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The March 12, 2017, edition of the Top 10 New York Times Bestseller for Children List, is a great list to look at with its wondrous book covers illustrations, short reviews, and authors. What is neat about the best sellers list is that it gives the reader a numeric number of weeks the book has been a best seller, and I believe it solidifies a buyer’s decision on whether or not to invest in this book. If buyer still is hesitant then they can always check the Amazon and Goodreads reviews to make their decision. Of course, visiting your local library is another great way to view the books or discuss the qualities of the book with the librarian.

As a librarian, I’ve had a chance to examine each of the ten books and they all seem to be appropriate in content for children’s literature. The content of some of the books seem to deal with diversity, friendships, and human emotions that would greatly entertain children and even adults. The top ten books would be great to reread on any occasion, and they all seem to acquire a certain uniqueness that will have readers engaged the whole time. Each book has its own underline subliminal message that strikes the cord of today’s society, and it showcases the diversity of human emotion which is a relevant to our readers.

Books like Ada Twist, Scientist, Rosie Revere, Engineer, and I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes her Mark showcases three female characters who have made significant finds or made a difference in our society. These three books encourage our young female readers that gender isn’t an issue when it comes to achieving your dreams, and you don’t have to become a scientist, engineer, or a Supreme Court Justice to accomplish your goals in life. I guess you can say these are great, “Girl Power,” books that make any reader believe in the numerous possibilities of the world. Continuing with the subliminal books we have The Day the Crayons Quit, Waiting is Not Easy!, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, and Mighty, Mighty Construction Site that depict a strong sense of friendship or comradery. Each book shows how the characters gather together to either start or complete a task that demonstrates how large projects become small when you have others working together. These relationships between the characters demonstrates how friendships develop and continue even after the story ends.

For those readers who may becoming parents or children who don’t know their future occupation, The Wonderful Things You Will Be, is a great picture book filled with rhythmic rhymes that express the hopes and encourages future endeavors of our young readers. Of course, there’s the beautiful, humorous side that depicts nonsense words and imaginary characters with the love of tacos. Books like Dragons Love Tacos and Book with No Pictures are hilarious additions to any library or collection due to unusual formats and characters. Then again, who doesn’t like tacos or dragons? Young readers may enjoy reading and looking at dragons who love the taste of delicious, zesty tacos. Nevertheless, dragons may be cool but coming across a book with no pictures would seem boring, but that is not the case of Book with No Pictures since the author uses absurd and nonsense words that make the book more interactive. This interactive prospect keeps readers coming back for more, because the words add comedic relief to the everyday reader.

Lastly, these top ten books are artistic illustrated with its different medias and the use of highlighting fonts makes readers zero in on the text. Text may be important to the development of literacy, but I believe the depiction of the characters, setting, and even font styles make books more lively and interesting. I’m a consumer of art and literacy, I need to have something worthwhile to capture the interest or be unusual for me to continue reading a book. They say having a great imagination helps the reader, and I believe it enables the visualization process to take place in the mind versus seeing it take place in the book. Authors and Illustrators must know this to make a story come to life and it’s through these actions that we have great books today. Overall, the books are great to have in any collection because of their bright, colorful, encompassing illustrations really illuminates the text and fonts styles that grab the readers attention. In our society, people have different ways of absorbing information and it’s believed that with artistic illustrations, font styles and sizes that people become aware of the literary development. In short, our society needs to have authors who understand the needs of the diverse people in order to create beautiful literary works of art.

Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld, Adam Rubin. Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri, Andrea Beaty. Illustrated by David Roberts, Drew Daywalt. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, Martin, E. W., Novak, B. J., . . . Debbie Levy. Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley. (n.d.). Children's Picture Books - Best Sellers - March 12, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2017/03/12/picture-books/

Childrens Books, Kids Books, Stories for Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Books/b/ref=sv_b_5?ie=UTF8&node=4

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Is pink your favorite color? Do you like strange pink creature? Well, then you're in luck because this "Pink" book is perfect for you. This darling, informative book unfolds the highly unusual and unknown creatures that aren't see everyday, and the reader can learn about these unique species habitats, food sources, and interesting information specifically about that animal.
Not only is this book great to add to  the nonfiction section, but the text features really illuminate the animals and information. Who knew pink was such a fabulous color in the animal kingdom? Another great quality in this book is the  glossary, additional websites and books for more animal information, and even defines the names of the professions that studies animals, insects, etc. Pink is the new red.
Keating, J., & DeGrand, D. (2017). Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the Worlds Perfectly Pink Animals. New York: Scholastic Inc.

