On January 13, 2019, UF faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, librarians, and community members gathered at the Alachua County Library for the Center’s annual Mock Caldecott.
During this event, attendees read a selection of the best picture books from 2018 in an attempt to predict which book will win this year’s prestigious Caldecott Award. After a lengthy debate, we narrowed down the list to a handful of titles and voted on our favorites. View the results below:
Our Mock Caldecott Recipient:
Jessica Love’s debut picture book Julian is a Mermaid captivated our Mock Caldecott readers with its beautiful illustrations and heartwarming story. Our participants were especially enchanted by the book’s representations of diverse body types. Read more about the book here.
Honor Book Recipients
Writer Minh Lê and illustrator Dan Santat’s picture book Drawn Together shows how art and narrative can bridge cultural and generational divides. The book uses a breathtaking range of art styles as the young protagonist and his grandfather bond over their shared love of drawing. Read more about the book here.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Brendan Wenzel takes readers on a delightful exploration of the natural world. Our readers enjoyed the work’s clever use of color and pattern to draw connections between the various animals, along with Wenzel’s close attention to scale. Read more about the book here.
The Runners-Up:
Books that made our shortlist but were not selected as our winner or honor books include:
- A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano and Lane Smith
- Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
- Islandborn by Junot Diaz and Leo Espinoza
- Hello Lighthouse by Julie Blackall
The Center would like to thank the children’s librarians at the Alachua County Public Library for their help planning this event. Stay tuned for details about our 2020 Mock Caldecott later this year!