Best Children’s Books of 2016

written and illustrated by Henry Cole. Peachtree Publishers, 271 pp., $16.95.
Sammy the mouse is perfectly happy living a quiet life with his human, Hank. But Hank’s older brother wants to send Sammy aloft in a remote-controlled airplane. When the plane crashes in the Great Woods, Sammy has no way to return home. With a little help from his new friends—another mouse, an injured crow, a crabby newt, a hungry shrew, and a raccoon with engineering skills—Sammy fixes his broken plane and escapes the clutches of Mustela, an evil weasel. Ages 8-12.