The Top 10 Everything of 2008

9. Help Me, Mr Mutt by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Reading this book, co-written by a sister team, is like reading Mad Magazine; it's laugh-out-loud funny to school-age kids and adults alike. Taking a page from Dear Abby, dogs write to Mr. Mutt, seeking his "expert answers for dogs with people problems." Dog-loving kids (are there any who aren't?) will lap up "Famished in Florida's" beef that his people are putting him on a diet, complete with his stick-thin self-portrait titled "skinny me." Each letter ends with a p.s. that's a catty quip about the feline in the house, a.k.a. "The Queen." The conceit and the language skew a little older, so this is a nifty book to read with your kids.

Connect to this TIME Story