We want to take a moment here at Calling Caldecott, as we wrap up our book coverage, to extend our thanks. Mind you, we aren’t entirely done here at the blog. We promise we have more posts in store for you. I mean, OF COURSE we do! The Caldecott announcement is just days away (!), so we will definitely return to share the big news and ask for your thoughts. We will also have the announcement (soon!) of the 2020 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize. 

We have enjoyed taking a look at a big stack of 2019 picture books, and we would like to thank all of our guest posters who make this possible and provide generous insight. They make it so that we and our readers can all see these books in new ways and from new angles, and we couldn’t do it without them. We are immensely grateful to them for their time and talents. They are: Autumn Allen, Luisana Duarte Armendáriz, Betsy Bird, Alec Chunn, Shoshana Flax, Amy Seto Forrester, Elisa Gall, Elissa Gershowitz, Kahla Gubanich, Monique Harris, Jonathan Hunt, Travis Jonker, Allison Grover Khoury, Megan Dowd Lambert, Sabrina Montenigro, Grace McKinney, Michelle Martin, Nicholl Montgomery, Emily Prabhaker, Tarie Sabido, Hillary Saxton, Dean Schneider, Nithya Sivashankar, Emmie Stuart, Chelsea Tarwater, Misti Tidman, and Brian Wilson. Some of these writers contributed more than one post. Big thanks to each and every one of them. 

Thank you also to all of our readers, especially those who left thoughts and impressions in the form of comments. Thanks again to everyone who voted in our mock 2020 Caldecott ballot. If you missed it, you can read the results here. Please remember that this is a mock vote only and has no bearing at all on the real vote that will take place soon.

And as always, a million thanks to Media Source's Research Manager Laura Girmscheid, who every year creates the poll and allows us to hold our mock vote. We couldn't do it without her.  

We hope you have enjoyed exploring, with us, that big stack of exceptional 2019 picture books. It has been a dynamic year for picture books. And it feels like a Wild Card kind of year, yes? That is, there isn’t one book it seems everyone is rooting for. It feels like an anything-goes kind of year. Which books have you crossing your fingers for some recognition?

The ALA Youth Media Awards are just around the bend! The big day will be Monday, January 27, at 8 a.m. EST, and here is where you can watch the live feed of the awards announcement. Which picture books will the Caldecott committee choose? Not long now, and we will know.