Mission

The mission of the Wolf Swamp Road Elementary School library is to serve as a multi-purpose resource center for students and staff and to provide a place where academic development of our students is promoted by making the library a complementary laboratory of the classroom.

Volunteers

If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail Susan Cornell at scornell@longmeadow.k12.ma.us. We have plenty of projects to keep you busy. Volunteers must agree to a CORI background check.

By popular vote, the winner of the Mock Caldecott Challenge is... Baby Monkey, Private Eye

Mock Caldecott Challenge

Wolf Swamp Road Elementary School invites you to take part in a Mock Caldecott Challenge. After scouring many professional blogs and websites related to possible Caldecott contenders for 2019, as the real contenders are a closely guarded secret, Jen Mulcahy (Center School LMS) and Moira Joyce (Blueberry Hill LMS) have compiled the following list for a Mock Caldecott Challenge. While we have all of the titles in our collection at Wolf Swamp, students will not be checking them out until the contest is over so that all will have equal access to the books during library time. You can find these titles at the local libraries and oftentimes they are available on YouTube. Students have begun to read some of these titles. I hope as families you will join this fun conversation by reading together and judging the 25 titles according to the four criteria listed below. The “real” Caldecott winner will be announced live on Monday, January 28, 2019, during the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference. For our Mock Challenge, you and your children will choose one book as the winner and four books for the honor. Please submit your votes by Thursday, January 24, 2019, in order to be tallied and announced prior to the live announcement. Will the “real” winners be among our 25?

Mock Caldecott Titles

Dreamers by Yuri Morales

A House that Once Was by Julie Fogliano

Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera

Imagine by Raul Colon

Nothing Stopped Sophie by Cheryl Bardoe

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer

They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki

Through the Window by Barb Rosenstock

Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney

The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee

Hello, Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

Drawn Together by Minh Le

Islandborn by Junot Diaz

Hello, Hello by Brendan Wenzel

Ocean Meets Sky by Terry Fan

Love by Matt de la Pena

Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez Neal

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin

Everything You Need for a Treehouse by Carter Higgins

Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse by Marcy Campbell

I Got It! by David Wiesner

Zola’s Elephant by Randall de Seve

In 1937, Rene’ Paul Chambellan designed the Caldecott Medal in honor of Randolph Caldecott for his contribution to children’s books. It is a bronze medal with the winner’s name and the date engraved on the back.Books that came close to winning were called “runners-up”. In 1971, that term was changed to “honor books”. These honor medals look the same as the award-winning medal except they are silver instead of bronze.

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of English illustrator Randolph Caldecott who lived in the 1800s. He was the illustrator of the book “John Gilpin’s Ride.” The Caldecott medal shows a scene from this book.

The award is given out every year by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Who Chooses the Caldecott Award?

Each year 15 members of the Association for Library Services to Children are chosen to be on the Caldecott committee. They read hundreds and hundreds of books so they can decide which book will be the winner and which will be the honors.

They use four criteria to arrive at the winners:

Criteria 1: The illustration technique is well done. The technique could be painting, pencil drawings, collage, ink printing, chalk, or any other technique.

Criteria 2: The illustrations are a good match for the mood and themes of the story. This means that the illustrations might look dark and scary for a mystery book or bright and colorful for a book about good friends.

Criteria 3: The illustrations are critical to the understanding of the story. This means there are details of the story you might not understand if only the words were read.

Criteria 4: Children will want to pick up the book and read it. The book must be for children and something children will enjoy. (Taken from Randolph Caldecott Committee Manual, 2009)