Mock Caldecott 2026 discussion

The Night World by Mordicai Gerstein


Earmuffs for Everyone!: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs by Meghan Mccarthy

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prévot

Rude Cakes by Rowboat Watkins

What do you think about these?

I just read Night World and Rude Cakes yesterday. I don't have either book in front of me right now, but these are my impressions:

Rude Cakes was a nice little lesson on manners, but I did not think the illustrations, although cute and cartooney, were particularly special or unique.

On the other hand, The Night World looked more like the kind of books the Caldecott committee likes. The way the pictures begin dark in the night, and very gradually lighten up as day approaches, and then finally, glorious sunlight and the scene is full of color.
Edit: I had a chance to look through Night World again, and this time I noticed that on the last page, as the diurnal animals are waking up, in the corners of the pages the nocturnal animals are going to sleep.
I am looking forward to reading the other two selections when I can get them.

A Thirst for Home: A Story of Water across the World

I am the author of A Thirst For home and would be grateful and interested to get your opinion and review! Thanks, Christine

Is Wangari eligible? It appears that Aurelia Fronty isn't from the U.S.

It should not be eligible. It is a beauty of a book, however.

I never give bad reviews, but I couldn't bring myself to give a good one to Earmuffs For Everyone. It felt really amateur in execution, and the writing was just bad.

Maggi wrote: "I never give bad reviews, but I couldn't bring myself to give a good one to Earmuffs For Everyone. It felt really amateur in execution, and the writing was just bad."

Wow. I thought it was pretty cute. No problem with the writing that I could determine.

Laura wrote: "Maggi wrote: "I never give bad reviews, but I couldn't bring myself to give a good one to Earmuffs For Everyone. It felt really amateur in execution, and the writing was just bad."

Wow. I thought ..."

The "cute" was part of the problem I had with it? I know that's a matter of taste, but the writing put me off more than the illustrations.

Understood. I wasn't rah rah about it either. I do like the illustrations a lot.

I will have to look into Fronty. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

Earmuffs for Everyone: I thought it was a good biography, which actually pointed out that Chester Greenwood did not create the first earmuffs, but rather improved on the existing ones. While I did think the book was good, I do not think it reaches the heights that a Caldecott award winner needs to reach.

Earmuffs for Everyone--While I enjoy McCarthy's illustrations and the premise of the story, it just didn't work for me. The format of the story felt disjointed at points. For example the page about a patent didn't answer the question yet, told us what the building looked like in DC...which didn't make sense to me...then went on to answer the question. It felt like an unneeded page. I guess for me there were too many asides in the book, which didn't allow it to flow. The backmatter in the book was strong.
Not a contender for me.

The Night World--I love the use of the lack of color in this book! It is not often that we see a picture book taking on the night (Flashlight, Blackout). The use of color before the title page could be easily missed, but is an important part of the story. It's so true that animals often draw us up and outside at night, so this idea of the cat beckoning the boy out truly works. The illustrations I can tell are Gerstein's but since his level of detail in the black and white illustrations is less than his previous work. The illustrations definitely push his artistic style, yet when you turn to the first page that adds color his traditional style reaches out to you.
The Night World is a contender for me.

Librarygarden wrote: "The Night World--I love the use of the lack of color in this book! It is not often that we see a picture book taking on the night (Flashlight, Blackout). The use of color before the title page coul..."

I think it is a contender for sure. It is stunning.

I love the illustration style Fronty uses in the Wangari book, but I think she is French or French-Canadian, so cannot be considered.

Counting her out, my second favorite book from this month was Night World. I like how Gerstein plays with negative space with some of the shadows in the spreads. I do wish the end was drawn out a little more as the color spreads at dawn, though. Also, I am not sure the page before the title page works when the child is saying good night to the cat. I wish all of the color had just been saved for the end.

I think this book will be on lots of lists at the end of the year and wouldn't be too surprised to see it get an honor. If the committee keeps the awards down to three or four this time, though, I'm not sure it will make the final cut.

Librarian Roxanne Feldman has just posted an investigation of the demographics of past Caldecott winners here: http://www.fairrosa.com/2015/08/02/wh...

Rude Cakes--Finally got my hands on a copy of Rude Cakes. While it's a perfect story for using your manners the illustrations don't seem that special.

On another note I just read The Tea Party in the Woods by Miyakoshi and it's a wonderfully charming story, with some beautiful descriptions. The charcoal drawings bring you right into the snowy setting. I'm hoping it's considered for the Batchelder Award.

Librarygarden wrote: "Rude Cakes--Finally got my hands on a copy of Rude Cakes. While it's a perfect story for using your manners the illustrations don't seem that special.

On another note I just read The Tea Party in..."

I just love Rude Cakes. I crack up every time I read it.

Laura wrote: "Librarygarden wrote: "The Night World--I love the use of the lack of color in this book! It is not often that we see a picture book taking on the night (Flashlight, Blackout). The use of color befo..."

Just getting to this one, and I absolutely love it. The Night World is a perfect example of a book where the illustrations and the text enhance each other. My pick for the medal so far.