Brainstorm 162: Top 10s of 2018, Part 2

This week in the Top 10s of 2018 we have a guest post from Ms. Sarah Foit, the fantastic Elementary librarian I have the pleasure of working with at the International Community School of Bangkok. She teaches K4-5th grade library and is sharing with us her Top 10 Reads of 2018 in several categories. Books may have been published in any year, but she read them sometime in the last 12 months. Ms Sarah reads hundreds of books each year, so for a book to make it to these lists is quite impressive. Click on the titles to read Ms. Sarah’s reviews of these books (or in the rare case she did not have a review, to my review).

Part 1, Last Week: Top Adult Fiction, Top YA & Adult Nonfiction, Top YA & Adult Graphic Novels, Top Picture Book Biographies, Top Leveled Readers, Top Christian Nonfiction
Part 2, This Week: Guest Post: Ms Sarah Foit’s Top 10s of 2018
Part 3, Dec 21: Top Biographies, Top LG/MG Nonfiction, Top LG/MG Graphic Novels, Top LG Fiction, Top Creators of Asian Descent
Part 4, Dec 28: Top YA Fiction, Top MG Fiction, Top Fiction Picture Books, Top Asian Characters

Clarification of terms: Easy Books are picture books and tend to be in the lower range of LG books, Lower Grade (LG) refers to Kindergarten-2nd Grade interest level books typically but we've included Preschool in this division too, Middle Grade (MG) refers to 3rd-8th grade interest level books

Top 10 Easy Fiction Picture Books

Mama's Belly by Kate Hosford, ill. by Abigail Halpin

On a Magical Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna, translated by Jill Davis

Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming, ill. by Stacey Dressen-McQueen

The First Journey by Phùng Nguyên Quang and Huỳnh Kim Liên

Time for Bed, Miyuki by Roxanne Marie Galliez, ill. by Seng Soun Ratanvanh

The Sasquatch and the Lumberjack by Crix Sheridan

Ten Cents a Pound by Nhung N. Tran-Davies, ill. by Josée Bisaillon

Chocolate Cake by Michael Rosen, ill. by Kevin Waldron

A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano, ill. by Lane Smith

Escargot by Dashka Slater, ill. by Sydney Hanson

Top 10 Easy Nonfiction Picture Books

Free as a Bird: The Story of Malala by Lina Maslo

On Our Street: Our First Talk about Poverty by Jillian Roberts & Jaime Casap, ill. by Jane Heinrichs

I Spy: An Alphabet in Art devised & selected by Lucy Micklethwait

Who Counts?: 100 Sheep, 10 Coins, and 2 Sons by Amy-Jill Levine & Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, ill. by Margaux Meganck

Lightship by Brian Floca

The World Is Not a Rectangle: a Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

ABC Color: Apricot, Burgundy & Chartreuse 26 Brand New Colors Are on the Loose ill. by Ingela P. Arrhenius

A Brave Big Sister: a Bible Story about Miriam by Rachel Spier Weaver & Anna Haggard, ill. by Eric Elwell

The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross by Carl Laferton, ill. by Catalina Echeverri

Wild Ideas: Let Nature Inspire Your Thinking by Elin Kelsey, ill. by Soyeon Kim

Top 10 Lower Grade Fiction Books

Chavo the Invisible by Lee Nordling, ill. by Flávio Silva

The Fran That Time Forgot (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist, #4) by Jim Benton

Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx by Joe Todd-Stanton

Squishy McFluff Meets Mad Nana Dot (Squishy McFluff, #3) by Pip Jones, ill. by Ella Okstad

The Mermaid's Purse by Patricia Polacco

Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package (Tales from Deckawoo Drive, #4) by Kate DiCamillo, ill. by Chris Van Dusen

The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare (The Princess in Black, #6) by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, ill. by LeUyen Pham

Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy (Charlie & Mouse, #2) by Laurel Snyder, ill. by Emily Hughes

Claude on Holiday (Claude, #2) by Alex T. Smith

Fergus and Zeke (Fergus & Zeke, #1) by Kate Messner, ill. by Heather Ross

Top 10 Lower Grade Nonfiction Books

Just Being Jackie by Margaret Cardillo, ill. by Julia Denos

Fairy Spell: How Two Girls Convinced the World That Fairies Are Real by Marc Tyler Nobleman, ill. by Eliza Wheeler

Hidden Figures: the True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly with Winifred Conkling, ill. by Laura Freeman

Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw, photos by Matt Carr

Sequoyah: the Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing by James Rumford, translated by Anna Sixkiller Huckaby

The Language of Angels: the Reinvention of Hebrew by Richard Michelson, ill. by Karla Gudeon

Dangerous Jane by Suzanne Slade, ill. by Alice Ratterree

Manfish: a Story of Jaques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne, ill. by Éric Puybaret

Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen by Deborah Hopkinson, ill. by Qin Leng

Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome, ill. by James E. Ransome

Top 10 Middle Grade Fiction Books

The Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity (The Brixton Brothers, #1) by Mac Barnett, ill. by Adam Rex

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead, ill. by Nicholas Gannon

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder

Refugee by Alan Gratz

The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais, translated by Jeremy Melloul

The Nameless City (The Nameless City, #1) by Faith Erin Hicks

Friends and Foes (Red's Planet, #2) by Eddie Pittman

The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine by Mark Twain & Philip Stead, ill. by Erin Stead

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Middle Grade Nonfiction Books

What a Wonderful Word by Nicola Edwards, ill. by Luisa Uribe

Trick of the Eye: Art and Illusion by Silke Vry

The Incredible Cabinet of Wonders (Lonely Planet Kids) by Joe Fullman

The Inker's Shadow by Allen Say

This Side of Wild: Mutts, Mares, and Laughing Dinosaurs by Gary Paulsen

The Tarantula in My Purse: and 172 Other Wild Pets by Jean Craighead George

A Charm of Goldfinches and Other Wild Gatherings: Quirky Collective Nouns of the Animal Kingdom by Matt Sewell

The Great and Only Barnum: the Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming, ill. by Ray Fenwick

Hedy's Journey: the True Story of a Hungarian Girl Fleeing the Holocaust by Michelle Bisson, ill. by El primo Ramón

Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion by Chris Barton, ill. by Victo Ngai