WOW Reads: Bonus - MSRAP Reads for Mock Caldecott

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we recap our experience around predicting the 2025 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner for picturebook illustration.

In this episode, we discuss... 

• Our understanding of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Caldecott committee's criteria and process for selection.
• How we used those understandings in determining our nomination and final voting.
• Our selection for the winning and honor books.
• How the experience informed our view of picturebooks.

We also would like to make a pitch to ALSC to include at least one youth member on the selection committee. Maybe someone without so much homework.

Book Mentions:
Big illustrated by Vashti Harrison
Home In a Lunchbox illustrated by Cherry Mo
The Last House Before Falling Into the Sea illustrated by Hanna Cha
The Last Zoo Keeper illustrated by Aaron Becker
My Daddy Is a Cowboy illustrated by C.G. Esperanza
Touch the Sky illustrated by Chris Park
Two Together illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
The Yellow Bus illustrated by Loren Long

This podcast was recorded in a private room of the Worlds of Words Center on three phones. We didn't need an "and, uhm!"

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Special Guest: Alexis Mendoza, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A First-year Student
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A Radio, TV, Film Major

For more information on the Worlds of Words Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP), visit wowlit.org.

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We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Transcript

Hello, welcome to WOW Reads, a podcast from Worlds of Words that centers voices of youth around books written for them.World of Words Center of Global Literacy and Literature is committed to creating an international network of people who share the vision of bringing books and children together, thereby opening windows on the world. We encourage thoughtful dialog around global literature so that children can reflect on their own cultural experiences and connect to the experience of children's children in classrooms across the globe.

Worlds of Words Reading Ambassadors engage in a university experience of children's literature, within the University of Arizona College of Education, reading ambassadors learn about literature for young people under the direction of faculty and staff with expertise in children's literature, education, library science and marketing. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’Odham and the Yaqui.

Committed to diversity and inclusion, the university strives to help sustainable relationships with sovereign Native nations and indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

We just attended a Mock Caldecott. A Caldecott Award is for most distinguished picture book for children in the United States. This award is handed out by the Association for Library Service to Children or ALSC. The leaders of this event were doctors Kathy Short and Desiree Cueto.

All right. Let's start with, introductions. and let's try not to spoil who we voted for until the very end. We won't announce it till the very end. Right. So my name is Rebecca. I'm the associate director for Worlds of Words and the--I can't pick a favorite books-- friend, let's say I really liked I really liked the book that we read, The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker.

Hello, my name is Janesha and I really like Touch The Sky by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic. Umm, it was really interesting. Hello, my name is Nia and I really liked Home In A Lunchbox by Cherry Mo. Hello, my name is Elliette and I really like The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker. Hello, my name is Emmeline, and I liked, two books, and they're hard to choose between. the first one was The House Before Falling Into The Sea written by Ann Suk Wang. And then I also liked Home In A Lunchbox by Cherry Mo, as well as Nia said. Hi, my name is Alexis and I also liked Touch The Sky by Stefanie V.W. Lucianovic

Okay, so did somebody want to give a brief overview about the event as a whole?

so this is Emmeline and for the event, you started off just browsing books, seeing what you might, what you read later or like, in the picture books. and then it kind of progressed into, reading the last Caldecott winner, to kind of see how the, what is the word like? Like the criterion? Yeah. The criteria. and how that book specifically met it. so you could see for the books you are going to be reading. and then you went on to reading the books and then later presenting them to everyone else, and using the criteria used by Caldecott officials, to see what book you thought could be a winner.

So last year's Caldecott winner was Big by Vashti Harrison. And Desiree walked us through the ways that that fulfilled the criterion. So can anybody speak to that?

So what I noticed was like what the criteria that the book met was that there the use of color expressing like the different emotions that the girl went through, like at the very beginning, she was really bright and you could see that in the background with lots of pinks and like orangish hues. And then when she started getting like the words of other people, like, met her and like it started getting to her, the background started turning gray and it was like more depressed. But then when she, like, overcame the obstacles of that, it became pink again.

Yeah, I think as you progressed through the story, it starts with like as Janesha was saying it was like yellows and pinks and it goes to like a cooler, like cooler palette of colors to show, like the sadness and kind of like more like depressing, like times I guess when people started to bully her because she was different and I think that's kind of something important to think about.

