The 2017 Caldecott Comment Card
Once the winners have been announced, I want to know what you think. Go ahead and share in the comments. Which choice are you happiest with? Which book did the committee miss?
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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.
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Happiest about Radiant Child & Freedom in Congo Square
Book they missed: The Night Gardener
Happiest about: all the love for MARCH
Book they missed: Some Writer!
Happiest about Radiant Child! (And that somehow we called every book in our Mock list).
Book they missed: The Princess and the Warrior
Happiest About: They All Saw A Cat and Freedom in Congo Square
Book They Missed: Some Writer!
Happiest About: They All Saw a Cat
Book(s) They Missed: Some Writer!, Before Morning and The Night Gardener
Happiest About: March and John Lewis
Book They Missed: Some Writer!
Oops, I realize March wasn’t a Caldecott…. but I was very excited about all the love it got this morning!
Yes – that was great to see!
Caldecott:
Happiest About: Congrats to all – a fantastic mix, and such a delight to see Leave Me Alone included.
Book They Missed: Thunder Boy Jr. and This is Not a Picture Book.
Everything else:
Thrilled about: March Book 3, of course. The Girl Who Drank the Moon. When the Moon Was Ours. Nimona! Goodnight Owl. Go, Otto, Go! Jason Reynolds. Ashley Bryan.
Book they Missed: When the Sea Turned to Silver. The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde. Up!
Happiest about: Du Iz Tak. A book that will be enjoyed all over the world for decades to come.
Books They Missed: Some Writer!; The Tree in the Courtyard; School’s First Day of School.
Everything else: Judging awards season as a whole, including Zolotow et cetera., diversity interests continue to be a massive influence on selection and types of awards made.
Happiest About: Freedom in Congo Square and They All Saw a Cat
Book They Missed: The Storyteller
But honestly, I think this year’s committees did a marvelous job on all fronts. The more words MARCH one, the happier and more excited I became. What a resounding success! Newbery committee also nailed it this year. Four extraordinary selections.
Happiest about They All Saw a Cat; missed The Night Gardener
Happiest About: Du Iz Tak? – Even with the buzz it has received, I still feel like this is an underrated gem.
Book They Missed: School’s First Day of School 🙁
My students would say Are We There Yet?
I can only comment on Caldecotts as we held a Mock at my school. Wonderful choices, all.
Books they missed: Maybe Something Beautiful, The Airport Book, Before Morning.
Happiest about: THEY ALL SAW A CAT & DU IZ TAK?
Book Missed: BE A FRIEND
Happiest about: The Girl Who Drank the Moon and They All Saw a Cat
Book they missed: Real Cowboys
Happiest About: They All Saw a Cat
Book They Missed: Shy
Happiest about: RADIANT CHILD and FREEDOM IN CONGO SQUARE! Two that I was pulling for. And LEAVE ME ALONE was an unexpected surprise!
Book they missed: REAL COWBOYS is a hidden gem. Shared it with my mother-in-law, a retired librarian, and she couldn’t stop gushing about the artwork. I love the harmony between the text and the illustrations! So I’ll keep loving it and sharing it on my own 🙂
But overall, just want to echo so many others in saying it’s a wonderful slate of selections, and particularly pleased to see so many relatively up-and-coming illustrators recognized!
Happiest About: They All Saw a Cat
Book They Missed: Night Gardener
Happiest about: THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON.
Book they missed: SOME WRITER!
Happiest About: They All Saw a Cat & The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Books They Missed: Shy & Some Kind of Courage
Happiest about They All Saw A Cat. Books missed: School’s First Day of School, Be A Friend.
Happiest about: They All Saw a Cat
Books They Missed: The Night Gardener, Are We There Yet?
Happiest about LEAVE ME ALONE.
Missed: SNOW WHITE.
Happiest about: Du Iz Tak
Book they missed: The Night Gardener
Happiest about:They All Saw A Cat
Book They Missed: Ghost, Some Writer
Happiest about: They All Saw a Cat
Book They Missed: Some Writer!, The Night Gardener