One Year, One Series, Two (or more!) Books

Over the past few years, as we here at Guessing Geisel have considered which books to put on our mock ballot, I find myself pondering the same question: What happens when two+ books in the same series are published in the same contender year? 

Multiple series titles being published in the same year happens quite a lot when it comes to titles specifically created in the beginning reader format. Sometimes all the titles have the same publication date; in other cases some titles are published in the spring and others in the fall (or something along those lines). My guess (and please comment if you have further insight) is that for many kids the beginning reader window is very brief. So if a reader loves a series, they won’t necessarily want to want another year for a new title because by then they are probably further along in their reading journey. 

For the real Geisel Award Committee, this means that it’s very likely they’ll be considering at least a few titles in the same series. Although I can’t speak to any specifics from when I served on the committee, I can say that there were such titles that year. When we look at the list of past winner and honor titles a clear pattern emerges. If two or more books in one series are published in a year, only one title is selected as a winner or an honor. 

Here are some examples. Years listed are award years, so titles were published in the preceding calendar year. 
* denotes a Geisel winner 
** denotes a Geisel honor 

2019 

Fox the Tiger* and Fox is Late 

2018 

Charlie & Mouse* and Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy 

King & Kayla and the Missing Dog Treats**, King & Kayla and the Case of the Mysterious Mouse and King & Kayla and the Case of the Secret Code 

2008-2015 

2-4 Elephant and Piggie series titles published per year. In total Elephant and Piggie titles have won 2 medals and 5 honors (not counting the Elephant and Piggie Like Reading titles, as they have different authors/illustrators).

2007 

Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways* and Zelda and Ivy: One Christmas 

2006 

Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas* and Henry and Mudge and the Tumbling Trip 

Which makes me wonder, how would the unrecognized series title(s) have fared if they had come out a year earlier or a year later? Would Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy have walked away with a medal or honor if it wasn’t competing against the first title in the series? How about Fox is Late? Or the other King & Kayla titles published in 2017? Obviously, it’s all speculation. We can’t know what the real committees discussed, and the landscape of Geisel contenders varies from year to year. Still, I can’t help but wonder...