So, yeah, kind of the similar thing with, colors was that, the main character was pink and pastel and bright, and, all the people in the back were, like, kind of background characters or express in their tan kind of, mundane colors. and I thought that was really interesting how that reflected with the book, and a lot of the times, just like, is hyperbole a word?

Okay, great. It means like, overstatement. Yeah. So they would like hyperbole, I guess. hyperbolically, hyperbolically, say her size. Because obviously she is bigger than the other kids in her school.

And around her, and they would reflect that and make her just make her seem small and big at the same time, which I really thought was interesting.

The book could also connect to a child audience with the contrasting colors of gray and pink, making warm environments and, just sad and depressing environments. And the one scene where she's looking at herself in the mirror and she's, she sees all the negative comments written on her back that could also connect to the child, because when they're when someone says something bad about them, they feel like they're written on them.

And, and one place that they tend to go just look at themselves in the mirror and see, oh, maybe I am too big. Maybe I am too old for this.

another thing is the fact that when you're a part of something, you want you--You're trying so hard to fit in, and but you're also trying to be different, to be still seen but not invisible. And also not like sticking out. And I think she was trying, like, so hard to try to be like everybody else in the story.

And she is having a hard time because of her size. And I think when, kid is looking at the book, they should like the message of the book was just because you're different does doesn't mean you're like beautiful at the same time. And I think people should walk away with that message when they read it, because it's an important thing to know.

Like it's kind of like you're beautiful because you're different and you don't have to be the same as everybody else.

So all together, you can answer this question. Did you feel as though Big deserved the Caldecott last year?
Yeah.

Yeah yeah yeah. So last year, the mock event we were we were successfully able to predict that as the winner. Let's see if we can predict this year's winner. so as Emmeline has said, we started out looking at books that were shortlisted elsewhere, the New York Times or, or someplace else. It had to be on at least two watch lists for this prize, and we were able to, select three books from those lists.

And you picked The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker, Touch The Sky, and The House Before Falling Into The Sea. So talk about those books just in brief, just brief terms. Let's talk about each one of those three.

so, what was it called?

The House Before Falling Into The Sea? Was, was it the Korean War or. yeah, I think it was the Korean War. and it's about like a community just coming together and trying to, be safe from it. And the use of, like, like the main character being scared and being, like, afraid and the use of how that, like, terror, how terrified she is, is reflect that, into the drawings on certain pages that's like kind of how the art ties into the whole, story as like one of the main parts to reflect just how scary it was.

Did you select that from the table? What, what drew you to that?

I like the idea of, like, it was like just a different art style than many of the others were. It was a little more, like, structured, but also has, like, realistic, like, I, I don't quite know how to describe it, but it was just different art than all the others.

Nia, you picked up Touch The Sky.

Yes. I, I thought it was a nice book about a boy who wanted nothing more than to be able to swing like all the other big kids and pump his legs and Touch The Sky. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't, when he finally learned how to in the very end, it shows him trying to help another, a little boy who also doesn't know how to swing.

And I thought it was nice because it shows the connection that children have with each other and how their dreams can be so simple, but so touching.

One of the illustrations that we liked from that book was when, the character stretched his legs out and they were unusually long. And that is kind of how you that illustration reflected how kids feel when they finally learn to pump on that swing. Alexis, you also looked at that book. What did you think about it?

I thought it was really touching. I thought it would be a good match for the Caldecott, especially because I thought a lot of kids can relate to it. it was a lot about perseverance and not giving up. And I thought the illustrations as a whole, were great in showing movement and also expression within the face, like the style emphasized that really well.

Elliette, you picked the last day zookeeper, right? Talk about what attracted you to that book.

I thought the fact that it didn't have words in the way you're able to see the picture or, like, not not the picture, the story through the pictures. and being able to kind of relate to something that's kind of like lifeless, like the robot in the story because of the way that the picture and the colors and the body language of like the different characters is like reflected in the way they all feel and kind of being able to know, oh, I'm not like the only one who feels this way sometimes.

So we had to vote between those three books, for which one we wanted to present to our mock Caldecott Committee. And how did that voting process go?

