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December 27, 2016 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 27 – 2016 Nonfiction Picture Books

December 27, 2016 by Betsy Bird   2 comments

It’s finally come!  The list is nearing its end.  So it is with great delight that I present to you some of the last of the lists.  Today’s is particularly long, celebrating what I consider to be some of the best books of 2016. Since so many of them have shown up on my other lists I’ll leave off the comments this time around except for those that haven’t appeared here before.

These are the nonfiction titles I was most impressed by in 2016:


 

2016 Nonfiction Picture Books

Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer by Diane Stanley, ill. Jessie Hartland

adalovelace1

Ada’s Ideas: The Story of Ada Lovelace, the World’s First Computer Programmer by Fiona Robinson

adalovelace2

Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood, ill. Sally Wern Comport

adas-violin-9781481430951_hr

Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics by Steve Jenkins

animalsnumbers

Anything But Ordinary: The True Story of Adelaide Herman, Queen of Magic by Mara Rockliff, ill. Iacopo Bruno

anythingbutordinary

A Beetle Is Shy by Dianna Hutts Aston, ill. Sylvia Long

beatleshy

Circle by Jeanne Baker

circle

Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois by Amy Novesky, ill. Isabelle Arsenault

clothlullaby

The Deadliest Creature in the World by Brena Z. Guiberson, ill. Gennady Spirin

deadliestcreature

Death Is Stupid by Anastasia Higginbotham

deathisstupid

Dining With Dinosaurs: A Tasty Guide to Mesozoic Munching by Hannah Bonner

diningdinos

Does a Fiddler Crab Fiddle? by Corinne Demas & Artemis Roehrig, ill. John Sandford

doesfiddlercrab

Dorothea’s Eyes by Barb Rosenstock, ill. Gerard DuBois

dorotheaseyes

Elizabeth Started All the Trouble by Doreen Rappaport, ill. Matt Faulkner

elizabethstarted

Gabe: A Story of Me, My Dog, and the 1970s by Shelley Gill, ill. Marc Scheff

Gabe1

Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution by Jonathan Tweet, ill. Karen Lewis

grandmotherfish1

Growing Peace: A Story of Farming, Music, and Religious Harmony by Richard Sobol

growingpeace

If this hasn’t appeared on a list before it’s only because I’ve never found a place to slot it.  Though it has elements of biography to it, it’s mostly about sustainable farming, overcoming religious differences, and working together.  And since I never made a peace and global studies list (next year?) it shall go here instead.

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How Cities Work by James Gulliver Hancock

howcities

Very keen.  It’s a good book to use if you want to describe to a kid how cities form, what they contain, their problems, their solutions, and their future.  Lots of lift-the-flap elements as well.

One note – if you’re buying this book for your system through Baker & Taylor, they’ll have a warning note attached saying that there are small parts and that it’s not appropriate for children under the age of three.  They sometimes will put this warning on books with small lift-the-flap flaps.  I personally think the book is safe, but you may be strict in your policies.  FYI.

How Much Does a Ladybug Weigh? by Alison Limentani

howmuchladybug

I Am NOT a Dinosaur! by Will Lach, ill. Jonny Lambert

notdino

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy, ill. Elizabeth Baddeley

idissent

The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton by Audrey Vernick, ill. Steven Salerno

kiddiamond

Lift Your Light a Little Higher: The Story of Stephen Bishop: Slave-Explorer by Heather Henson, ill. Bryan Collier

liftyourlight

Martin Luther “Here I Stand” by Geraldine Elschner, translated by Kathryn Bishop

martinluther

The Marvelous Thing That Came from a Spring: The Accidental Invention of the Toy That Swept the Nation by Gilbert Ford

marvelousthingspring

Since the book is focused far more on the invention than the inventor, I couldn’t really put it on the biographical list.  So for all that it’s fun and funny and interesting and beautiful (really beautiful) I’ve had to wait until now to put it on any lists.  That said, it was worth the wait.

Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus by John Hendrix

MiracleMan

My Book of Birds by Geraldo Valerio

mybookbirds

Natumi Takes the Lead: The True Story of an Orphan Elephant Who Finds Family by Gerry Ellis with Amy Novesky

natumitakeslead

The Navajo Code Talkers by J. Patrick Lewis, ill. Gary Kelley

navajocode

Olinguito, from A to Z! / Olinguito, de la A a la Z! by Lulu Delacre

OLINGUITO

Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London, ill. Meilo So

ottersplay

Pink Is for Blobfish: Discovering the World’s Perfectly Pink Animals by Jess Keating, ill. David DeGrand

pinkblobfish

A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day by Andrea Davis Pinkney, ill. Lou Fancher & Steve Johnson

poempeter

The Polar Bear by Jenni Desmond

polarbear

Prairie Dog Song by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore

prairiedogsong

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

Radiant Child

The Secret Subway by Shana Corey, ill. Red Nose Studio

secretsubway

She Stood for Freedom: The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland by Loki Mulholland & Angela Fairwell, ill. Charlotta Janssen

shestoodfreedom

A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent by Anne Rockwell, ill. Floyd Cooper

spycalledjames

Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness by Donna Janell Bowman, ill. Daniel Minter

steprightup

Ticktock Banneker’s Clock by Shana Keller, ill. David C. Gardner

ticktock

The Toad by Elise Gravel

toad

The Tudors: Kings, Queens, Scribes, and Ferrets! by Marcia Williams

tudors

Under Earth / Under Water by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski

underearthwater

When Grandma Gatewood Took a Hike by Michelle Houts, ill. Erica Magnus

whengrandma

Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, ill. Don Tate

whoosh

Whose Eye Am I? by Shelley Rotner

whoseeye1

The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon by Meghan McCarthy

wildestraceever

The William Hoy Story by Nancy Churnin, ill. Jez Tuya

williamhoy

You Never Heard of Casey Stengel?! by Jonah Winter, ill. Barry Blitt

younevercasey


 

Interested in the other lists of the month? Here’s the schedule so that you can keep checking back:

December 1 – Board Books

December 2 – Board Book Adaptations

December 3 – Nursery Rhymes

December 4 – Picture Book Readalouds

December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books

December 6 – Alphabet Books

December 7 – Funny Picture Books

December 8 – Calde-Nots

December 9 – Picture Book Reprints

December 10 – Math Picture Books

December 11 – Bilingual Books

December 12 – International Imports

December 13 – Books with a Message

December 14 – Fabulous Photography

December 15 – Fairy Tales / Folktales

December 16 – Oddest Books of the Year

December 17 – Older Picture Books

December 18 – Easy Books

December 19 – Early Chapter Books

December 20 – Graphic Novels

December 21 – Poetry

December 22 – Fictionalized Nonfiction

December 23 – American History

December 24 – Science & Nature Books

December 25 – Transcendent Holiday Titles

December 26 – Unique Biographies

December 27 – Nonfiction Picture Books

December 28 – Nonfiction Chapter Books

December 29 – Novel Reprints

December 30 – Novels

December 31 – Picture Books

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2016

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2016 nonfiction picture books31 days 31 listsBest Books of 2016nonfiction picture books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Judy says

    December 31, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    Will heaven include a library of great children’s books and all the time needed to read them? Your list today is fantastic. My favorite, chosen simply because of the memory I will always associate with this title, is I Dissent. Never in my life would I have imagined a Supreme Court Justice ( and a sitting President) publicly denouncing the Republican nominee for President of the United States. Appropriate? Effective? Trump still “won” the election. What is appropriate and effective, in my opinion, is that choice to speak up, no matter the consequences, can be a model for my own behavior. There is potential that the Trump “earthquake” will in time be seen as the catalyst for greater good than any of us can imagine.

Trackbacks

  1. The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring making more Best of 2016 lists « News says:
    December 27, 2016 at 11:55 am

    […] also made Betsy Bird’s Fuse 8 list for best nonfiction of 2016 and can be seen HERE. It was great to see my illustrator friends Fiona Robinson, James Gulliver […]

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