Five Favorite Posts

OK, I've seen several people do this now (most recently A Fuse #8 Production and Gotta Book, after MotherReader issued the original challenge), and thought that it was time I participated. (Updated to add: Blog from the Windowsill tagged me as I was finishing up the post). Anyway, my five favorite posts (I'm going to extend slightly into late 2005 on this, since I started my blog in mid-December):

1. One of the reasons that I started this blog was that I wanted to help, in my own small way, more kids to grow up enjoying books. My favorite post towards this goal is "Read the Books that Your Children Read". The idea is that if, as your kids get older, you keep reading the books that they love, either with them or in parallel with them, you show them that you value reading, and you provide both parent and child with wonderful opportunities for discussion. That may be preaching to the choir for most of the people who read this blog, but I still think that it's important.
2. The other reason that I started this blog was that as an adult who likes to read children's books (even though I have no children of my own to read with), I wanted to provide community and encouragement for other people like me. One of my earliest posts, and still a favorite, is "Why You Should Read Children's Books as an Adult." Again, preaching to the choir for people who visit this blog, but still something that I believe with all my heart.
3. The thing that probably put this blog on the map was the list of Cool Girls of Children's Literature, which started here in May, and ended here in June, with 200 smart, brave, funny, independent girls from the world of children's literature. I actually have a list of some 50 more that people have suggested to me, and I know there are more, if I revisit my recent reading. This whole idea started with a list of a dozen that I put together. And people started commenting, and emailing, and the list just kept on growing. An amazing thing, and a tribute to the power of the kidlitosphere. There is a Cool Boys list, too, though it never received quite the same level of excitement, perhaps because so many of us who blog in this area are women.
4. More recently, one of my favorite posts of the year is the list of nominated books for the Young Adult Fiction category of the Cybils. Many thanks to Anne Boles Levy and Kelly Herold for starting up this award, and for trusting me to be the administrator for the Young Adult Fiction category. I keep this post marked as a favorite because it's such a wonderful list, and I expect to refer back to it again and again as I continue reading.
5. In November I wrote about "How Book Reviewing has Affected My Reading". This generated quite a bit of discussion, and I ended up with a follow-up article about "Better vs. More Enjoyable Reading". I like these posts because they reflect my thoughts about how this blog, and the books that I've been reading and reviewing, have changed the way I read. And, since reading is such a big part of my world, changed my life.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but I will agree with the others who've done this that it's a lot of fun to look back. And now, I'm going to look forward, and make the most that I can of 2007! May it bring new and positive memories for us all!