Here are my favorite books for 2009, drawn from my work as the children's/teen librarian for this library, as well as my job as the children's book reviewer for Scripps Howard News Service.
Perhaps my two favorite books are a non-fiction book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose and a picture book, The Lion & the Mouse, a reworking of the Aesop fable by illustrator Jerry Pinkney. Both of those books have been mentioned as top possibilities to win the most prestigious children's book awards -- the Newbery Medal, given for the best-written children's book, and the Caldecott Medal, given for the best illustrated children's book. Those awards will be announced on Monday, Jan. 18 by the American Library Association, and I'll blog about them here as soon as we know the winners.
Now, here's my entire list of 2009 favorites:
BOARD BOOKS:
Baby, I Love You (Little Simon, $7.99), by Karma Wilson; illustrated by Sam Williams. (Ages infant-two years).
Daddy, Papa and Me and “Mommy, Mama and Me (Tricycle, $7.99
(Simon & Schuster, $17.99), by Liz Garton Scanlon; illustrated by Marla Frazee. (Ages 3-6).
Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka; illustrated by David Shannon (Simon & Schuster, $17.99). (Ages 4-8).
BEGINNING/EARLY READERS:
Dodsworth in London (Houghton Mifflin, $15), written and illustrated by Tim Egan. (Ages 4-8).
The Dunderheads by Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman; illustrations by David Roberts (Candlewick Press, $16.99, ages 5-10).
Pigs Make Me Sneeze (Hyperion, $8.99), written and illustrated by Mo Willems. (Ages 4-7).
GRAPHIC NOVELS:
Luke On the Loose by Harry Bliss (TOON Books, $12.95, ages 4-6).
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook written and illustrated by Eleanor Davis (Bloomsbury, $10.99, ages 7-12).
The Lunch Lady series, written and illustrated by Jarrett Krosoczka (Knopf, $5.99 each, ages 6-10).
Little Mouse Gets Ready, written and illustrated by Bone creator Jeff Smith (TOON Books, $12.95, ages 4-7).
Adventures in Cartooning, written and illustrated by James Sturm et al (First Second, $12.95, ages 6-12).
NOVELS:
The Magician’s Elephant by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press, $16.99, ages 8-12)
Scat by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf, $16.99, ages 9-12).
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (Henry Holt, $16.99, ages 10-14).
Melonhead by Katy Kelly (Delacorte, $12.99, ages 7-10).
The Faceless Ones, the latest “Skulduggery Pleasant book by Derek Landy (Harper, $16.99, ages 10-14).
The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O’Connor (FSG, $16.99, ages 8-12).
A Season of Gifts, the latest in the Grandma Dowdel saga, by Newbery Medalist Richard Peck (Dial, $16.99, ages 9-12).
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Random House, $15.99, ages 9-12).
HYBRIDS – PART NOVEL, PART GRAPHIC NOVEL
Dog Days, the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books, $13.95, ages 7-12).
Malice by Chris Wooding (Scholastic, $14.99, ages 12 up).
NON-FICTION:
Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War by Thomas and Roger Allen (National Geographic, $18.95, ages 10 up).
The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous of Showman P.T. Barnum by Candace Fleming (Random House, $18.99, ages 12 up).
Moonshot, written and illustrated by Brian Floca (Atheneum, $17.99, ages 7-10).
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman (Henry Holt, $18.95, ages 12 up).
Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice this year’s National Book Award winner in the Young People’s Literature category, by Phillip Hoose (FSG, $19.95, ages 12 up).
Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy Montgomery; photographs by Nic Bishop (Houghton Mifflin, $18, ages 9-12).
Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy (Scholastic, $19.99, ages 12 up).
Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge (Viking, $19.99, ages 10 up).
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Jump at the Sun/Disney, $16.99, ages 5-10).
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Stone (Candlewick Press, $24.99 hardcover, $17.99 paperback, ages 10 up).
POETRY:
City I Love by Lee Bennett Hopkins; illustrated by Marcellus Hall (Abrams, $16.95, ages 4-8).
Be Glad Your Nose Is On Your Face, a treasury of poems by Jack Prelutsky; illustrated by Brandon Dorman (Greenwillow, $22.99, ages 4 up).
YOUNG ADULT FICTION:
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking, $17.99, ages 13 up)
Fire by Kristin Cashore (Dial, $17.99, ages 13 up).
Catching Fire, the second book in “The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $17.99, ages 13 up).
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (Scholastic, $17.99, ages 13 up).