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This charming book introduces the five senses: smell, hear, see, taste, and touch to young children and describes some of the things you may see, touch, taste, hear, and smell. Along with the introduction of the five senses some of the illustrations show what is safe to touch, what can be eaten due to allergies, what can be seen if you have glasses, and so much more.
I Hear a Pickle, is such a cute book to introduce the five sense that any young reader would enjoy, and the well drawn illustrations capture each of the five sense. Even though, there's a lot of white in the background it helps bring the pictures to the foreground.
Isadora, R. (2016). I Hear a Pickle: and Smell, See, Touch, & Taste It, Too! New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.

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Have you ever had the first day of school jitters? Would you believe me if I told you that the school was nervous, too? It's funny to think that a building could feel nervous, but school was anxious about all the children coming to and staying inside him until the 3:00 p.m.. After the first day, school decided he liked the children and asked the Janitor if the children can come back tomorrow. Do you know what happen the next day? The children came back to school and they both got to learn new things.
This delightful story about a school having the first day jitters is just too adorable, and honestly I can relate to first day jitters as a teacher, a student, and one day a parent. I believe readers would enjoy the comedic similarities of the school and their own personal experience of first day jitters.
Rex, A., & Robinson, C. (2016). School's First Day of School. Roaring Book Press.

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This story is told by a tree (a horse chestnut tree)who watches a little girl from afar. The tree continues to watch the little grow write on her papers, sew curtains with her father, and even witnesses the young girl's first kiss. Until one day soldiers come into the annex and take the little girl and her family away, and all that is left is the helper lady who has the little girls notebook. The tree is very sad and wonders what happened to the little girl, and eventually the girls' father is the only family member to return. The tree still remains there its saplings fall to the ground and people gather them like they were gold until the tree slowly fades into oblivion.
This is an inventive way of telling Anne Frank's memoir from an outsiders point of view, and monotone illustrations highlight the war time well. Readers would enjoy the end of the book knowing where the saplings of the tree are located, and it would make for a great geography or history lesson. A brilliant book that depicts so much history.
Gottesfeld, J., & McCarty, P. (2016). The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

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The warm, colorful story is about a cat who is seen everywhere it wanders. Though, the reader see the cat differently according to the other animals and the human child see it. The cat see itself differently when it looks into the water's reflection.
This cute story really highlights how people and animals see each other differently, and the illustrations depict the different appearances of the cat. I believe readers might enjoy the illustrations, color, and the message about acceptance of one's own identity kind of like Thunder Boy Jr..
Wenzel, B. (2016). They All Saw a Cat. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

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This humorous, lovable story is about Ed the dog who believes that he isn't good at anything. He notices that all the Ellis family members are good at something; like soccer, calculating math problem, baking, dancing, and everything. Ed thinks if he's good at something then maybe he can sit at the dining room table, ride in the van, sit on the couch, and even use the indoor restroom but Ed surprisingly learns he's already good at something. Ed's good at welcoming his family home, keeping people's feet warm,  and an excellent floor cleaner (especially when its food).
Excellent Ed is an excellent book to use for teaching differences and how each individual is unique in their own way. The lesson that be taught or learned from this book, is that everyone is good at something. Ed is a great character and the illustrations make him feel more real to the reader.
Mcanulty, S. (2016). Excellent Ed. New York: Random House USA Inc.

