Mock Geisel with Texas First Graders

Each January, the Theodore Seuss Geisel award is given to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers. This year we held a First Grade Mock Geisel, and in January 2011, the students shared their top five picks with a group of first graders from Coppell, Texas.


In preparation for the mock Geisel, first graders read a copious number of books and then chose 25 that they considered the most 'distinguished'. Their top five choices were (in no particular order): Ling and Ting by Grace Lin, Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Twister by Kath Hayden, Funny Lunch by David Catrow, and We are in a Book! by Mo Willems.

When the classes shared their top picks and which parts of the books were their favorite, they discovered that they had voted for many of the same books. Both sets of first graders seemed fascinated with each other and the Texans had many questions about how much snow falls in Brooklyn. As the Skype session came to a close, the children thanked each other and hoped that they could talk to each other again.