Children's Book List: Nonfiction (for kids who HATE nonfiction)

During these Interesting Times, the Children's Department has been hard at work updating our book lists. Whether you're looking for a book on a particular topic (like feeling different) or want to read something similar to that series that you just finished up (and now have that empty, lost feeling), we've probably got a book list for that. You can find the full list of our children's book lists on our website. We've also put all of these awesome lists on Beanstack. If you haven't had a chance to check out Beanstack, you really should. It makes signing up for and monitoring summer reading a breeze! We'll be highlighting some of our book lists in these blog posts throughout the summer. Happy reading!

There is some nonfiction out there (for all age levels) that is great for research, but can be a bit dry for leisure reading. If you've got a kid who doesn't like nonfiction (or you are such a kid), check out some of the most engaging nonfiction books that we've come across this year.

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera
by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann
New York: Neal Porter Books, 2020

Honeybee follows 'Apis', beginning with her chewing her way out of a wax cell 'and into a teeming, trembling flurry. Hummmmm!' We see how she interacts with her sisters, and works seven different jobs in the hive. Gathering nectar is only the last stage in her life. She also cleans the hive, takes care of the larvae and the queen, and more. In her short life, she'll fly 500 miles and visit 30,000 flowers. 



Titan and the Wild Boars: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team

by Susan Hood and Pathana Sornhiran, illustrated by Dow Phumiruk
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019  

On June 23, 2018, young Titan, 11 of his Wild Boar soccer teammates, and their coach set off to explore a local cave in northern Thailand. Outside, monsoon rains began to fall, and the team quickly became trapped. As the water levels rose in the cave, they wondered if they would make it back out.

Yves Klein Painted Everything Blue and Wasn't Sorry.
by Fausto Gilberti
New York City and London: Phaidon Press, 2019 

Gilberti is an award-winning illustrator and author whose children's books have recently been translated into English. Yves Klein Painted Everything Blue and Wasn't Sorry. is a charming biography that follow its subjects with fun illustrations (and lots of blue).