From Our Bookshelves 2013

One final list of the year . . . our favorites.  In creating this list, we indulged ourselves by allowing personal interests and experiences to influence our selections.  These are books we love, and we recommend them wholeheartedly.

Picture Books:

• Bunnies on Ice by Johanna Wright
• The Black Rabbit by Philippa Leathers
• That Is Not a Good Idea! by Mo Willems
• If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin Stead
• Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf
• Journey by Aaron Becker
• Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
• Big Snow by Jonathan Bean
• Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner
• The Tiny King by Taro Miura
• Loula Is Leaving for Africa by Anne Villeneuve

Fiction (Ages 6-8):

• Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes
• The Meanest Birthday Girl by Josh Schneider
• Mysterious Traveler by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, illustrated by P.J. Lynch

Fiction (Ages 9-14):

• The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A novel of snow and courage by Chris Kurtz, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt
• Jinx by Sage Blackwood
• Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gewirtz
• Doll Bones by Holly Black, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
• The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata, illustrated by Julia Kuo
• Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• Bluffton by Matt Phelan
• Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K.G. Campbell
• Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Nonfiction:

• Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
• On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne, illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky
• The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
• Locomotive by Brian Floca
• The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown
• The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb

Poetry:

• What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Folktales/Fairy Tales:

• Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Sybille Schenker
• Gobble You Up! by Gita Wolf, illustrated by Sunita