Mock Caldecott 2026 discussion

Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods by Grace Lin





This is a Story by John Schu





There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds





In the Night Garden by Carin Berger






Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art by Hannah Salyer





Some of These Are Snails by Carter Higgins



I'm super excited by these publications. I had to add a couple!

Do you think one of them will be a future Caldecott award?

This Is a Story
Lauren Castillo's ink, watercolor and pastel illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to this paean to libraries, books, and reading. Even more special is the inclusion in the illustrations of several dozen actual picture and chapter book covers, either on display in the library, or being read by the children in the library. Just a few examples: Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea, The One and Only Ivan, The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, Juana & Lucas, Big Cat, Little Cat, and many more. The inside of the book jacket is a poster as well. Hats off to Schu for this lovely and loving accomplishment.

There Was a Party for Langston
This book is more a celebration of Langston Hughes and his writings than a biography. The illustrations by the Pumphrey brothers, created with handmade stamps and edited digitally, sway and dance through these pages of people, with Hughes's words swirling around them. The dancing takes place in the Langston Hughes Auditorium of the New York Public Library with the books of black authors, such as James Baldwin, Octavia Butler, Paul L. Dunbar, Ralph Ellison, Zora N. Hurston and others, looking on. Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka take center stage in the dancing. This book may win multiple awards.

Ancestory
I was interested to read that the artist used ceramic sculpture, photography, colored pencil, charcoal, pigment, and digital media to create the illustrations for this book, which took readers on a tour through many of the pictographs in the world. The illustrations paired nicely with the text. I appreciated the site map of locations of rock art around the world in the back matter. Back matter also included info on the Lascaux Caves rock art, author's note, glossary, timeline, and bibliography.
However, since I do not believe in the evolutionary myth of deep time, I did not agree with many of the dates ascribed to the rock art in the book.

Chinese Menu
I have read the first two sections of the book: Chopsticks and Tea. I plan to continue reading it over the next several days. I have certainly enjoyed the stories in these two sections, and the illustrations are a great enhancement to the stories and information. I am simply not sure if there are enough illustrations for the Caldecott committee to consider this book for an award. However, I can definitely see it receiving a Sibert Award.

Edited: I finished reading this book, and it is a fascinating, outstanding book, with excellent, culturally relevant illustrations. I do hope it garners some awards.

Every one of these titles is terrific. The art for three of them is on current display at the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show in NYC. I was blown away by There was a Party for Langston. It is probably the most detailed, unusual and distinctive work the Pumphrey brothers have every created. I have been a fan of Grace Lin since she first began her career. Chinese Menu is phenomenal. However, I think her other 2023 picture book release, Once Upon a Book by Kate Messer, has a greater chance of winning. Ancestory is my favorite of all the selections. Written and illustrated by Hannah Salyer, it really stands out in a year filled with amazing books.

In the Night Garden
I really liked the cut paper collage illustrations in this book, created from found ephemera, such as ticket stubs, receipts, ancient ledger books, and musical scores, which enhance the lyrical text. For example, the songs of the crickets and bullfrogs are realized as "word" balloons created with pieces of musical scores. A black cat leads the reader through this garden all the way to the bed of a young girl. It's a very charming bedtime poem.