Editor's Choice Collection for 2016

These are the books that I reviewed in 2016 that I found particularly entertaining and engaging, and some of them taught me things that I did not know. Many of these titles were published recently, while others have been in print for some time. They are all either stand-alone titles, or the first title in a series, and all of them would make wonderful gifts for a birthday or for the holiday season. Enjoy!
Why?

Why?

Nikolai Popov
Picture Book
For ages 5 and up
Minedition, 2016   ISBN: 978-9888341054
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Strange Trees: And the Stories Behind Them

Strange Trees: And the Stories Behind Them

Bernadette Pourpuie
Illustrator:  Cecile Gambini 
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Princeton Architectural Press, 2016   ISBN: 978-1616894597
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Blackbird Fly

Blackbird Fly

Erin Entrada Kelly
Fiction
For ages 9 to 12
HarperCollins, 2015   ISBN: 978-0062238610
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Brick by Brick

Brick by Brick

Giuliano Ferri
Wordless Board Book
For ages 3 to 5
Minedition, 2016   ISBN: 978-9888341184
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The Night Gardener

The Night Gardener

Terry and Eric Fan
Picture Book
For ages 6 and up
Simon and Schuster , 2016   ISBN: 978-1481439787
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Boris

Boris

Cynthia Rylant
Poetry
For ages 14 and up
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006   ISBN: 0152058095
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Untaken

Untaken

J.E. Anckorn
Fiction
For ages 13 and up
Curiosity Quills Press, 2015   ISBN: 978-1620076231
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Rootless

Rootless

Chris Howard
Fiction
For ages 13 and up
Scholastic, 2012   ISBN: 978-0545387897
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Lumière

Lumière

Jacqueline E Garlick
Fiction  Series
For ages 13 and up
Skyscape, 2015   ISBN: 978-1503944558
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Last Stop on Market Street

Last Stop on Market Street

Matt de la Pena
Illustrator:  Christian Robinson 
Picture Book
For ages 5 and up
Penguin, 2015   ISBN: 978-0399257742
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The Big Dark

The Big Dark

Rodman Philbrick
Fiction
For ages 8 to 12
Scholastic, 2016   ISBN: 978-0545789752
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Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

Don Brown
Nonfiction Graphic Novel
For ages 12 and up
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015   ISBN: 978-0544157774
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Women Who Changed the World: 50 Amazing Americans

Women Who Changed the World: 50 Amazing Americans

Laurie Calkhoven
Illustrator:  Patricia Castelao 
Nonfiction
For ages 8 to 11
Scholastic, 2016   ISBN: 978-0545889629
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Gordon and Tapir

Gordon and Tapir

Sebastian Meschenmoser
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
NorthSouth, 2016   ISBN: 978-0735842533
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The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art

Barb Rosenstock
Illustrator:  Mary GrandPre 
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Random House, 2014   ISBN: 978-0307978486
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