Hello, dear readers. It’s good to have you back as we kick off this year’s Calling Caldecott season.

Ordinarily, I’d write something about how Calling Caldecott is one of many things I like about fall and winter, along with sweater weather and the possibility of snow. But there’s nothing ordinary about this year, is there? Do you wish you had a dime for every time you heard “these uncertain times” to refer to the year 2020?

It’s been an incredible year — and I mean the unbelievable kind of incredible, not the wonderful kind. The pandemic has had many of us sheltered in place for nearly half a year now; millions of people no longer have jobs; and, saddest of all, lives have been lost to the virus.

We are also witnessing people rise up in defiance all across the country, as America reckons with its racist past and present. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in May, for one, we saw a record number of protests. If you’ve been paying attention to race in this country, you know that protests about the deaths of Black people have been happening for a long time now, but this one seemed different. Much of white America finally (and belatedly) had the epiphany that Black Lives Matter. The New York Times reported that the protests peaked in early June when half a million people turned out in more than 500 places across the United States. Half a million. This is also incredible — both kinds of incredible.

Then came July, when we had no choice but to adjust to a world without Congressman John Lewis.

Oh, and there’s this little election coming up in November. We hear repeatedly that it’ll be the most important election of our lifetime. That’s not the first time a presidential election has been described that way, perhaps, but this one is undeniably critical.

What does all of this have to do with Calling Caldecott? We simply want to acknowledge that it’s been an unusual and difficult year. We are living in the midst of a viral pandemic, as well as what lawyer Benjamin Crump called at George Floyd’s memorial service “the pandemic of racism and discrimination.” Given this, I bet a lot of us are moved in new ways by Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated, which garnered Kadir Nelson the 2020 Caldecott Medal.

We still plan to carry on with our Calling Caldecott season. We will take a look at some of 2020’s most spectacular picture books, and we hope that during “these uncertain times” you get some joy out of reading about the books that have been published this year — the beautiful, breathtaking, eloquent, subversive, inspiring, quirky, moving, and compelling picture books that we’ve seen in the hands of children. We already have a large group of guest posters who have committed to contributing this year, for which we are grateful. We can’t wait to hear what our discerning guests have to say about the picture books they’ve seen.

Early next week, we will post the list of books we plan to cover this year. (Please remember, as always, that the list may shift. Some books may fall off the list, and books may be added.) We also hope to have a 2020 Caldecott treat for you. After that, we will dive right in, as our guest posters tell us what they like about the picture books they have seen this year. 

We hope that you, reading this right now, and those you love are safe and healthy. We also hope that you’ll tell us in the comments about your favorite Caldecott-eligible picture books from this year.

It’s been a grueling year, but maybe picture books can help lift us up.