The best children's books of 2009

Here are some of my favorite children's books of this stellar year:

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 each), by Leslea Newman; illustrated by Carol Thompson (Ages infant-two years).

PICTURE BOOKS

"Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales" written and illustrated by "Maisy"creator Lucy Cousins (Candlewick Press, $18.99, ages 4-8).

"Stick Man" (Scholastic, $16.99), by Julia Donaldson; illustrated by Axel Scheffler. (Ages 4-8).

"Let's Do Nothing" (Candlewick Press, $16.99), written and illustrated by Tony Fucile (Ages 3-6).

"Birds" (Greenwillow, $17.99), by Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes; illustrated by Laura Dronzek. (Ages 3-6).

"Crow Call" (Scholastic, $16.99), by Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. (Ages 4-8).

"The Lion & the Mouse" (Little Brown, $16.99), illustrator Jerry Pinkney's wordless adaptation of an Aesop's fable. (Ages 3-8).

"Duck! Rabbit!" (Chronicle, $16.99), by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. (Ages 4-8).

"Erika-San" (Houghton Mifflin, $17), written and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Allen Say (Ages 6-10).

"All the World" (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," 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).

Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Kam.Macpherson@gmail.com.