2010 New York Times Bestseller List for Children

O, Jane, & Glasser, Robin. (2010). Fancy nancy: ooh la la! it. Harpercollins Childrens Books.

Fancy Nancy is at it again! She has turned her yard into a beauty salon. It’s her mom’s birthday and Nancy is going to treat her mom to a “day at the spa”. But can Nancy have a day where something doesn’t go terribly wrong??

Fancy Nancy is a favorite among little girls. They want to be just like her and do all the fancy things she tries to do. I really liked how the book had tips on how to create your own salon and spa day. This book is a must for pretty little girls!

2010 New York Times Bestseller List for Children

Andrews, Julie, Hamilton, Emma, & Davenier, Christine. (2010). The very Fairy princess. Little Brown & Co.

Gerry, the very fairy princess, teaches us all of the proper etiquette and behaviors of being a fairy princess. If you look at Gerry, she is a mess. She is dirty, scrapped up, and just looks like she needs a good bath, but inside she is a princess!

This is such a girly book. It was cute and made me think of my childhood days. This would be a great gift for that princess in your life!

2010 New York Times Bestseller List for Children

Soman, David, & Davis, Jacky. (2010). Ladybug girl at the beach. Dial Books for Young Readers.


Lulu is afraid of the beach, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the cute swimsuit she is wearing! Lulu’s family is going to the beach and she is terrified when she hears how loud the water is. Lulu literally does everything at the beach, but go in the water. But when her bucket starts to float away, she has to get in the water to save it. It doesn’t take much for her to get over her fear. She now loves the water!

This book is a great book to use to show and teach courage. I just love the cute whimsical illustrations in the story. This is a great addition to the other Ladybug girl books.

2010 New York Times Bestseller List for Children

Willems, Mo. (2010). City dog, country frog. Hyperion.


Two unlikely characters become friends, a dog and a frog. They play all spring and teach each other new things. During the fall the thought about all the fun they had together. But then winter arrived. City dog went ran to play with frog, but frog was nowhere to be found.

This short story had me in tears. Dog was so sad to lose his best friend. What a great story about friendship. I love how the illustrator made sure the pictures matched with the season the animals were in.

2010 New York Times Bestseller List for Children

Seder, Rufus. (2007). Gallop!. Workman Pub Co.

This is book is filled with rhyming text full of simple questions and fun, nonsense replies: Can you gallop like a horse? giddyup-a-loo! Can you strut like a rooster? cock-a-doodle-doo! The words are silly, but the moving pictures are amazing! The technology that makes that happen is called Scanimation, each page brings animals, along with one shining star, to life with art that literally moves.

I’m 28 years old and was completely fascinated by the moving pictures in this book, I can only imagine what a child might think of it. After I read the story, I went back to just play and make the pictures move. Who knew a book could be so fun!!

2010 TAYSHAS High School Reading List

Valentine, Jenny. (2009). Broken soup. Harperteen.

This book is about tragedy. A fifteen year old girl has to act like the adult throughout this story. Rowan's big brother, Jack, died. Since then, her father moved out, and her mother went into depression. She is left to take care of her six year old sister. She does the grocery shopping. She cooks and looks after her sister. She brings her mother to her doctor's appointments. She goes to school. And she grieves, in her own way. Rowen becomes friends with Bee. They try and figure out this “mystery” boy’s sudden appearance in town.

I must be attracted to books about tragedy. It seems that is all I have read. For some reason the way these tragic events happen, intrigues me, the reader. I felt Rowen’s pain the whole story. She just wants to be a kid, but doesn’t want her family to fall apart more than it already has.

2010 TAYSHAS High School Reading List

Dowd, Siobhan. (2008). Bog child. Random House, Inc..

Fergus lives in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. He's trying to balance his exams, and deal with his brother who is on a hunger strike. He and his uncle discover a body buried in a bog, which turns out to be nearly 2000 years old. He begins having strange dreams about the life of the girl whose body they found.

This by far was the most difficult book for me to read. I couldn’t get into it. I really didn’t find it all that interesting. I do like how the author based some of the story on true events.