How about a little March Madness for picture book fans? Yeah, I thought it would be fun too, so welcome to the first-ever 12 x 12 March Picture Book Madness!
It is important for writers to read contemporary picture books, so I chose books for the brackets that were all published within the past calendar year. I did NOT choose any 12 x 12 member books because: 1) there are too many of you! and 2) I didn’t want any competition, however friendly, in the group. (To see 12 x 12 member published books, click here).
Here’s how the contest will work. Everyone is welcome to follow along here on the blog, but voting is restricted to 12 x 12 members (Not a member yet? Join 880 of your picture book writing peers, but hurry! Tomorrow, February 28th, is the deadline to join for 2017).
The voting for each round will take place on the 12 x 12 Facebook group. Discussions about the books and rationale for voting one way or the other will be held on the 12 x 12 Forum. Once the voting is complete for each round, I will post the winners here on the blog along with some analysis from our discussions. At that time, I’ll launch the next round.
The rough schedule is as follows:
Round 1 Reading: Now – March 13
Round 1 Voting: March 10 – 13
Round 2 Launch: March 14
Round 2 Reading: March 14 – 19
Round 2 Voting: March 17 – 19
Launch Round 3: March 20
Round 3 Reading: March 20 – 25
Round 3 Voting: March 24 – 26
Launch Round 4: March 27
Round 4 Reading: March 27 – 30
Round 4 Voting: March 29 – 30
Winner Announced! March 31
To vote on any bracket, you MUST read both books in that bracket. If you’ve only read one (or none), just skip voting for that bracket. Here are the first round books and brackets in case you can’t see them on the image.
BRACKET 1
Best Frints in the Whole Universe, by Antoinette Portis
Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat
BRACKET 2
This is Not a Picture Book, by Sergio Ruzzier
The Journey, by Francesca Sanna
BRACKET 3
Drum, Dream Girl, by Margarita Engle
The Night Gardener, by the Fan Brothers
BRACKET 4
One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree, by Daniel Bernstrom
Du Iz Tak, by Carson Ellis
BRACKET 5
School’s First Day of School, by Adam Rex
Thunder Boy Jr., by Sherman Alexie
BRACKET 6
Best in Snow, by April Pulley Sayre
The Bear and the Piano, by David Litchfield
BRACKET 7
We Found a Hat, by Jon Klassen
Chicken in Space, by Adam Lerhaupt
BRACKET 8
Pink is for Blobfish, by Jess Keating
Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol
Ready, Set, READ!
10 Responses
I’m happy to report that I’ve read every single one of these! Though I may have to go back and reread a few. Fun idea, Julie! 🙂
I wish those of us who are not on Facebook could play.
Hi Trine,
You’ll be able to participate in the discussions of the books on the Forum, but FB has a built-in poll system that will make voting tons easier. Want to join us in FB? It’s not scary, I promise. 🙂
OK. I trust you.
Great idea, Julie!! It will be a perfect fit alongside ReFoReMo. I also hope to do ChaBooCha!
Love this idea! Excited to read the books I haven’t read yet!
I wasn’t able to get all of these from my library but I was able to get many of the other books mentioned in ReFoReMo. My plan is to read one a day with my 10th graders, to see who emerges the winner. We started today with Penguin Problems by Jory John, and it was a quick hit.
Fun idea! I’ll add these to my library list for tomorrow! 🙂
(I’m headed there anyway to do some test-run readings of my newest work!)
When does voting begin, Julie? Haven’t found where/how to vote on Facebook yet.
I Iive in China and have very limited access to picture books, just the school library. Will see if they have any on the list but if they’re published in the last year I doubt it : (