#Nerdcott, Here I Come!

The Challenge

Keeping up with Twitter over the holiday was a bit of a challenge.  My kids were home from college, my mom visited from out of state, and our house was the hub of family, food, and fun for most of two weeks.  However, in between baking cookies, playing games, fixing meals, and other Christmas traditions I would steal a moment to check up on Twitter updates.  I started to notice tweets about a Caldecott Challenge (#nerdcott).  I first noticed a tweet from LibLaura5 and then MrSchuReads.  I know there were a lot of other people creating energy for this challenge so I apologize in advance for the others I missed along the way.  

Learn More About #NerdCott

The challenge is to read the Caldecott winner and honor books since the award was first given in 1938.  You can make the challenge work for you.

Find out more about the #NerdCott here:
Ready, Set, Go - #NerdCott and Caldecott Challenge 1938-Present (participants are here):  LibLaura5 shares her view of this stress free challenge

Cadecott Challenge:  Anna Zbacknik @a-to-z-library (cohost) 

Caldecott Challenge 1938-Present:  Mr. Schu shares his plan

Learn More About the Caldecott

I see it as an opportunity to learn more about picture books, art, and the history of children's literature.

You can start here:
Caldecott Winners and Honor Books

Art Mediums of Caldecotts (thanks, Mr. Schu)

Covers of Caldecott (thanks, LibLaura5)

My Plan

My first thought was to read quickly through the award winners and post reviews, but I quickly rethought that plan.  I want to be able to take time to really consider each award winner and honor book.  I want to compare the similarities and differences in publishing across time.  To accomplish this, I've decided to read Caldecott winner and honor books by decade and post at the end of each month.  I'm hoping to not only learn about the books, but to discover some of the similarities in art over time.  At the end of the year I hope to synthesize all I've learned, talk about a few books I think should have been Caldecott (why not), and then look toward the new winner.  

2012 #NerdCott Posts
January - 1930s (begins 1938)
February - 1940s
March - 1950s
April - 1960s
May - 1970s
June - 1980s
July - 1990s
August - 2000s
September - 2010s
October - Books that should've been Caldecott (an opinion post).
November - Trends in Caldecott.
December - Review of possible Caldecott winners for 2012

Off to reserve books at the library!  This will be fun.