On January 14, 2018, a group of UF faculty, graduate students, librarians, and community members got together to choose our top picture book of 2018–our “Mock Caldecott” winner. Although there are many excellent picture books published around the world, since we wanted to predict the Caldecott winner, we limited our choices to books illustrated by a US resident and published in the United States. After about an hour of reading twenty of the best picture books of 2017, we discussed all of the books on our list, narrowed it down our top six, and voted. Without further ado, here are the results!
The Winner:
In All Ears, All Eyes, we loved how the muted colors evoked the nighttime. The illustrations kept the animals hidden in a way that reflected actual forests and challenged to reader to find all of the hidden images. The layered colors added depth, and really drew you into the images.
The Honor Book:
In Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters, we loved how the colors reflected the progress of the story. The colors were “muddied” with shades of brown until readers got to Chicago, where they became clear and bright. The illustrations adds to readers’ experience of the music that Muddy plays.
The Runners-Up:
Other books that made it to our final ballot but didn’t quite come out on top are:
- Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
- Crown: An Ode to a Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James
- Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris
- Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin
Many thanks to the participants and to the Alachua County Public Library for their help in coordinating this event!