Reading Roundup 2009

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 248
Early Readers: 16

Standouts
Writing: Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
You know that bumper sticker, "Not all who wander are lost"? That's what this quiet little gem made me think of.
Illustration: This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten, illustrated by Delana Bettoli
With a style reminiscent of Tomie dePaola, Bettoli brings the natural and the supernatural world together in this story of the coming of a King and the birth of a child.
Overall: The Black Book of Colors by Menina Cottin, illustrated by Rosana Faria, translated by Elisa Amado
First published in Spanish, this is the most unique, thought-provoking picture book I've ever run across.

Sources
Mostly library copies, although I swapped a few. It's harder to find these online than full-length novels.

This was the year of the Fiction Picture Book Cybils. This was also the year I had to go out and find picture books, because I changed jobs in December 2008 and therefore didn't encounter them every day the way I used to. Doubly difficult to find were early readers. But life was made easier by LibraryThing adding a collections function in June, making it possible to sort books into wishlist, available at the library, etc, and then picture book or storytime or easy reader categories once I'd read them.

What was your favorite thing about this year?