More Caldecott reactions

Do you wish you were on the Caldecott committee? (Don't we all?)

Listen to this wonderful podcast by Roger Sutton (a member of the 2008 Caldecott committee, the Editor in Chief of The Horn Book, and author of the blog Read Roger). You'll feel like you were were a part of the committee for the big announcement.

Wake up with Roger in his hotel room (not literally) as he calmly talks about the winner. Follow him through the excitement of the committee before and after the magic phone calls. (He turned off his recorder for the actual phone calls, but he provides a recap.) Sit next to him during the press conference and hear the show stopping applause when the winner of the Caldecott is announced. And then mingle with Roger in the crowd afterwards and hear what other folks have to say.

Once you've heard what the moment was like for the committee, head over to Publisher's Weekly to read their article about the experience of the winners themselves. I particularly loved this quote from the article about Brian Selznick's plane trip to New York a few hours after the announcement:

"Unable to concentrate, Selznick watched his seatmate pull a few folded sheets of paper out of her bag. He recognized the ALSC seal, and realized she was reading the press release for that morning’s awards. Compelled to remark on the coincidence, Selznick asked her, “Excuse me, are you a librarian?” “No," she replied, “I work for PBS.” She then explained that these big children’s awards had been announced earlier in the day. Selznick’s response: “I know—I won one!”