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This brilliant biography is about the young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and unique artistic skills became an over night sensation. The story itself illustrates that being an artist isn't always about staying in the lines and making things nice and neat. Young Jean-Michel knows that art is about making something that is normal and innovative thinking makes his collage-style painting unique.
Radiant Child is an impressive book depicting and sending the message that art can be anything you want it to be, and that art has no guidelines to make it good. Personally, the books mixed media and message was enlightening to read and look at because the colors bleed well into the illustrations, and I believe any reader will enjoy this delightful tale.
Steptoe, J. (2016). Radiant child: the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

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This majestic tale is about a wealthy Lord who is beyond blessed with everything, but its not enough. He spends his large fortune in building large sculptures, hired famous tailors to make him new clothes, and have chefs cook lavish meals daily. The Lord was a demanding fellow who made his workers rinse his rice fast that some of the rice washed down the river. Until one day the drought dried up all the fields, the lands became barren, and people began to leave in search of food. The Lord didn't have anything left and was starving, so he began to wander in search of food for himself. He came across a monk who was serving the starving people, and the Lord discovered through his high demands all the clean rice that washed away ended up downstream and the monk stored it away since it was just him who ate. The Lord learned his lesson about not being wasteful and spoiled.
This thoughtful tale really makes the reader think about cherishing the things we have and not to be wasteful. The mixed media illustrations really highlighted the story and the characters. The book can be easily be used in teaching life lessons or even environmental lessons dealing with droughts; like the Dust Bowl and the Potato Famine.
Young, E. (2016). The Cat from Hunger Mountain. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

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This beautiful, uplifting book is about a young girl, Ally, who cleverly deceives many of her teachers of her inability to read with all her disruptive distractions and office visits. Of course, this year is different because her current teacher leaves to have a baby and a new teacher, Mr. Daniels, comes and changes everything for Ally. Ally is constantly waiting for Mr. Daniels to give up on her, because she believes she too dumb to learn. Mr. Daniels reveals to Ally that she has Dyslexia which makes it harder for Ally to read, but Mr. Daniels continues to work with Ally and keeps encouraging her to not give up. With Mr. Daniels constantly encouragement Ally's confidence begins to grow and she finally believes that there are limitless possibilities.
This enduring tale makes me believe that anything is possible, and that's the theme that the reader should get out of this story. As a teacher, this really made me reevaluate my own teaching and how I can be better at helping my students. This is going up in my classroom library and I hope my students find inspiration in this book like I did.
Hunt, L. M. (2017). Fish in a Tree. London: Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

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This charming tale is about a young boy, Thunder Boy Jr., and his need for a new identity. Thunder Boy Jr. is the only with his name except for his father, Thunder Boy Sr., and he wants to have his own meaningful name. Throughout the story he keeps coming up with names for himself, and his father understands his need for his own identity without being overshadowed. His father gives him the name, Lightening, and they will both "become amazing weather, their love will be loud and bright."
This adorable tale is about what the names we are born with mean to us, and how we live up to those names regardless of being named after a family member.
The illustrations are so well done and full of color that it makes you love Thunder Boy Jr., and his need for his own identity makes him relative to today's readers.
Alexie, S., & Morales, Y. (2016). Thunder Boy Jr. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

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Have you ever wondered about how subways came to be in New York city? Your answer is here in the form of a clay-mation book, The Secret Subway. New York use to be a garbage filled streets with tons of people who were constantly walking all over the garbage and the streets were very crowded that it became dangerous to even walk the streets. Many of the citizen wanted something to happen with the terrible crowding issue and one man, Alfred Ely Beach, was a thoughtful inventor who wanted to solve this issue. He came up with a brilliant idea of a train that would travel underground, where there wasn't any traffic, trash, or even bad weather to deal with. Of course, Beach's idea would've brought New York into the future, but there was a small problem and it was the ownership of the streets. He decided to come up with a sneaky plan and proposed the idea of a underground tube that would carry the mail, and the non-elected mayor, Mr. Boss Tweed, agreed to the plan. Secretly, Mr. Beach and his workers worked underground to fashion the underground train system, and they eventually revealed it to the higher ranked citizens to buy into the plan, but the fabulous underground train system didn't last due to property issues. Sadly, it wasn't until much later when New Yorker's decided to make subways that they discovered old Beach's invention and realized how far they have come in transportation. Of course, if Boss Tweed would have let Mr. Beach continue New York might have been ahead of the game as far as traveling goes.
This is great nonfiction book that is entertaining and informative to have in the class and library. The clay-mation made me think of Box Trolls, Coraline and Gumby; which may entice students to read this book without them realizing they're learning. At the back of the book, it gives a little bit more history on Mr. Beach's invention and even how the illustrator constructed the clay people and set which brings the story to life. Just a fabulous book to have and a great history piece on the development of subway.
Corey, S., & R. (2016). The Secret Subway. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books.