So we first like, we took, we all, presented the book that we read, and then we voted on it by like one, two, three. And you point. And at first Touch The Sky was our first option. However, like, it wasn't our final decision because we weren't completely set on it. And so we did it again and we went, to The Last Zookeeper, which ultimately was our final decision.

How difficult was it to stick with illustrations and try to only consider the illustrations as sort of separate from this story?

well, because, like, we would have gotten more sidetracked if the story actually had words like that particular story had words, but it did itself have a story. But we were able to connect with, like, the water, harsh lines, colors and stuff like that to try and, just like, flesh out the story just for a and just purely look at what that picture was depicting.

Nia, would you talk about what the Caldecott Criterion are? real quick for us. Just summarize those. Yeah.

The first criteria is excellence of execution and the artistic technique employed, which is how they use specific techniques and or colors to enhance the story. And then the next one is excellent pictorial interpretation of story, theme or concept on how they on how the situations capture the essence of the story and the theme, and how they convey themes

The third one is appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept, and how the illustration style fits with the story. And the fourth one is delineation of plot, theme, characters, mood, or information through the pictures on how the pictures can tell the story. Even if we don't have to look at the words. The fifth one is excellence of presentation and recognition of a child audience, and how children can connect with the book and relate to it, as well as anyone else.

So was there one of those criteria that was easy to select and one that was difficult to select?

I think the easier part might have been the child audience one, and personally, some of them were a little bit like, I guess, like the bigger words kind of. I had a harder time, getting what they were trying to ask. but when it like, I know that like a child personally, since we're a little bit younger, we're able to know what a little like a younger kid wants.

Or since we're closer to a younger selves, we're able to know, like, oh, I would have loved that when I was little. Like, I would have totally wanted to read that. And being able to connect to kids when they're reading is another way. It's easier to know when, like when you want to have this book like, oh yeah, kids are going to love this.

It's like it has your yes, you're able to relate to the characters or you're like the bright colors help show like emotions and different things and part of the story.

So we were in the room with, a lot of educators, a lot of teachers, a lot of librarians. so it sounds to me like you, you're saying they know their stuff, but maybe you're closer to to that particular criteria.

So I feel like a lot of the time, like teachers or librarians, they kind of like that. That's what their whole career, their world is about. Like, books and stuff, but they can only perceive it like how they perceive, like how they understand that book. And it's easier for people who had not as long ago had experiences such as that to relate to it. and like just have a more overall. Like view, I guess is the only way to say it. Like, we, we just have that closer experience that. and we're also like, if you think about it, when you're growing up or you're getting older, you still have those pieces of your younger selves. And you know, when you go back and you go to that like, oh, I think I would have loved this book when I was like, let's say four. I go back to my four year old self.

I'm thinking, oh, I would have totally loved how it all colors or how I feel like I could have done the same thing. but I'm saying, like, we would be better at it because the older people are, I guess, further away from that. And they've had more, I guess they've had more years of being more mature, and I guess not as connected with our inner child as we might be.

I agree, like, I'm sure some of us have younger siblings, and even if we completely don't relate to one of these stories like we have siblings that could and they're around the age for, these books because these are like picture or picture books and like, my sister's like young. And I think she would like a lot of these.

Maybe we can lobby the Association for Library Services to children, to put a youth judge on the committee. Well, how do we feel about that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I feel like that would be more fair because, like, the, like, we have more of that knowledge like a kid actually wants. I feel like sometimes it's just like, oh, well, when I was a kid, I like this, but that was like a long time ago.

I mean, not that you're old or anything, but still, like, times have changed and kids like different things now.

It's also like, I guess I know there was a lot of, like, older people. and whenever I like listening to them present about things, I like looking at the way they're looking at it, I can see how a kid would have, like, not really connected with that. And I know that, like, listening to my, like, grandparents having conversations with my parents and the different ways they're looking at it, like, my parents will have a conversation and I'll be like, wait, what about this?

And they'll and they'll be like, I guess I might have gotten something wrong because I don't know the rest of the story or what else they're talking about. So I just I'm telling them the different reasons that maybe this would be different. And I think since we're younger, we're able to, I guess, like perception of what's going on and not to say you guys are like, oh, but older people aren't going to be able to, do that as well as we are because we've been we or I guess we're younger and we have had less time away from our inner child.

