PBSummit Roundtable – Caldecott Honor Books 2024 – Part 2

PBSummit Roundtable – Caldecott Honor Books 2024 – Part 2

Today we bring you Part 2 of our 2024 Caldecott breakdown!

If you missed the first part of our Caldecott discussion, we chatted about Caldecott Honor Books THERE WAS A PARTY FOR LANGSTON illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey and written by Jason Reynolds and IN EVERY LIFE written and illustrated by Marla Frazee. Click here to check it out.

In this video, we get to discuss the Caldecott Medal Winner BIG written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison and Caldecott Honor Book THE TRUTH ABOUT DRAGONS illustrated by Hanna Cha and written by Julie Leung.

It’s an embarrassment of riches with this year’s honorees!

Emma Walton Hamilton starts the discussion by introducing to the BIG themes and emotions of BIG and Kelli Panique shares the quiet brilliance of THE TRUTH ABOUT DRAGONS with more analysis and observations from Julie Hedlund, and Katie Davis. Get your library card out, you’re going to want to read these picture books again and again!

Unfortunately, we haven’t received our copies of the Caldecott Honor Book JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A MEXICAN FREEDOM FIGHTER. We wish illustrator Molly Mendoza and writer Aida Salazar many congratulations on this achievement. Be sure to check it out at your local library!

All of the 2024 Caldecott Honorees are available on Bookshop.org here. Whether you purchase these books from your local independent bookstore or you check them out from the library, we highly recommend getting a hold of these mini masterpieces and studying them for yourself. Start by asking yourself these questions:

• How do the text and art work together?
• What can you learn by studying the text by itself?
• How can you take a basic idea beyond the next level and create a truly original story?
• What unexpected elements can you combine to surprise and delight your readers?
• How can your main character model behaviors and give your young readers tools for life?

These are just a few jumping off points to get you thinking and inspired by these Caldecott Honor Books. We’d love to know your thoughts on these books. Leave us a comment below!

Interested in more Caldecott coverage? Check out our analysis of past Caldecott winners here.

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