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If you're an ALA member, you know that the ALA elections are coming up. This year I am thrilled that I was asked to be considered for the 2016 Caldecott Committee.

One of my favorite parts of my job as a Youth Services Librarian is that I get to plan and implement storytimes. I love introducing kids to books and reading and sharing picture books with young readers and their families. I am very passionate about helping kids find the perfect book for them and I love sharing books-old and new-with them. I would be honored to be part of the Caldecott Committee and be able to share my passion for picture books.

In honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Caldecott Medal, I planned a series of Caldecott themed storytimes.  This was a great way to introduce my preschoolers (and their grown ups!) to Caldecott titles. I started each storytime with an explanation of the Caldecott Medal and how it was awarded and we would talk about the illustrations in each book we read that week. It was an amazingly rewarding experience when after storytime, the preschoolers would look for the books "with the shiny sticker" on them!

For the past two years, I have started presenting Mock Caldecott programs at my library. Our Mock Caldecott program includes a shortlist of titles I select with readers and then a discussion of the selected list. We've been lucky enough to have past Caldecott Committee members help facilitate our discussion and help give an overview of the criteria. The aspect of this program I'm most proud of is that it has included young children-as young as five-up to adult. It's so fascinating to hear what the kids have to say and their insight is amazing. A five-year-old this year pointed out that she liked The Dark "because it had nice lines" and last year, Chloe and the Lion was not a favorite of a six-year-old because he found "the lion to be too scary and too real." I love getting to chance to discuss illustrations with these kids and share what makes an excellent picture book and their insight always makes me look at the books in a new way. This is my favorite program of the year. In fact I love it so much, I showed up at the library four days after giving birth to my son just so I could participate! Not sure if that's dedication or obsession (or maybe a little of both! :)

More About Me:

Posts of Note:

Check out my Mock Caldecott posts about our 2014 list.

Read about our first Mock Caldecott event.

Building Block Award (Missouri Picture Book Award) Voting Party

Picture Book Reviews

ALSC Blog Posts

Committee Experience:

2014 Cybils-Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, Second Round Judge
2014 Printz Committee-YALSA
2013 & 2014 Audies Judge
2010-2012 Fabulous Films Committee-YALSA
2010-2011-Gateway Readers Award-Committee Member-MASL
2010-Gateway Readers Award-Readers Award-MASL


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