And that helps a lot when you're understanding, like picture books and kids books, and you want to be able to know, oh, that like my inner child loves this, I will love this. When I was a kid, so.

Well, so as a, as a as an older person myself, I honor your position. But there were a lot of people in that room who know, a lot about these books. They see a lot of these books. They read a lot of these books. They read a lot of them with young people and then we all got to hear their nominations for the books.

So who wants to talk about where? the rest of the room was with regards to, their selections?

one group chose Home In A Lunchbox because they felt it could really connect to immigrated children who are so far away from what they've always known, and that one way they can reconnect, reconnect with who they are is through food.

And Nia, your mom actually sat in on a group that presented that as one of their favorites, correct? Yeah, yeah, they,

I mean, looking at the way they're saying it, I know one group presented the yellow lunchbox and one of them was saying, yeah, I'm like reading this with like a bunch of younger kids, and they're like, oh, I want to look at it closer because I'm seeing these different details. And I love the way that she's like pointing it out.

And she's saying, yes, these kids are like loving it because like when they're looking at books like this, they're able to, I guess, look at all of the small details that the author has put in and like, connect that with the story and also the different things that are happening.

To clarify, you mean The Yellow Bus?
Yeah. And like how I think, was it you or somebody else?
It might have been me. We we used that.
I think there was like a pregnant lady with a puppy who is disciplining there, like there older kid get off on the bus, and then it comes back around and the woman has given birth, and the puppy is a dog. And it's like the different time. I guess it's like a nice detail, but guess what?

Yeah. So I was pointing out how you can see the passage of time in that book, and we've used that here in the Worlds of Words Center with our field trips. Janesha.

Another group chose Two Together, which is about a dog and a cat. and they're illustrated in different mediums to show how they both had the same experiences. But in a different way. And, they were like the dog was having, the experience of seeing a butterfly and like a painted medium. And the cat was seeing, and, sketch and like, even though they had these different experiences, even though they were different, in the end, they both came together and shared it with each other.

And I thought that was, like, heartwarming. And like the group expressed that in a good way. To me. It really conveyed how people can be friends even if they don't like the same things, and even people with different opinions can still be really close.

So, Alexis, even though you are just a first year student here at the University of Arizona, you are a designated old head. Can you talk about your group real quick?

yeah. So I was with three older ladies and they were very nice, they weren't honestly, that old just in case, they’re listening older than me, they're older than 18.

Three older than me Ladies. and yeah, they were very nice. They had a lot of good insight because they were all educators and they worked with kids. So, they really tried to focus on the technique and the illustration itself and not really how it told the story as much. Well, mine was sort of I wanted something to guide me through the story.

So most the ladies in my group picked, My Daddy Is A Cowboy as their book. And this book, it was really nice. Like, it's, it's an oil paint medium, so and it was in bold, bright colors. So it expressed to me the personality of the little girl very well. And they used contrast and it was very eye catching.

So, I see why they picked it. and I think they had a lot of good insight on the location of where it's from because they like, they were arguing on if it was from New York or if it was from Panama, or like the origin of the girl. And I thought that was very important too, that maybe a lot of kids wouldn't think about.

Okay. So once all of the groups presented these books and we have just I think we talked about all of the books that were presented, what happened next? Nia?

we all took a vote online through a QR code on which ones we think we're best in first, second, and third.

So we ranked our top three choices. was that that was hard for me. And I had a little bit of conflicting emotion because I didn't know if I should be loyal to you as a group and what you had talked to and what you were thinking about with The Last Zookeeper. There were so many things about that book that I had noticed that you brought to my eyes.

I particularly loved the rain scene, and I particularly loved how we discussed character development, that robots don't really have emotions. But then you showed me how in all of these scenes, that emotion was heightened by the art, and that the two robots who meet in the end have the same colors as the boat sails. And just like all of it and the themes, the connection to the themes.

So I felt like I wanted to honor your work in that way, regardless of how I felt about the other books when you were rank ordering your choices, what kinds of thoughts went through your head?

