Please ask your 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grader about the unit we just finished in the library! Your student read/watched 5 different books that were contenders for the 2023 Caldecott Award, a Children’s Book Award given for excellence in a Picture Book.
Take a look at the posters for each grade! After student judging and evaluation, our Schoolwide Winner was a book entitled Out of a Jar by Deborah Marcero. It is a simple story about a small bunny who thinks that stuffing his feelings away (in jars) is a good way to keep from feeling them. In the end, he learns that he must actually confront his feelings. Students responded in amazing ways as we watched this story together, demonstrating an understanding and empathy that surprised and delighted me. I have included a link to the book so you can watch it with your student(s) if you’d like. It’s also a gentle, poignant lesson for adults, too.
The Honorable Mention (second place) was Knight Owl by Christopher Denise. In this story, students heard about a little owl who faced some seemingly overwhelming odds to become a knight. But with hard work and determination, he became a brave and courageous Knight Owl. Some students asked if I would also include this video for you to share at home.
In all, this was a wonderful unit and I so enjoyed hearing your students’ responses, impressions, and judgements of the books. They were honest, articulate, and invested in our results.
As a final note, the national winner was a book that we did not read (Hot Dog by Doug Salati), and we generally agreed that our school choices were better
