Well, since Tuesday's post was called "Let's Get This Party Started," we'll continue with our party metaphor by telling you that all the guests are here, the mixed nuts are out, and the dance music is blaring. That's right: We're here today with our list of several dozen 2017 Caldecott-eligible books. We have gathered them together into a group and convinced them to come to our shindig. (We'll save a few cocktails for February 2018, when the 2018 Caldecott winner will be announced at ALA Midwinter.)

This list was generated in primarily two ways: The three of us each submitted a list of books we'd like to see discussed this year, and from those three lists (which included some overlapping titles), we built a master list of books. Then we added many of the titles you all suggested in the comments of Tuesday's post. Did we mention that we value your input a great deal? We do, so thank you to everyone who weighed in.

We must note, however, that this list is not definitive. Some titles will be added, and some may even drop off. This is how we roll here at Calling Caldecott. We don't want to get so married to one list that we refuse to welcome in new titles or cling to ones we no longer feel are relevant to discuss. Please do let us know if titles you don't see here, especially those scheduled to be published in the latter months of the year, become ones you'd like to read about on Calling Caldecott. And, as always, if there are any topics/issues you'd like to see us discuss here, please do share.

As Robin explained so well last year, many factors can drive the decision to write about a book, including: lots of people are talking about said book; we think it's outstanding in one way or another; something special pops up we want to discuss; the artistic medium interests us; etc. Most of all, we are guided by the Caldecott criteria we included in Tuesday's post, asking ourselves: Which distinguished books do we think might rise to the top of the committee's list?

So, here it is — the kick-off list (here presented alphabetically by title; we'll be covering the books in, loosely, publication-date order), one that leaves us room to be ever-growing and always adapting:

• After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat


• All Ears, All Eyes, written by Richard Jackson and illustrated by Katherine Tillotson


• All the Way to Havana, written by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Mike Curato


• The Antlered Ship, written by Dashka Slater and illustrated by The Fan Brothers


• Before She Was Harriet, written by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated by James Ransome


• Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper


• Blue Sky, White Stars, written by Sarvinder Naberhaus and illustrated by Kadir Nelson


• The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken


• The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein


• Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James


• Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion, written by Chris Barton and illustrated by Victo Ngai


• A Different Pond, written by Bao Phi and illustrated by Thi Bui


• Egg by Kevin Henkes


• Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre


• Grand Canyon by Jason Chin


• Her Right Foot, written by Dave Eggers and illustrated by Shawn Harris


• How It Feels to Be a Boat by James Kwan


• How to Be an Elephant by Katherine Roy


• Life, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel


• Life on Mars by Jon Agee


• The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC’s (the Hard Way) by Patrick McDonnell


• Martí's Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos por la libertad, written by Emma Otheguy and iIllustrated by Beatriz Vidal


• Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters, written by Michael Mahin and illustrated by Evan Turk


• Now by Antoinette Portis


• Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, written by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth and illustrated by Ekua Holmes


• A Perfect Day by Lane Smith


• Red Again by Barbara Lehman


• The Ring Bearer by Floyd Cooper


• Rivers of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm


• Robinson by Peter Sís


• The Secret Project, written by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Jeanette Winter


• Stay: A Girl,  a Dog, a Bucket List, written by Kate Klise and illustrated by M. Sarah Klise


• The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jerry Pinkney


• Tony, written by Ed Galing and illustrated by Erin E. Stead


• Triangle, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen


• When’s My Birthday?, written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Christian Robinson


• Who Am I?: An Animal Guessing Game by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page


• Windows, written by Julia Denos and illustrated by E. B. Goodale


• The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen


• Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell