We came in just under the wire with yesterday's mock Caldecott party at my house--I had scheduled it for Saturday, January 31 from one to four. It's nice to know that the "real" committee is meeting at the same time we are, and once it's over, we're all so excited about what will win that it would be hard to wait more than a day or two for the announcements of all the ALA Youth Media Awards .

This was my second mock Caldecott (the first was in 2013; last year, I was in committee meetings of my own at ALA Midwinter), and many of the same kids (and parents) were in attendance--a little older now, and with more Caldecott committee experience at school. We considered a dozen or so books and voted for our first, second, and third choices. It was close (according to the official rules, we would have had to reballot), but we had a winner: Aviary Wonders Inc. Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual by Kate Samworth (Clarion). The kids thought it was unique ("individually distinct" according to the criteria) and noted the attention to detail in the illustrations and design of the book.

We also named two Honor books: Draw! by Raúl Colón (Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books) and The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers).

I'm proud of our mock committee's hard work and stand by their choices, although you'll have to check back later tonight for my own 2015 Caldecott Hopefuls!