Educational (And Fun!) Nonfiction Books

From encyclopedias to biographies, nonfiction additions to your home library make for great learning–and fun–at all ages. In Episode 29 we share some of the reasons we love a well-curated nonfiction collection, recommendations for capturing kids’ natural interest through nonfiction books, tips for reluctant readers, and more. Plus, as always, we share what we’re reading and what YOU’re reading. Join us!

• Don’t overlook picture books that tell a true story as an entry into nonfiction. We love:
  • Everything by Emma Bland Smith, but especially Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West and Odin, Dog Hero of the Fires
  • Raise Your Hand! by Alice Paul Tapper
• Visual encyclopedias like Smithsonian’s Animal!, Dinosaur!, and anything from the DK / Smithsonian partnership (we’re eyeing the Human Body! one, and we also own/love Timelines of Everything)
• Multi-topic compilation fact books are a hit in our house, like 5,000 Awesome Facts series
• We mentioned our episode History Through Books, which specifically touches on biographies, history books, and historical fiction
• The Who Is? and Who Was? (and What Is? / What Was?) series is a hit for a reason; we also hear the Netflix adaptation is great!
• For emerging and early readers who prefer nonfiction, we got a lot of mileage out of paperback readers like these from National Geographic or these from Ranger Rick

• Allegra finished the first book in the Twilight series (Common Sense Media review here) and is now reading This Tender Land
• Sarah is still reading Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Dr. Sanjay Gupta

What you’re reading:

Helen emailed to share that her 11-year-old just finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein. She recently read Charlotte’s Web aloud to her six-year-old, followed by The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Helen herself recently loved Homegoing (which Sarah misread as Homecoming – oops!) by Yaa Gyasi.

Email us at hello@kidliteratepodcast.com – we’d love to hear from you!