Mock Caldecott Group

Our Newbery lunch group that meets on Wednesdays has morphed into a Caldecott group.  The kids who come are kids who are already reading for The Battle of the Books, kids who have LOTS of homework and extra curricular activities so asking them to read another chapter book wasn't going to work.  Instead I'm getting to do the one thing I miss the most about elementary school-read picture books! So far we've read Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales, My Pet Book by Bob Staake and The Right Word by Jen Bryant.  We also read I Am a Witches Cat by Harriet Muncaster but then realized that the author/illustrator was from England and therefore not eligible for the Caldecott.  Drat!  The tiny little world created for the illustrations in that book is worth the read.  So cool!

The puppets created for this books are beautiful, there is a wonderful video that shows the process Morales took to create the artwork for this book.  I love the message in the sparse words, English and Spanish. 

This was our group's favorite book so far.  The illustrations and story are so much fun!  I love seeing the process and artist has for creating the art work.  I know nothing about computer illustration but I love to see the product.

This was my favorite.  I LOVE Melissa Sweet's artwork.  I love knowing the story behind the "treasure house" of words Roget created and I love knowing how to pronounce his name. Here's a trailer that shows the beauty of the illustrations.