Thanks for chiming in with the books you are excited about! I still have the feeling that The Book has not been mentioned yet...no reason for that feeling, really, but I just think I am missing something. (I know, for instance, that new books illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, Jerry Pinkney, and Ashley Bryan are forthcoming.) Part of it is that I don't live my work life in a small office filled with most of the books that were published in 2016. I don't live my work life in a library or bookstore. I have to rely on other people to be my eyes and ears.

SO, we start.

At the end of this post, you will find a preliminary list of 2016 Caldecott-eligible books, which we have compiled as a group. Will we talk about every single book? Nope. We will not. We will talk about many of them, but not all. And for sure we will talk about books that aren't on the list.

Here is how we will choose the books we'll end up talking about on Calling Caldecott:

1. We think the book will win and we want to explore why we appreciate it.


2. We don't like the book and we want to explore why we do not appreciate it.


3. The art interests us because it surprises us for one reason or another. (For example, the illustrations are photographs or in some other medium we haven't talked about in a while.)


4. There is buzz in the ozone.


5. There should be buzz in the ozone.


6. We just feel like it.


7. It arrives on the scene in December and we just know it is Something Special.

We will discuss our first title (or titles) starting on Thursday. Sometimes it just makes sense to talk about two or three books in the same posting because that's how the committee will talk about them. I have not noticed any real patterns (as in the year of the multiple Darwin books). Yet. Please continue to comment on any titles that you stumble upon as you begin getting serious about the Caldecott selections. Also, please suggest Burning Issues of Our Times that you'd like to hear us chat about. We love to talk. And listen.

And so, without further ado, the start-us-off 2016 list:

• Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. by R. Gregory Christie


• Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill; illus. by Francis Vallejo


• Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat


• Emma and Julia Love Ballet by Barbara McClintock


• Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley; illus. by Lauren Castillo


• Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie; illus. by Yuyi Morales


• The Airport Book by Lisa Brown


• Flora and the Peacocks by Molly Idle


• This Is Not a Picture Book! by Sergio Ruzzier


• City Shapes by Diana Murray; illus. by Bryan Collier


• School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex; illus. by Christian Robinson


• Frank and Lucky Get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins


• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak


• Excellent Ed by Stacy McAnulty;
illus. by Julia Sarcone-Roach


• Can One Balloon Make an Elephant Fly? by Dan Richards;
illus. by Jeff Newman


• Marta! Big and Small by Jen Arena; illus. by Angela Dominguez


• Lucy by Randy Cecil


• Come Home, Angus by Patrick Downes; illus. by Boris Kulikov


• The Sound of Silence by Katrina Goldsaito; illus. by Julia Kuo


• Giant Squid by Candace Fleming; illus. by Eric Rohmann


• They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel


• Before Morning by Joyce Sidman; illus. by Beth Krommes


• Henry & Leo by Pamela Zagarenski; illus. by the author


• Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis


• We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen


• Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol


• Snow White by Matt Phelan


• The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas; illus. by Erin E. Stead


• Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell; illus. by Rafael Lopez


• Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet


• March: Book 3 by Andrew Aydin and John Lewis; illus. by Nate Powell