Mock Caldecott 2027 discussion

The Sweetest of Lemons by Daniel Nayeri and illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell - Illustrator.

by Christian Robinson.



What do you think of these publications?

I love Dad, but don't see it as a Caldecott hopeful. I will check out Nayeri's book. It looks lovely on the cover.

The Sweetest of Lemons:
I always enjoy Nayeri's writing, and this had his signature wandering, conversational feel to it. The illustrations are animated and richly-colored (the artist explains the colors were chosen to honor historic Persian art, and their natural-dye hues went well with the folkloric feel of the story); but I feel like they would have been more successful in a larger-format book.

I know Caldecott folks need to pay attention to pages that don't work, even in handsome books, and one stood out to me. The page where the young man and the princess jump on the sheep is confusingly laid-out: it's not clearly signaled whether to read the panels and text boxes across the gutter or not.

This is a very good book, but I don't think it reaches Caldecott standards.