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Have you ever asked, "Are we there yet?," when it comes to traveling? Well, you'll enjoy this young boys' response to that same question. Long car trips can be boring just waiting to get there and for this little boy his imagination helps relieve him of his boredom. His imagination makes him see, long desert roads that cross the Egyptians creating the pyramids, pirates who want to make him walk the plank, coming in contact with a T-Rex, and blasting to the future missing your destination. So, are bored wanderer realizes he need to savor the moments he has and not be in rush things.
This great book is a great teaching tool for life lesson; like patience or teaching our readers how powerful our imagination is limitless. Are We There Yet? is well illustrated and the color really highlights the drawings, and the idea of turning the book around to depict our character's imagination is quite unique. I'm adding this book to my classroom.
Santat, D. (2016). Are We There Yet? New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.

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What do you get when you put the head of a dog unto a human body? You get the crime fighting Dog Man. Dog Manis a police officer who is always trying to capture Petey, the villainous cat, who is always bent on destroying their small town. In the beginning, there was Officer Knight (the human) and Greg (the dog) who didn't quite disable a bomb correctly and they end up in the hospital terribly injured to the point where pieces of their body get put together. Dog Manis this the comical version of Frankenstein who is a dedicated crime fighter who is saving the day from Petey or someone else.
This delightful graphic novel is truly unique due to it's childish writing and drawing, and the story line is quite comical that young readers would find enduring. As a reader, I like that it offered some "How To" pages to draw Dog an, Petey, and the impressive Philly, and how young drawers could change the expressions of Petey. This book would be a fabulous addiction to any classroom, because it has a little bit of everything for everyone.
Pilkey, D., Hutchins, H., & Beard, G. (2016). Dog Man. New York: Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic.

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This inventive bilingual book is another adaptation of nursery rhymes for children. Rhymes like Little Boy Blue, Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc. have a mixture of both Spanish and English wording. Another bonus that readers would enjoy is learning the meaning of the Spanish words thanks to a mini-glossary defining the bolded Spanish words. Though, the reader could use context clues to figure out the meaning of the Spanish word.
Personally, this book is a great educational resource to have in the classroom and the library to introduce nursery rhymes, and adding the glossary for the monolinguals is great for multicultural purposes. Lastly, the illustrations are beautifully done and are full of color that help the reader understand the action of the story as well.
Elya, S. M., & Martinez-Neal, J. (2016). La Madre Goose: Nursery Rhymes for Los Niños. New York, NY: G. P. Putnams Sons, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

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Ghost is about a young girl, Cat, who is uprooted from her home and is moving to Bahia de la Luna located along the coast of Northern California because her sister, Maya, is sick. It's not Maya fault that she has cystic fibrosis, but it Cat is really going to miss her friends. Once the Cat's family moves in the girls go explore their new town and meet a boy, Carlos, who happens to be their next door neighbor. Carlos informs tells them that there are ghost living here in Bahia de la Luna, and he would be happy to give them his ghostly tour of the town. Maya is determined to see one regardless of being sick, and Cat is not thrilled to see these so call, "ghost." As Halloween approaches the ghost can reunite with their loved ones according to Cat's new friends and their is a big festival in the middle of the town. Cat needs to figure out a way to let go of her fears for the sake of her fearless sister, Maya, and go see for herself what the festival is about.

