Do you hear the people buzz?

It's December. The American Library Association's literary awards including the Caldecott and the Newbery will be announced on January 14, 2008. (See this post for more information.) That's only six short weeks until the big day... and the buzz for who will win the awards is already in the air.

Several major review journals have weighed in with their favorite children's books of the year. The rest of the lists should be out soon, and the conversations among librarians, booksellers and teachers are starting.

Lists of favorites from The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times and Publisher's Weekly are below. Keep in mind that not all these lists cover the same territory... some include juvenile fiction and young adult books while others don't.

I alphabetized each list and highlighted the books that appear twice. The books that appear three or four times are in red. These aren't necessarily the books that will win awards.... books without buzz win all the time (the 2007 Newberys are a great example) but I think it's interesting to see which books are being talked about. For sanity's sake, I just included titles in this post, but I highly recommend clicking on the link to each respective reviewer. Their lists include beautiful pictures and wonderful commentary.

Remember that the Newbery and Caldecott awards can only be given to authors and illustrators who are citizens or residents of the United States, so that takes The Arrival, The New Policeman, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Orange Pear Apple Bear and a few others out of the mix of possible contenders.

Highlighted books appear on two lists, books in red appear on three lists or more.

The Horn Book's favorite books of 2007:

• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• The Bearskinner retold by Laura Schlitz
• Becca at Sea by Deirdre Baker
• Beowulf: A Hero’s Tale Retold retold by James Rumford
• The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
• Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
• A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• May I Pet Your Dog? by Stephanie Calmenson
• The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
• Pictures From Our Vacation by Lynne Rae Perkins
• Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
• Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems) by Linda Sue Park
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman

The New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2007

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
  
• Extras by Scott Westerfield
  
• Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• How to be a Baby... By Me, the Big Sister by Sally Lloyd Jones

The New York Times list of the best illustrated books of 2007:

• 600 Black Spots by David Carter
  
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
  
• Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Frog Who Wanted to See the Sea by Guy Billout
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
  
• Jabberwocky by Christopher Myers
• Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
• Old Penn Station by William Low
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís

Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books of 2007:

• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
  
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
• Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• Aunt Nancy and the Bothersome Visitors by Phyllis Root, illustrated by David Parkins
• Babies in the Bayou by Jim Arosky
• Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford
• The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
• Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
• Dog and Bear by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman
• Fred Stays With Me! by Nancy Coffelt, illustrated by Tricia Tusa
• Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman
• Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Schlitz
• I am Invited to a Party! by Mo Willems
• Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner, illustrated by Mini Grey
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Jabberwocky by Christopher Meyers
• Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt
• Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
• Leaves by David Ezra Stein
• Mary the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary by Beverly Donofrio, illustrated by Barbara McClintock
• Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
• The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
• Old Penn Station by William Low
• Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
• Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal
• Pictures From Our Vacation by Lynne Rae Perkins
• Pssst! by Adam Rex
• Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
• Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat
• Spiders by Nic Bishop
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman

Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books of 2007

• 1,2,3: A Child's First Counting Book by Alison Jay
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• Before I Die by Jenny Downham
• Bone by Bone by Bone by Tony Johnston
• Bullyville by Francine Prose
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Dog and Bear by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis
• Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
• The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by Lloyd Alexander
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
• Leaves by David Ezra Stein
• Living Color by Steve Jenkins
• Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White
• Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks
• Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose by Leo and Diane Dillon
• The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
• Nothing by Jon Agee
• Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
• Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
• Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Camer
• A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd
• The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
• Tuttle's Red Barn by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Mary Azarian
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Interesting, isn't it? Got any predictions?