Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books I've Read for my Blog

The folks at The Broke and the Bookish selected a retrospective list for this week's top ten--your favorite books since you began your blog. I started mine almost two years ago, so I had to do a lot of soul searching before I came up with my final list. Click on each title for my original review.

1. Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows

Why? Great friendships are a staple in early chapter books. This series introduces two girls with big size personalities that perfectly mesh.

2. Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

Why? Two very different friends put a new spin on dynamic twosomes for beginning readers.

3. Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker

Why? My favorite in the series about Clementine, an irrepressible third-grader, who learns she will once again be a big sister.

4. Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

Why? Readers get a front view seat to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and how it began in this award-winning nonfiction picture book.

5. Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke

Why? Atinuke is a natural storyteller. Anna, a young African girl, is an engaging character who lives with her extended family in an unnamed African village.

6. The No. 1 Car Spotter by Atinuke

Why? An eyeopener into the world of a young African boy and his extended family.

7. Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins

Why? This hard-to-classify story stayed with me long after I read it.

8. Bad Kitty Meets the Baby by Nick Bruel

Why? One word--Hysterical. Bad Kitty rules.

9. Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch

Why? A picture book about death like no other. Wow.

10. Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones

Why? Diana Wynn Jones' last book proves why this author excelled in writing fantasy.