I received two hits from my Caldecott book request. Here are the two responses.
Thank you Walter and Nancy.
Sherri Kilby
Kilby@vnet.net
I'm on this year's Caldecott committee, & the list of
books we're actively considering is a well-guarded secret. But anyone who's
a member of the Association for Library Services to Children can nominate
any book they want. You can "nominate" your own list of books.
My advice: Ask other librarians & your local bookstore children's dept
people what books published this year get them excited. Remember that the
illustrator must live at least part of the year in the US; there have been
several excellent books published this year that we can't consider because
the illustrator lives in another country. (I'll put in a plug for my
employer by saying the SLJ starred books--on the last page of each
issue--are always worth considering when you're putting your list together,
too, as well as the "starred" books of other review magazines.)
When you're considering what to nominate, look at the whole book, including
the cover, endpapers, & gutters; that's what we do. The way the entire book
is designed makes a difference. If a book is beautiful but leaves you cold,
it may not be a good candidate; if it hits you emotionally, it may be, even
if the art isn't "perfect."
Walter Minkel, Technology Editor, School Library Journal
www.slj.com * wminkel@reedbusiness.com * 646-746-6721 * fax 646-746-6689
Choosing and finding the books is probably the hardest part of the lesson. I
rely on School Library Journal's starred selections, recommendations on this
list and a great list of books provided at the annual meeting of MSLMA
(Massachusetts School Library Media Association). I then beg, borrow and
(practically) steal the titles from other schools who do not do this unit
and local public libraries. I also buy them for myself if they look like
something I could use for lessons or just to own. I'm lucky to find 25% of
them in my own school's library because of the way the budget season works.
Eligible books are those published in the current year (i.e. 2003 Caldecott
is for books published Jan-Dec 2002, but you probably knew that) and I
generally have to have my whole year's order submitted the previous May.
Thus I usually only have books published through April in my library until
the following year or if I get money from the PTO to spend midyear.
Anyway, I hope this helps. Watch the list in late Sept-Oct. and people will
generally start posting "nominees". I put that word in quotes because there
isn't a specific list of nominees. I believe the criteria for eligibility is
all books published by an American author in the United States. (That's not
exactly worded correctly but in essence 100's if not 1000's of books are
eligible for the Caldecott each year.)
Nancy Riemer Kellner, MLIS
Librarian, Marguerite E. Peaslee School
Northborough, MA
nkellner@nsboro.k12.ma.us (work)
nkellner@charter.net (home)
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