Caldecott contenders? Me...Jane and Melvin and the Boy

Well, many people had suggested these might win the Caldecott, and Me...Jane was indeed an Honor book. I thought it could have gotten a non-fiction award as well, but it did not. Did you know that Jane Goodall had a stuffed monkey when she was growing up? And then she went on to study chimpanzees and gorillas (which are NOT, by the way, monkeys) all her adult life! She was quite a scientific little thing all her life. some people are just born knowing their destinies, I guess. Sometimes I feel like I'm still figuring mine out. I really loved that they included some of Jane's drawings from when she was a young girl in this book. Very cute and clever.

I was not the biggest fan of Melvin. I thought it was fine, but I had a hard time because the premise of it is that a little boy takes a turtle from a park home for a pet. Now that in itself wouldn't be so bad - most little kids have at least wanted to do this, but what I didn't like was that his parents seemed to think that was a fine idea. Now luckily, Melvin comes to the realization on his own that this is NOT a good idea, and he takes the turtle back, but shouldn't his parents have given him a little guidance? Told him this wasn't going to work out and here's why? I know I wanted to tell him. In the end, however, it does all work out, and Melvin is probably the better for having learned the lesson himself. But I would have told him.