Cathryn M. Mercier

Jan 8, 2025 | hbook.com | Cathryn M. Mercier |Megan Lambert |Adrienne L. Pettinelli

Teach learns to read alongside his master’s son and transfers this knowledge through forbidden tutorials to enslaved men, women, and children. Lesa Cline-Ransome’s free verse narrative in Teach’s hushed voice opens on Monday and closes with lifted voices at Sunday School. As the congregation reads the biblical lines “Let My People Go” that Teach has written on a slate held high by the preacher, their “songs rise out of whispers” to “fill the air with the sounds of freedom.” James E.

Jan 5, 2024 | hbook.com | Monique Harris |Allison Grover Khoury |Kimberly Olson Fakih |Cathryn M. Mercier

Caldecott decision-makers face the unwritten guideline to evaluate the accomplishments of each picture book throughout the year with an open mind. Each committee member needs to figure out how to engage with each book on its terms rather than on the reader’s preference for a style or visual aesthetic. They need to get beyond what they like and commit to asking questions about how the art functions and what makes it “excellent execution,” no matter its technique.