Knuffle Bunny Wins the 2nd Grade Caldecott Award!

Second graders finished up their unit on the Caldecott book award this week. I read the 4 books from the 2005(the year many 2nd graders were born) Caldecott winner/honor list. Students did not know which book won the gold. After reading each book, students had to write whether they thought the book should stay on the list or not and explain why based on the following criteria:

• Excellent illustrations.
• Kids would love the book.
• Illustrations help tell the story.

Based on this criteria, 2nd graders overwhelmingly voted for Knuffle Bunny as the gold even though Kitten's First Full Moon was the actual winner for that year. Many students felt that Kitten's First Full Moon should not have won because it has no color. It was a fun unit with high quality read-alouds, critical thinking and lively debates.

Unanimous Winner!
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Honor Books
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
Kitten's First Moon by Kevin Henkes
Coming On Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson