ACPL Mock Geisel

www.acplmockgeisel.blogspot.com

A blog launched by the Allen County (IN) Public Library (ACPL) is still evolving, much like its subject, books for early readers. Since last year, the Mock Geisel site has provided a forum for discussing the year’s best in beginning reader titles, potential contenders for the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, bestowed annually by the American Library Association (ALA). Launched in 2006, the Geisel Award is a hard one to understand “because of the early reader format,” which is still being defined, says Heather Acerro, assistant manager of ACPL’s Children’s Services, who runs the Geisel blog. “But more authors are trying out the format. We’re getting good stuff.” In an on-site component, the library hosts a gathering around the Mock Geisel, just before the winner is announced in January. “It’s a fascinating discussion,” says Acerro. “You can read [the books] aloud and analyze the flow of the language.”