Mock Caldecott 2017: final ballot

Back in November, I shared my favorite picks for this year's Caldecott award. For the rest of January, my middle schoolers and I will be furiously reading, evaluating, and discussing our top picks as part of our school-wide Mock Caldecott. Below is our final ballot of 23 choices that we will be presenting to students ...

Want more Caldecott details?

• First half of my favorite picks for this year's Caldecott Award - includes reviews.
• Second half of my favorite picks for this year's Caldecott Award - includes reviews.
• Click the "Newbery" tag for our school's Mock Newbery choices.

(Click the 'Caldecott' tag to see previous ballots and winners. Our students have a great track record over the last two years, having previous picked winner/honor books like Finding Winnie, Waiting, and Beekle.)

List of Mock Caldecott 2017 Finalists
Alphabetical by Title

• Ada's Violin: the story of the recycled orchestra of Paraguay. Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport. Written by Susan Hood.
• Are We There Yet?  Illustrated and written by Dan Santat.
• Before Morning. Illustrated by Beth Krommes. Written by Joyce Sidman.
• The Cat from Hunger Mountain. Illustrated and written by Ed Young.
• A Child of Books. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston.
• Du Iz Tak? Illustrated and written by Carson Ellis.
• Freedom in Congo Square. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and written by Carole Boston Weatherford.
• Henry and Leo. Illustrated and written by Pamela Zagarenski.
• Ideas Are All Around. Illustrated and written by Philip Stead.
• Leave Me Alone!  Illustrated and written by Vera Brosgol.
• Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood. Illustrated by Rafael Lopez. Written by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell.
• The Princess and the Warrior: a tale of two volcanoes. Illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh.
• Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist. Jean-Michel Basquiat. Illustrated and written by Javanka Steptoe.
• School's First Day of School. Illustrated by Christian Robinson. Written by Adam Rex.
• The Sound of Silence. Illustrated by Julia Kuo. Written by Katrina Goldsaito.
• The Tree in the Courtyard: looking through Anne Frank's window. Illustrated by Peter McCarty. Written by Jeff Gottsfeld.
• They All Saw a Cat. Illustrated and written by Brendan Wenzel.
• This Is Not a Picture Book. Illustrated and written by Sergio Ruzzier.
• Thunder Boy, Jr.  Illustrated by Yuyi Morales. Written by Sherman Alexie.
• The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles. Illustrated by Erin Stead. Written by Michelle Cuevas.
• A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Written by Matthew Olshan.
• We Found a Hat. Illustrated and written by Jon Klassen.
• Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions. Illustrated by Don Tate. Written by Chris Barton.

(Update: I am super bummed to find out that one of my favorites of the year, Ida, Always, is likely ineligible because illustrator Charles Santoso is Australian.) Did we miss any of your favorites?