The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The Invention of Hugo Cabret won one of the most esteemed literary prizes this year, the Caldecott Award. Caldecott is the award for a book chosen by children librarians deemed to have the best pictures. The illustrations in this book are highly detailed black and white pencil drawings. This book is a lengthy 544 pages but there are a TON of drawings within. Hugo Cabret is a young, orphaned horologist (watchmaker) who secretly fixes all the clocks in a Paris trainstation for his uncle. As it turns out, his uncle has disappeared and Hugo fears the authorities will turn him over to an orphanage if it is discovered that he is without a guardian. Hugo becomes obsessed with fixing a broken automaton found in the museum, as he believes the robot will write a message from his dead father.

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
This picture book is about a spider that wants to be a family pet, but whenever she tries to impress the family members, they freak out.

The Spiderwick Chronicles Book 1: The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
This book was highly recommended to me by a young reader :o) He was so passionate about The Spiderwick Chronicles that I promised him I'd read the first book. The story centers around Jared Grace, a troubled young boy whose father has just abandoned his family. When the Grace family moves into a dilapidated Victorian house, strange things start happening: His older sister Mallory wakes up one morning with her hair tied to the bedpost, his twin brother Simon's tadpoles are found frozen in the freezer. Jared discovers, via a dumbwaiter, a secret library belonging to Arthur Spiderwick, a distant relative. In the mysterious room is a book about faeries, boggarts and brownies which Jared uses to learn more about the strange creatures that surely inhabit the old house.