Every year since 1952, the Book Review has asked a panel of judges to select 10 books from among the several thousand children’s books published that year.

The judges this time around were Adam Gopnik, who writes regularly for The New Yorker and is the author of two novels for children, “The King in the Window” and the forthcoming “Steps Across the Water”; Jillian Tamaki, a teacher at the School of Visual Arts and the recipient of a Society of Illustrators gold medal; and Lisa Von Drasek, the children’s librarian of the Bank Street College of Education.

The Book Review’s 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books for 2009 are:

1. ONLY A WITCH CAN FLY, by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Feiwel & Friends). An illustrated poem about a little girl who dreams of flying on her broomstick on Halloween
night.

2. MOONSHOT: THE FLIGHT OF APOLLO 11, written and illustrated by Brian Floca (Richard Jackson/Atheneum). In watercolors, ink and acrylics, the story of how the Apollo 11 mission unfolded.

3. THE ODD EGG, written and illustrated by Emily Gravett (Simon & Schuster). A duck discovers a huge speckled egg — with a baby alligator inside.

4. A PENGUIN STORY, written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis (HarperCollins). Edna the penguin goes on a quest to discover new colors.

5. THE LION & THE MOUSE, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown). This illustrated retelling of the classic fable has only seven words, all sound effects.

6. THE SNOW DAY, written and illustrated by Komako Sakai (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic). A bunny child stays home from school when the world is beset by a snowstorm.

7. TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA, written and illustrated by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic). An illustrated collection of surreal tales from the author of “The Arrival.”

8. YUMMY: EIGHT FAVORITE FAIRY TALES, written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins (Candlewick). Eight popular fairy tales retold in vivid colors.

9. WHITE NOISE, by David A. Carter (Little Simon/Simon & Schuster). A pop-up romp through cubism and futurism, and a lesson in early-20th-century modernist formalism.

10. ALL THE WORLD, by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster). A journey in pictures and verse from an unexplored beach to a busy music-filled family room and into a tranquil, moonlit night.