Mock Caldecott 2026 discussion

The Whisper by Pamela Zagarenski

Yard Sale by Eve Bunting

Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle by Miranda Paul

Book by David W. Miles

McToad Mows Tiny Island by Tom Angleberger

Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett

Flop to the Top!: TOON Level 3 by Eleanor Davis

It's a lot to read in December but the Caldecott is just one month away.
Are any of these books a strong contender or medal winner?

Flop to the Top has a shot at the Theodore Geisel award. Actually there are a couple 2015's from the Toon series that are pretty amazing and definite contenders. I adore Water is Water. It is absolutely glorious. I would be thrilled if that one got either the gold or a silver. Yard Sale is very nice, the illustrations for Leo: A Ghost Story are wonderful. I found the tale to be a little weak but Mac Barnett sure can crank out best-sellers. I would be surprised if McToad won but it is fun & quirky, Pamela Zagarenski is a picture book queen, I hope she gets an honor but the gold is definitely within her reach. Kevin Henkes will probably get the Caldecott Gold for Waiting. Quite rightly so.

Book wasn't on my radar. I will take a closer look at that title.

Leo: What a great story! And the blue-themed illustrations of acrylic paint and construction paper collage help set the tone and atmosphere of the story perfectly.

McToad Mows Tiny Island: What a great idea for a book about various forms of transportation! It looks like it takes McToad longer to get to the island than to mow the tiny island! The story is funny; the toad is multi-talented; and the illustrations are a hoot. There is an origami Yoda and origami Jabba the Hut in his house. He has fuzzy dice and a hula frog in his truck. And since every mode of transportation he uses has a big "McToad" on the side, I assume he owns all the transportation that he uses. Wonderful acrylic paintings and the illustrator uses different fonts in different sizes to great effect. I love this book! Which is probably why all of the "best book of 2015" lists I have seen so far have ignored it.

Yard Sale: This is a very touching story. Even though the family was sad to sell most of their belongings, they realized in the end that they didn't need them as long as they had each other. The nice watercolor and ink illustrations are by Lauren Castillo, a former Caldecott Honor winner.

Whisper: This story extols the wonders of the imagination, and the mixed-media paintings are perfect for it, full of details of wonderful animals, people, buildings, and more. When the little girl borrows her teacher's book and all the stories escape, she is forced to use her imagination and make up her own stories for each double-page spread. Alert readers will be able to find a fox, rabbit, and crown in each illustration. I am not sure why the crown is hovering over the girl's head in the last few pages; perhaps it symbolizes her imagination. And I loved how the fox re-wrote her "sour grapes" story on the end page.

My favorite would be Yard Sale followed by Leo. Both incredibly beautiful and also great stories. :) Still have to read water is water.

My favorite would be Yard Sale followed by Leo. Both incredibly beautiful and also great stories. :) Still have to read water is water.

Angie wrote: "My favorite would be Yard Sale followed by Leo. Both incredibly beautiful and also great stories. :) Still have to read water is water."

Water is Water is amazing. I hope you get a copy soon. Love to know your thoughts.

Flop to the Top:
Cute story, so I can see it getting a Geisel Award. I didn't think the illustrations were Caldecott level, however.

Water Is Water:
This has a lovely, lyrical text and gorgeous watercolor and gouche paintings. It also has some interesting science explanations in the back matter that teachers may find useful. I hope it gets a Caldecott mention.

Book:
Book extols the virtues of a book: the screen won't crack; there is no password to keep you out; it can't be infected with viruses; it doesn't need batteries; etc. And the collage illustrations extend the text by showing the little boy's vast imagination.

The Whisper and Water is Water have been in my top five list this year. I definitely think they are strong contenders for the gold and will be disappointed if they don't each get at least an honor.

Personally, I also love Leo, but I think it depends on preferences on the committee. Not everyone likes that mid-century style of illustration. I'd be surprised to see it get anything.

I am a huge Tom Angleberger fan and was really looking forward to McToad. It is a fun book, but I don't think it is distinguished. Hendrix's illustrations are actually a little off-putting for me.

Book was not on my radar either. Although, of course, I like the concept of praising books, both the text and the illustrations felt like they were lacking. It definitely felt like it was written for adults, which I think is a major misstep in a picture book. I guess it felt like it was telling me it was magical (because it was a book) but it didn't show me or make me feel like it was magical?

Phew...still going! Yard Sale was a sweet story and I like the illustrations, I just don't think it is distinguished enough this year.

I liked Flop to the Top, but agree with Laura, above, that it will probably get a Geisel, not the Caldecott.