I was like, oh, I loved this book. But then I was like, oh, wait, but what about this one? It was like, I loved the illustrations and the story was so good. But this one is also really good. And I had such a hard time picking because it was like suddenly I was like, oh, I don't really want to vote for this one because I didn't like the story, but a lot of them, I had a hard time picking.

As everyone went through their books and described, I had it all in my head like I had first place picked out from the second I just saw the cover. But when I walked into the room, I just saw the cover of that book and I'm like, yeah, that's it for me. And as everyone described their books, I got second and third.

So by the time we voted, I had it all planned out.

For me, it was, this is just because the cover is so cute, like this little girl eating her dumpling. And I got so happy and I loved just how Lee's like, like expression or whatever, and I it was just really cute. So I chose that.

So Emmeline, your first ranked choice was Home In A Lunchbox. Elliette, what was yours?

I think it was.

Either. The Last Zookeeper, I think I also did like Two Together. It was one of those, I think.

Yeah.

I put Home In A Lunchbox. Janesha. I put The Yellow Bus. Or if her Home In A Lunchbox was, I don't remember, but...Home In A lunchbox is just...

I love how much like the color is represented in the story. How, like, the minute she opens her lunchbox, if feel like is kind of reverse Pandora's box, where she opens it and it's just all the like, joy comes out and she's like, yeah, it's healthy.

And to not have all of the bad things like pain and suffering.
Instead of.

 Alexis. What was your first choice?

My first choice was Touch The Sky.

I can kind of relate with the girl from Home In A Lunchbox. Not in the way that she came from a different country, but sometimes my mom will pack me Filipino food. And when I when I open my lunchbox, I can almost hear this tiny heavenly choir in my head because it's so good. I just love it when I have something cooked.

I'll take like some I'll take, pancit or lumpia over crackers. Any day.

So we voted and then we took a little break. And normally it takes a couple times to vote because, the criteria were calls for the book to receive a proportionately large number. so in our first round, we did pick our winner by plus 30 votes. So it was 30 points over the next winner. So let's say it together as a as a group for this mock Caldecott event our number one best pick was The Yellow Bus.

The Yellow Bus by Lauren Long. And Loren Long is going to be at the Tucson Festival of Books. so he will be here and we will get to talk to him. and attend his workshops if we want. We did have four on our books. The Last Zookeeper, Two Together, Home In A Lunchbox, and my daddy is a Cowboy, which we've talked about in this meeting.

So the books that resonated with the whole group resonated with us as well. One last question before we, wrap this, special bonus episode up. did this event or how did this event change the way you will be looking at, picture book illustrations in the future?

I'm, I'm probably going to be more looking at, oh, I think like thinking about how, kids look at it or how different things go with the plot and if that, if there's like something off about it and like, oh, maybe not.

I'm gonna think and see if I can understand the story. Even if I don't read the words, I can just walk myself through it by looking at pictures like, I don't read picture books any more because I'm in middle school.

And picture books are for all ages.

Yeah, but like, because I don't, I feel like having this experience like, makes me think like, oh, I should maybe check my picture books and section a little bit more because I don't go there anymore. But I think it'd be definitely a new experience considering the fact that I usually read like, longer, definitely more wordy books and, with no pictures.

And I think that'd be a good experience for me to see how the books are.

I think I'll definitely be thinking more about how the illustrators themselves go through each page and the process that they go through.

and yeah, I think I'll just focus more.

On the colors because like, one of the things that was drawing me in was just how the authors use colors to reflect emotions and, reflection. and like when one person is joyous and then when other people are getting closer to that one person, it was just that color was just spreading to them too.

And love that. Now that Janesha pointed out, I'm like, oh wait, I have to go back and read more picture books because I've read all of the chapter books that I think are interesting in my house, and I have to go back and read the picture books again because I haven't read all.

That sounds like a fun, a fun project to have. well, so we'll in the podcast here, I'd like to thank doctors Kathy Short and Desiree Cueto for running us through this mock Caldecott event. I'd like to thank, Alexis Mendoza, who is normally our sound engineer in training, but who has participated with us today, Liam Arias who is our sound engineer.

We are recording in the back room of the Worlds of Words Center. Maybe people have heard somebody walk in on us, but that's okay. and, I don't need an, Yeah, I think we're good. I think we're good.