBC Choices.

Our list is also limited by publishing dates and when the CCBC gets review copies of the books. Because we do some of discussions in conjunction with the Madison Metropolitan School District as continuing education, we have to begin compiling out lists early in the fall so that the district can purchase multiple copies of the books to give participants plenty of time to read. But whether we're doing the discussions with MMSD or independently, there are always books we would have added to the list if we'd seen them earlier.

Lastly, we often confer with colleagues across the nation who are also hosting mock award discussions to see what titles they have on their lists. This sometimes calls to our attention a book we might have otherwise missed.

If anyone else who is involved with mock award discussions wants to tell us how you select titles, please feel free. Since this month we're discussing some of the best books of the year, it's more of a subtopic, rather than off-topic.



Kathleen T. Horning, Acting Director Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706

horning at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608&3721 Fax: 608&2I33 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/

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Received on Tue 10 Dec 2002 07:18:18 AM CST