Mock Caldecott 2026 discussion

Many schools , libraries and reading groups host their own mock Caldecott awards.
If you participated in, or organized, a mock Caldecott share your results with us here. If you desire, include your lists, ages of participants, predictions and results. It will be fun to see the many selections that were voted on around the country.

Ours is happening Saturday at the library--just in time for the announcement next week.

We had our 2020 Mock Caldecott last night at West Regional Library. 15 teens in 6th-10th grade attended. They picked:

Winner: When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree

Honors: Camp Tiger
The Undefeated

CaldeNotts: The Proudest Blue
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way

I did a Mock Caldecott with my second graders:
Our Mock Caldecott Winner was The Little Guys by Vera Brogsol
Our Honor Books were Sea Bear: a journey for survival by Lindsay Moore and The Crayon Man: the true story of the invention of crayola crayon by Natascha Biebow and Steven Salerno

My 1st-3rd graders overwhelmingly picked The Little Guys also! I didn't expect it to win anything but they sure love that book so keep that on your list for read alouds. And our honor books were Sea Bear, Home in the Woods, Fly! and Field Trip to the Moon.

My district did Mock Caldecotts at our 3 elementary schools with K-2nd grade. The winners were Sea Bear (1 school) and Camp Tiger (2 schools). Honor books for the schools were The Little Guys and ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market.

We conducted a Mock Caldecott with our 3rd graders.
Winner: Fly! by Mark Teague (I loved listening to my students explain to their classmates how the illustrations told this story and how the mother/child relationship resonated with them)
Honor Books: Hum and Swish, Bear Came Along, The Undefeated

I appreciate those who are sharing their students' results. It's interesting to compare and contrast what other students picked and not only with what grownups think.

Yes, it's informative to see which books young students vote for.

Our library consortium mock group was primarily made of librarians and library staff. Below is our winner and honors.

Winner: You Are Home illustrated by Evan Turk
Honors: The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop illustrated by Frank Morrison; The Undefeated illustrated by Kadir Nelson; Fry Bread illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

Briony wrote: "Our library consortium mock group was primarily made of librarians and library staff. Below is our winner and honors.

Winner: You Are Home illustrated by Evan Turk
Honors: The Roots of Rap: 16 Bar..."

You Are Home was a beautiful book. I am sorry that it was not even recognized by the Sibert committee.

I held a Mock Caldecott with my 2nd-4th graders. The winner was Sea Bear and our two honors were Truman and The Donkey Egg.