Top 10 Everything of 2007

#6. Diary of A Fly
Written Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Harry Bliss

There is a rich vein of great modern picture book franchises — Ian Falconer's Olivia stories and Jane Yolen's How do Dinosaursbooks and Cronin and Bliss's Diary of series. They all had good additions this year, but Diary of a Fly is the most irresistibly funny ("Tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm so nervous. What if I'm the only one who eats regurgitated food?"). And of course it does manage that most cunning of witty children's book tricks, teaching kids science — in this case fly biology — without them even realizing it.