@heisereads
{Hi-Z} | 2026 Caldecott Committee | Elementary Librarian | MLIS | Former 7/8 ELA Teacher | NBCT | #ClassroomBookADay founder | she/her | *views are personal & do not represent my employer https://campsite.bio/heisereads heisereads.com classroombookaday.com
I probably looked at over 700 illustrated books - picture & graphic novel - some are a flip through, some a more detailed read as you consider the criteria. There are 15 people on the committee, so we all work to make suggestions to the group throughout the year.
Congratulations!🎉
Serving on the 2026 Caldecott Committee has been the highest professional honor of my career as well as being one of the most exhilarating, exhausting, & rewarding growth experiences. I am so proud to have been part of the deep work this committee of 15 people came together to do.
It's finally January - the month of the award announcements!🎉 After a year of looking at many, many hundreds of illustrated books, we are down to just our nominated titles. Which are bound by confidentiality. There will be many, many hours of discussion to come to consensus on the Caldecott winners.
Please stop me if you see me! I'm moderating a chapter books session on Friday at 11. 😊
Headed to #NCTE25 this week, but my focus is very much on Caldecott committee work at the moment. I can't say anything about books I'm reading, BUT I'd love to hear what 2025 picture books stand out to YOU with most potential to be named the "most distinguished American picture book for children."
I can't believe we're less than two weeks out from #NCTE25 already! Looking forward to leading a session on early chapter books this year.
Who else will be in Denver? And what sessions are you doing?!
🤓Fun Fact Friday 🤓
Our Opening Keynote speaker, Jillian Heise, is on the 2026 Caldecott Committee and the Founder of Classroom Book A Day! Don't miss her presentation at MASL 52! #MASL52 #GrowingTogether #ClassroomBookADay
www.mimasl.org/masl-52-conf... @heisereads.bsky.social
Started a new book today. #Dragonborn #VacationRead #HeiseReads
MASL 52 Teaser....We'll be Growing Together with Jillian Heise (@heisereads.bsky.social) as our Opening Keynote Speaker in Grand Rapids this December!
Weekend mindfulness task accomplished.✅
Lego wildflower bouquet from the niblings.💕
Headed to my library tomorrow.💐
Current commute audiobook read. "The Small and the Mighty is the encouragement we all need in an age of doomscrolling and division."
Being reminded of our common humanity & inspired by the hope of it all from America's Government Teacher™️ @sharonsaysso. ❤️🤍💙
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For the start of #BlackHistoryMonth, resharing this Virtual Picture Book Read Aloud Library - a Google Slideshow covering 233 titles, in 7 categories, with book covers linking directly to copyright-compliant video read alouds of recommended picture books.
heisereads.com/bhm2024-ralib/
I've been watching this for awhile - there are a lot out here that don't belong in my follower list!
So maybe it’s time to retire the whole sad books vs funny books discussion. The idea that stories have to be one or the other is a false dichotomy. Let’s share stories that let our kids know it’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to laugh. And it’s okay to do both at the same time.
1. Did you know that Girl Scouts has, for a long time, accepted trans girls and nonbinary scouts?
Trans kids are under attack. Every year, I make a thread of trans and nonbinary girl scouts you can get your cookies from.
Lets get our cookies from them this year in solidarity!
May I also suggest Simone by Viet Thanh Nguyen & Minnie Phan
It beautifully ties together a child’s evacuation from a wildfire and her mother’s escape from a flood as a child in Viet Nam.
I have seen this recommended by several people! I just haven't read it yet. But thank you for the rec!
Right?!? It was SO compulsively readable, too.
The devastation from wildfires can be hard to fathom. These books can help young people process what's happening.
📙They Hold the Line: Wildfires, Wildlands, and the Firefighters Who Brave Them
📗What to Bring
📘I Am the Storm
📕Wildfire!
Thoughts with those on the front lines fighting to save.🙏🏻
Just wait until you get to the end!!
The last book I read in 2024 & the first book I'll finish in 2025.📚 The Games Gods Play is a perfect vacation read (for adults)! It's giving Lore meets Fourth Wing meets Hunger Games vibes & I'm loving the banter and sass and all the allusions to Greek mythology.
Thank you! 💕
🥰 And gained myself a lot of extra work for 2025. 😅😂🤣
I was appointed to the 2026 Caldecott Award Committee!🏅📚
When everyone you know who has read it raves about it, you have to dig through your TBR stack to find the copy you know you set aside because it's from a favorite middle grade author. Tucked Jasmine Warga's A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY HALL into my carry-on so I can read it in one sitting.
Fascinating article if you're interested in more critical readings of picture books!
www.anisfield-wolf.org/resources/wh...
'Tis the season to read a good book!📚
When you're cleaning out your home reading room to prep for the Caldecott Committee year, so you get to be the jolly elf delivering stacks of joy in the form of picture books to all of the classroom teachers in your building. (And this was just for one floor...)
What a delightful new Santa story for Christmas time read alouds from Joanna Ho & Thai My Phuong!🎄 A CITY FULL OF SANTAS is adorable!🎅
Thank you @harperkids.bsky.social for the review copy! ❤️
#WNDB #ClassroomBookADay
We had way more than Just One Flake this week, so it was ironic this was the book I grabbed to preview for January's snow themed lesson planning.❄️ It's a delightful picture book from @100scopenotes.bsky.social for the winter season!
#ClassroomBookADay