SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • *Best New Books*
    • Annual Best Lists
  • Reviews
    • One Star Review
    • Nonfiction
    • Toon Reviews
  • Articles
    • Authors
    • Link Du Jour
  • Covers
    • Covering the Newbery
    • Cover Curiosity
    • Unfortunate Covers
  • News
    • Books on Film
    • Morning Notes
  • Newsletter

December 9, 2011 by Travis Jonker

Creating the Caldecott Frankenstein

December 9, 2011 by Travis Jonker   6 comments

Creating an exceptional work of children’s literature is as far from a scientific endeavor as you can get. If you try to apply a formula, you’re doomed. But if we want to build the Caldecott Frankenstein, we’re going to have to get scientific – weird scientific. My goal is to assemble a book using the elements most commonly found in Caldecott-winning titles. So, with a number-crunching assist from word cloud website Tagxedo, let’s get started.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Step One: Title

If you’re trying to put together a Caldecott-winning book, one thing is certain – it must be about something little. The word “little” has appeared five times in Caldecott Medal-winning books – more than any other (ignoring common words like “the”, “an”, etc.). You’re also going to want to throw “story”, “snow”, “day”, and “man” in there somewhere, as those are all tied for the second most popular word. Therefore the perfect Caldecott-winning title is…

The Story of Little Snow Man Day

Step Two: Illustrator

Who will illustrate this book? David is the clear winner for the first name, appearing seven times among Caldecott-winners. The most popular female name is Marcia. The last name race is (not surprisingly) a tie between Weisner and Brown. So here are our options:

David Weisner

David Brown

Marcia Weisner

Marcia Brown

Let’s go with…

David Brown

Step Three: Artistic Medium

For this element of our Caldecott Frankenstein, the choice is clear.

Watercolor

Step Four: Publisher

So who’s going to put this thing out? It appears that the big winner is…

Viking

The pieces have been chosen. Now it’s time to assemble.

It’s Alive!
Frankenstein at MOVIECLIPS.com

With the help of a Creative Commons-licensed image and the photo editing site Picnik, I present the Caldecott Frankenstein:

Someone needs to make this book a reality. A Caldecott lock if ever there was one.

(Image: “snowman dog child” http://flic.kr/p/9g4gLN)

Filed under: Articles

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

June 2023

Watch The Yarn LIVE with Kate DiCamillo at ALA!

by Travis Jonker

June 2023

Listen to Gene Luen Yang on TED Radio Hour

by Travis Jonker

May 2023

Notes on May 2023

by Travis Jonker

May 2023

Keeping an Eye On . . . the PEN America Book Ban Lawsuit

by Travis Jonker

May 2023

The Unexpecteds: 5 Sneakily Popular Books in Our K-3 School Library This Year

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Watch The Yarn LIVE with Kate DiCamillo at ALA!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day: Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock by Jesús Trejo, ill. Eliza Kinkz

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Teen Titans | Series Review

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

More Mock-Newbery Titles Needed: Share June Suggestions Now

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

“Enough with the chicken noises.” A guest post by Sean Ferrell

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Trying Something New: SPEED ROUND w/ Marla Frazee, Doug Salati, Dan Santat, and Amina Luqman-Dawson

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

3 Timely Middle Grade Titles Featuring Pandemics | SLJ Spotlight

12 Latest Installments in Transitional, Middle Grade, and YA Graphic Novel Series

Gender Expression: Books That Bring the Discussions—and the Pronouns—Up to Date

7 “Stepping Up” Books for the Young Grads in Your Life | Milestones

3 Books about the World: Home is Bigger than We Think | Picture Book Spotlight

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom says

    December 9, 2011 at 5:23 pm

    Well played!

  2. Jen says

    December 9, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    This is seriously awesome. I envision a whole series of posts by award and country.

  3. Robin Smith says

    December 20, 2011 at 11:34 am

    So funny!

  4. Allison says

    January 11, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    Hi, I really enjoyed this. You are hilarious! I would have liked to have see you go with the woman’s name – why not go for Marcia Brown?? Was there an indication that more men than women have won? Or was there some bias sneaking in? Or was David Brown funnier than Marcia Brown? I thought Marcia Brown was funnier myself. Many thanks!

    • Travis says

      January 12, 2012 at 12:09 am

      I think the reason I went with David Brown is just because Marcia Brown was the actual name of a Caldecott winner, and I wanted the process to generate a new name.

Trackbacks

  1. Caldecott winner formula - The Horn Book says:
    June 21, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    […] Travis Jonker has distilled the elements most likely to win a book the Caldecott Medal. Check out his logic over at Scope Notes! […]

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • Author/Illustrator Blogs

    • Erin Stead Illustration
    • Hey, Rabbit!
    • James Preller's Blog
    • MATTHEWCORDELLBLOGS
    • Mo Willems Doodles
    • The Scop
  • Book Blogs I Like

    • A Book and a Hug
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • A Kids Book a Day
    • A Year of Reading
    • Abby (the) Librarian
    • Awful Library Books
    • Becky’s Book Reviews
    • Better Book Titles
    • Book-A-Day Almanac
    • Bookends
    • books4yourkids.com
    • bookshelves of doom
    • Bottom Shelf Books
    • Calling Caldecott
    • Caustic Cover Critic
    • Chad C. Beckerman
    • Charlotte’s Library
    • Cheryl Rainfield
    • Chicken Spaghetti
    • CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION
    • Collecting Children’s Books
    • Cybils
    • EarlyWord
    • educating alice
    • Finding Wonderland
    • For Those About to Mock
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Good Show Sir
    • GottaBook
    • Great Kid Books
    • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
    • Hi Miss Julie!
    • Jen Robinson’s Book Page
    • Kidsmomo
    • Maria T. Middleton Design
    • Nerdy Book Club
    • Neverending Search
    • Nine Kinds of Pie
    • One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books
    • Out of the Box
    • Oz and Ends
    • PlanetEsme
    • Read Roger
    • Reading Rants!
    • Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
    • sharpread
    • ShelfTalker
    • so tomorrow
    • The Children's Book Review
    • The Miss Rumphius Effect
    • Uncovered Cover Art
    • Waking Brain Cells
    • Watch. Connect. Read.
  • Library Blogs

    • ALSC Blog
    • Blue Skunk Blog
    • librarian.net
    • LISNews
    • Stephen's Lighthouse
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Unshelved
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023