Yep, it’s that time of the year again.  The announcement of the 2012 winners of the Caldecott and Newbery Medal is mere days away.  And, although these awards may not have as wide an appeal as film and television awards,  the blogosphere, schools and libraries are all abuzz with excitement.  Each year, thousands of kids get a kick out of choosing “Mock” Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners and comparing their favorites with those of the judges.  In fact, The American Library Association has created a tool kit to help teachers and librarians ramp up the excitement, Newbery and Caldecott Mock Elections Tool Kit.  It’s a little pricy, but invaluable for schools and libraries.  What fun.  For those of you who’d like a little help narrowing down the contenders, you could hardly do better than Betsy Bird’s predictions over at A Fuse #8 Production.  Personally, I can’t wait til Monday when the winners of these and some other sixteen awards will be announced because I just know that I’ll have a whole lot of great books to put into my ‘to read’ pile.