The Fourth Graders have finally been able to complete their Mock Caldecott Trial! Due to snow days and missed Library classes, the students’ final vote for best illustrated picture book of 2010 was a bit delayed.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.  Each year, the American Library Association committee members examine thousands of picture books and choose one book to receive the distinguished first place medal.  A few other “runner-up books” worth of attention  are selected as Honor books.

Here at school, our Fourth Graders examined a selection of well-illustrated titles from 2010. The students considered the following criteria: artistic technique, appropriateness for a child audience, effective pictorial interpretation of the story, and delineation of mood throughout the book.  They used a scale of 1-3 (Good to Excellent) to rate each of the criteria for the following books:

The students’ favorite was Here Comes the Garbage Barge, a book based on real events written by Jonah Winters and illustrated by Red Nose Studio (illustrator Chris Sickels).  The students loved the illustrations, which featured sculptural 3-dimensional art compiled of found objects and trash.  Although their choice was not acknowledged by the Caldecott committee, the book did receive a great deal of critical acclaim and was named in the Top 10 Best Illustrated Books of 2010 by The New York Times.

More info about this year’s Caldecott winners and past medal and honor books can be found here.