Loved it! This beautiful well-written graphic novel is AMAZING. I was glad that I read this book and got to meet Cat and Maya along this fun-loving story. I'm a only child so I never got to experience having a little brother or sister, but I could imagine what it was like by reading and seeing Cat's experience. I'm actually familiar with the cystic fibrosis when I was in respiratory therapy and I got to see many of the vest treatments for the patients who had cystic fibrosis. Most students who read this might not know what genetic disease is and once they have read it they'll have a better understanding of this disease, because at the end of the graphic novel Telgemeier explains what cystic fibrosis is and gives a web address for additional information about it. I think my fourth graders may like this book because of its Spanish cultural flare, the ghost, and it's written in a graphic novel format. It's an easy read and even the most reluctant reader would find joy in it.
Telgemeier, R. (2016). Ghosts. New York, NY: Graphix an imprint of Scholastic

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This enduring tale is about a curious little boy who wants to know about his Daddy's tattoos and why he got them. The book is beautifully illustrated depicting each of the father's tattoos and the importance of their meaning. What I find so incredibly cool about this particular book is how readers can relate to this content since many people have tattoos or see people with tattoos, and now there's a story about that special uniqueness behind the meaning of tattoos to some. The coloring used for the illustrations was mute compared to the bright colors of Frankencrayon, but I think the muteness helps the reader maintain focus of the story.
McGhee, A., & Wheeler, E. (2016). Tell Me a Tattoo Story. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

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Have you ever wondered what characteristics your dog shares with a wolf? Well, Wolf Camp is a brilliant, humorous story of how Homer, the dog, goes to a camp to learn how to be a wolf. Homer learns how to howl, track his prey, and how to sleep like the wolves do outside. Homer even gets a certificate to prove he's an honorary wolf, and heads back home to show his family.
As a reader, I found it similar to my own days in basketball and volleyball camp, and I think some readers would be able to relate to Homer's camping experience. Of course, readers could find it to be a funny and imagine their dogs going to camp to become a honorary wolf. This is just a funny book to enjoy and the illustrations just make it seem comedic as well.
Zuill, A. (2016). Wolf Camp. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

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Night Gardener is quite a magically tale that makes one believe in miracles, and young William surly believed in the magic. William one day woke up to a tree that looked like a wise owl, and wondered who or what made this creation. The next day, there was another tree that was made into a cat and the trees continued to be trimmed and shaped into animals. The neighbor and town was slowly coming alive with all these new creations, and William was able to meet the Night Gardener and help him with his creations. Over time the trees began to lose their leaves and designs, but William was left trimming shears to continue the night gardener's story.
Personally, the lack of coloring at first shows how boring Williams life is and then the pops of color brought on my the tree creations really makes the reader believe like William in magic, because the coloring helps make the story feel magical and believable in the impossible. Any reader would enjoy the artistic details and the genius creations of the tree animals.
Fan, T., & Fan, E. (2017). The Night Gardener. London: Frances Lincoln Childrens Books.

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This humorous tale is about an adaptation of Frankenstein's monster, but it's done with crayons as actors. I found this tale enduring with the crayons pretending to react an all time classic movie, and their Frankencrayon saved the day with the scribble creature who needed help. The humor in playing a pretend creature who actually saves a creature just  tickles me pink. The brightness of colors and mixed media really makes this story come alive, or at least the color stands out to me just like The Day the Crayons Quit.
Hall, M. (2016). Frankencrayon. New York: Greenwillow Books.

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This fabulous, colorful book is about Duncan's crayons who wrote letters to Duncan making some work demands and how they feel about their job, as crayons. Some of the crayons were quite tried of all the hard labor and some crayons complained about not be used enough (Pink crayon). There was even an argument between the Yellow and Orange crayon about who was the right color for the sun. This picture book demonstrates how to listen to other's viewpoints and working with others which is a popular lesson I still try to teach in 4th grade.
While reading this creation, the readers will notice the brightness of the pages and the adorable drawings of the crayons work, and I believe that mix media will capture the readers attention.
Daywalt, D., & Jeffers, O. (2016). The Day the Crayons Quit. London: HarperCollins Childrens Books.