Picture Book Month and Mock Caldecott 2013 Club Days 1 and 2


I'm so excited it's Picture Book Month!  I view my picture book collection as a priceless art collection.  I treasure the stories they tell about my daughters' reading lives and my evolution as a classroom teacher.  My daughter, Libby, who is now 19, has a collection of Jan Brett books, and now I'm collecting Spanish picture books for her since she's a Spanish minor at college.  She was the first person I read I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen to, and she enjoyed it so much, she read it to her college friends.  I sat both my teenage daughters down to read City Dog Country Frog by Mo Willems to them.  They started out teasing me a little, but were soon just as absorbed in the story as I was when I first read it.  My daughters have a collection of Christmas picture books because I started the tradition of giving them pajamas and a picture book every Christmas Eve.  I have crates and crates full of picture books in my classroom, waiting to be plucked for this lesson or that, or just to enjoy.  I came across Mr. Schu's and Colby Sharp's blogs this morning and read their plans to hold a Mock Caldecott 2013 Club this month.  They picked out 20 picture books they will be sharing with their classes and discussing, voting for their favorite before the big day in January.  I love that idea and will be doing a version of it with my classes, sharing some of their picks and also some of mine.
When I went to see Will Hillenbrand several weeks ago, I loved his video of why he loves picture books:

My first picture book pick I will share for Picture Book Month is This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen.  I blogged about it on Sunday.  Even though we already read it last week for an inference activity, I'm going to read it again today for the Mock Caldecott 2013 Club's kick off.  Really, it's just an excuse for me to read it again because we all think it's so funny!

 

 

Since they're already hooked on Jon Klassen, the next book I will share is Extra Yarn.  I'm excited to read this one aloud to find out kids' reaction to it since I haven't shared it with a class yet.

 

 

 

This book already won the 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Picture Books:

 

 

What picture books will YOU be sharing with your students and maybe your OWN children this month?