For Those About to Mock: Help Us Read Potential Caldecotts
Help me give my students copies of the books we read for Mock Caldecott so they won't have to wait until next year to be able to check them out of our school libraries.
I am the librarian for two elementary schools, both filled with creative, fun kids who like to read. They come from a variety of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, but in the library, they share excitement over new books and information.
According to KidsCount, 43% of students in our district are eligible for free and reduced lunch – 7 out of 15 elementary schools are Title I – and 14% receive special education services.
Many students cannot get to the public library, so their checkouts at the school library are their main access to books.
I often choose readalouds with high entertainment value and have so much fun hearing my kids laugh or gasp as appropriate and then share what they liked best. My students often surprise me with their attention to detail, observations, and connections.
My Project
Each year, I lead a Mock Caldecott project with my first and second graders in the months leading up to the official American Library Association (ALA) book award announcements. We read about a dozen new, well reviewed picture books and vote for our favorite.
My students love the opportunity to read brand-new books.
However, the ones I bring in for Mock Caldecott are borrowed from the public library; they can't check the books out themselves to bring home. Many of my students don't have a way to get to the public library; the school library is their only opportunity to choose books to take home and share with their families. They'll get really excited about discovering a new book, and then really bummed that I can't give it to them.
I would love to be able to hand my kids a copy of a book we've just read and they've just fallen in love with.
Even if we only have one copy at each of my schools, they'll know that they can place a hold and eventually have the book all to themselves for a week to enjoy and share and maybe even campaign for votes when we open up the Mock Caldecott balloting to families via the Internet.
P.S. Last year’s winner was “Who Wet My Pants?” by Bob Shea, illustrated by Zachariah O’Hora.
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