Come and See the Mock Caldecott Nominees!

We are happy to announce that we now have our 2011 Mock Caldecott Award nominees on display in the Children's Department at the Main Library!

Stop in and browse through these beautiful books -- and look for more to be added when we publish future reading lists.

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Picture book lovers young and old will find a real treasure in the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Visiting the museum in person (it's located in Amherst, Massachusetts) would be ideal, but if you can't make the trip, spend some time exploring the website. Take a virtual tour, learn some new art techniques, or peruse the booklists.

Cool stuff!

How to Look at a Picture Book: Getting Started with Picture Book Evaluation

• First look at the cover.

• Check the endpapers.

• Look at the illustrations throughout the book.

• See if you can tell the story from the pictures.

• Read the book.

• Do the pictures extend the story?

• Is the medium (the material, eg. paint, collage, photo, etc.) appropriate for the story?

• Are the illustrations appropriate for intended age level?

• Consider the format of the book as a whole (how it's all put together).

For more evaluation tips, try some of these sites:

• ALA's Official Caldecott Award Criteria
• Online Visual Literacy Project - provides a brief introduction to visual literacy and information on the basic visual elements
  
• Look Again: An Art Director Offers Some Pointers on "Learning to See", by David Saylor, School Library Journal, 1/1/2000

Does anyone have other resources to suggest for evaluating picture book art?