From: Binawill at aol.com <Binawill>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 07:39:18 EST

I finally finished my flurry of Mock Caldecotts and, as promised, here are the results... I did several types of groups-- The discussion lists were not entirely randomly chosen, making use of suggestions from participants, starred reviews, books with buzz and my own favorites. The group of books were not the same each time, neither in actual books or number of books to choose from. So here are my non-scientifically acquired results:

Group 1-?out 30 Children's librarians: Winner: When Marian Sang Illus.by Brian Selznick Honors to : Duck on a Bike illus by David Shannon, The Pot that Juan Built illus by David Diaz, Story for Bear illus by Jim LaMarche, and The Three Questions illus by Jon Muth

Group 2: A group of children's book writers and illustrators (about 20 people) Winner: New York's Bravest illus by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson Honors to: Duck on A Bike illus by David Shannon, Oliver Finds His Way illus. by Christopher Denise, and Story for Bear illus by Jim LaMarche

Group 3: 5 groups of 4th Graders (92 kids and 5 adults) Winner: Dear Mrs. Larue (Big time winner here) illus by Mark Teague Honors: Duck on A Bike illus by David Shannon and I Stink! illus by Jim McMullan

Group 4: 15 Assorted family and friends including one artist, several teachers, several librarians, a scientist or two and a theater person. Very close call on this...real committee woudl have voted a few more times.... Winner: Noah's Ark illus. by Jerry Pinkney Honors to Harvest Home illus by Greg Shed, One Leave Rides The Wind illus by Celeste Davidsoon, Sailor Moo: Cow at Sea illus by Ponder Goembel and When Marian Sang illus by Brian Selznick.

Group 5: About 12 children's booksellers (done via e-mail!) Winner: The Three Questions Illus by Jon Muth Honors to Duck On Bike illus by David Shannon, Life On Earth illus by Steve Jenkins, Story for Bear illus by Jim LaMarche, When Marian Sang Illus by Brian Selznick

I did another two part series with my book group (about 10 of us) but we were all over the map in our voting. We never really came up with a clear winner.

So, if I thought that doing this would help me in clarifying what books to consider this weekend on the real committee, 'fraid not! Even though I am as befuddled as before, the experience was very valuable in helping me to talk about the books and see them through many other eyes besides my own.

Wish the 15 of us luck and we all hope you will like our decisions!

Bina Williams Bridgeport (CT) Public Library




Bina Williams binawill at aol.com
Received on Wed 22 Jan 2003 06:39:18 AM CST