Mock Caldecott 2026 discussion

Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer




Home by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Loren Long (Illustrator)




Cranky, Crabby Crow by Corey R. Tabor




The History of We by Nikkolas Smith


I can't believe that we have not read these as a group yet!

What do you think of them?

I gave the first 5 stars. From my Goodreads: Perhaps one of the most interesting books I have seen on understanding stalactites and stalagmites and how slowly they grow until a column is formed in a cave. Make sure to take notice of the bottom of the page to show the passage of time and the end pages. The front end page is the start of the book and the back is a very cool timeline of the history of earth and her inhabitants. I will most certainly add this one to both of my elementary school collections!

I am so happy that I learned about this book at Picture Book Palooza with SLJ. Hearing Drew Beckmeyer explain the subtle details he used to show the passage of eons was fascinating!

Cranky Crabby Crow
Tabor has done it again with a quirky adventure story accompanied by appealing cartoon illustrations.
I loved that in Crow's rocket ship, he not only has buttons for missiles and lasers, but also for bubbles and cupcakes!

Home
A kind of quiet philosophical treatise on what makes a home--and not necessarily a building. Loren Long states that "the art for this book was crafted by hand on archival foam core with acrylic paint and whatever dust and dog hair happened to be floating around the artist's studio." The illustrations are lovely and give extra details not mentioned in the text.

Stalactite and Stalgmite
I was not very impressed with the illustrations in this book, nor did I particularly like the text.