Mock Caldecott 2026 discussion

First year doing Mock Caldecott in a school library. We're doing a lightning round before the end of the month with 3rd to 5th grade!

One question has come up as I pull my list of nominees... we will make a list of 20 books to choose from; how do I make sure I include the one that will win the actual Caldecott?! I plan to show my students the results of the actual award ceremony, and I think it will be weird if the one that wins wasn't even one of our options.

Thoughts on this?

Thanks.

Kate wrote: "First year doing Mock Caldecott in a school library. We're doing a lightning round before the end of the month with 3rd to 5th grade!

One question has come up as I pull my list of nominees... we ..."

There is no way to make sure. None of us will know who the winner will be until the announcements on January 23. We just hope for our favorites and make educated guesses. Reading GoodReads reviews and interacting with the members helps.

I think it's actually not a bad thing if your favorites don't match up at all with the real winners ... it teaches the kids that the entire thing really is subjective, and introduces them to extra books!

I agree with both Laura and Meredith. I make educated guesses based on what others are mentioning and use my own best judgement. And it will be ok if I didn't pick the winning title this year, although I am hoping that at least one of the books on my list receive an Honor.

Thanks, all! I wasn't sure if there was some kind of "inside baseball" angle I wasn't playing. :) I'm going to add our list to the thread that was just started! The kids are excited.