Best of 2010 Lists

Shadowplay

This weekend many of the most important "Best of Children's Literature" lists were released. These serve as the first public clues of what book will receive the Caldecott, and what books will be easily found on the clutter shelves of your local Barnes & Noble. And the choices aren't bad, though not a single book overlaps on the Publisher's Weekly or New York Times list, which is rather shocking. (There is no clear winner, like last year's The Lion and the Mouse.)

Publisher's Weekly put out an awfully fun list.  One could hardly go wrong with any of these picture books, though I especially loved (and will be reviewing at some point) Boss Baby by 2009 Caldecott Winner Marla Freeze, Farm by Elisha Cooper (review), City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems.  A dark horse on the list is It's a Book by Lane Smith, which I still love, a LOT, but am beginning to see that it's not really funny for kids.

The New York Times list is surprisingly unpredictable.  Their focus is on illustration in this list, and they have a good eye, but they usually pick a few duds, or a few that capture the spirit of the year, but nothing more.  This year's list is pretty near flawless: Henry in Love (review), Shadow by Suzy Lee (above), The Big Red Lollipop illustrated by the brilliant Sophie Blacknell.

The Kirkus Review has also released their Best of 2010 Children's Supplement.  Download the pdf here.

But if all this is too much for you to process, don't worry: new release book reviews begin tomorrow!
(For a frequently updated round-up of best-of lists visit Chicken Spaghetti.)

Ah!  Young love!