Did you catch my #CallingCaldecott post at the Horn Book about Minh Lê and Dan Santat’s brilliant picture book, Drawn Together? Check it out, and then take a look at the list of books below from a graduate course I’m teaching at Simmons, ChL 403 The Picturebook, which culminates in a mock Caldecott debate. Students write three nomination papers, and we debate their selections through the Award Terms and Criteria and then vote to select a Medalist and as many Honor books as the class would like. Here’s the list we are working from. Do you see any favorites? Have I missed titles you think I’ll regret excluding?
| Illustrator | Title | Author | Publisher |
| Blackall, Sophie | Hello Lighthouse | Blackall, Sophie | Little, Brown |
| Castillo, Lauren | Imagine | Herrera, Juan Felipe | Candlewick |
| Chin, Jason | Pie Is for Sharing | Ledyard, Stephanie Parsley | Neal Porter/Roaring Brook |
| Colón, Raúl | Imagine! | Colón, Raúl | Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster |
| Covell, David | Run Wild | Covell, David | Viking |
| Crews, Nina | Seeing into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright | Wright, Richard | Lerner Books |
| Curato, Mike | What If… | Berger, Samantha | Little, Brown |
| Doerrfeld, Cori | The Rabbit Listened | Doerrfeld, Cori | Dial Books |
| Henkes, Kevin | A Parade of Elephants | Henkes, Kevin | Greenwillow |
| Hirao, Amiko | Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian they Left Behind | Grady, Cynthia | Charlesbridge |
| Holmes, Ekua | The Stuff of Stars | Bauer, Marion Dane | Candlewick |
| Holmes, Ekua | What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? | Barton, Chris | Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster |
| Lin, Grace | A Big Mooncake for Little Star | Lin, Grace | Little Brown |
| Lessac, Frané | We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga | Sorell, Traci | Charlesbridge |
| López, Rafael | The Day You Begin | Woodson, Jacqueline | Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House |
| Love, Jessica | Julián Is a Mermaid | Love, Jessica | Candlewick |
| Luyken, Corinna | Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse | Campbell, Marcy | Dial Books |
| Marino, Gianna | If I Had a Horse | Marino, Gianna | Neal Porter/Roaring Brook |
| Martinez-Neal, Juana | Alma and How She Got Her Name | Martinez-Neal, Juana | Candlewick |
| McClintock, Barbara | Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain | Bardoe, Cheryl | Little, Brown |
| Miyares, Daniel | Night Out | Miyares, Daniel | Schwartz & Wade/Penguin RandomHouse |
| Mora, Oge | Thank You Omu! | Mora, Oge | Little, Brown |
| Morales, Yuyi | Dreamers | Morales, Yuyi | Neal Porter/Holiday House |
| Page, Robin | Who Eats Orange? | White, Dianne | Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster |
| Pinkney, Brian | Martin Rising: Requiem for a King | Pinkney, Andrea Davis | Scholastic |
| Santat, Dan | Drawn Together | Lê, Minh | Disney-Hyperion |
| Seeger, Laura Vaccaro | Blue | Seeger, Laura Vaccaro | Neal Porter/Roaring Brook |
| Smith, Lane | The House That Once Was | Fogliano, Julie | Roaring Brook |
| Tamaki, Jillian | They Say Blue | Tamaki, Jillian | Abrams |
| Wenzel, Brendan | Hello Hello | Wenzel, Brendan | Chronicle |