So, as I cast my eyes across my shelf,  I wonder: what in the world is the committee going to do with all the picture-book sequels that have been pouring in?! Now, picture books usually do not have sequels, and some of these are not officially sequels but are simply very similar in style or tone to earlier books...but they feel like sequels. I had to search through the Caldecott Manual to find the part that deals with this situation, at least a little bit.

The term, “only the books eligible for the award,” specifies that the committee is not to consider the entire body of the work by an artist or whether the artist has previously won the award. The committee’s decision is to be made following deliberation about books of the specified calendar year.

This is the sentence that many people think the committee skips over. I mean, it seems impossible — how do the very knowledgeable members of the committee manage to NOT talk about books that were honor winners just last year? And yet they do NOT talk about older books or who won or did not win in the past. They discuss JUST the books published during the current year. That's why I get cranky when people talk about an illustrator being "due" or "it's about time for so-and-so." In the actual committee, it's just the books on the table.

Another phrase from the criteria is "individually distinct." How does that come into play when a book might look and read so much like its predecessor?

We may talk more in depth here about some of these books in the coming weeks and months, but I wanted to bring a few titles to your attention. Surely this has to be a particularly high number of books that will remind readers and committee members of other books that have either won stickers recently ... or garnered a great deal of attention when they did not.

What do YOU think the committee will do? Which of these are strong enough to stand on their own? Are any stronger than its predecessor? Any remarkably weaker?

(To remind you: Quest/Journey...Blizzard/Blackout...Flashlight/Inside Outside...Flora and the Penguin/Flora and the Flamingo...Circle Square Moose/Z Is for Moose)