Few things can pull out the competitive spirit in librarians more than the annual Newbery and Caldecott races.
If you’re interested in knowing about and reading the books that will likely be figuring in heavily for the big awards, the Allen County (Indiana) Public Library (ACPL) excels at bringing the top contenders to the fore through their mock Caldecott and mock Newbery programs.
They have separate blogs for each award, and post about medal-worthy titles throughout the year before picking their winners.
They just released their first of four Newbery and Caldecott shortlists, and friends, they are full of books that very well could take the top prizes. Definitely worth a look and, if you use an RSS reader, a subscribe.
Click here to read the ACPL Mock Caldecott Shortlist #1
Click here to read the ACPL Mock Newbery Shortlist #1
Woo-Hoo! Thanks for the recognition! (Even if it made me blush just a little bit.) We love doing mock elections at our Library, and it certainly keeps us on our toes as far as what the hot new titles are!
I really like the way you do things – simple, organized, easy for folks to join in on.
All of the mock Caldecott competitions are pointless. They are of no value and should be regarded as such.
Year before last, we had a little mock Caldecott at my school. I found ten contenders and we voted. The actual winner and runners-up were all on the list of contenders, but were not chosen as the top picks at my school.
I may do that again in January.