18 Nonfiction Books Our Kids Couldn’t Put Down

Shila:  This book acts as an atlas for kids, with easy-to-read, simple road maps, roadside attractions, national parks and more for each state. I like that kids can learn where we're going, and how to map it. The book also includes fun facts & really beautiful pictures. I think this atlas really helps kids soak in all that's great about traveling & being "on the road."

Kristy Pepping:  I remember checking this book out as a child from the school library so I thought this would be a fun nonfiction book for our fifth grader. She likes to learn about real-life events and also tends to like books with images to break up the text. The book's broken up by various categories so kids can flip to a particular section like science or just read through the various records currently held.

Kelly R:  These fun nonfiction books for kids explore matchups between different animals based on facts about their anatomy and behavior, and decide which one would win in a fight. Walrus or elephant seal? Triceratops or spinosaurus? My kids really enjoyed these around second or third grade.

Alexandra F.:  If your kids like collecting and sharing weird or random facts (and I have yet to meet a kid who doesn't!), this will be a fun addition to their bookshelf. The book presents fun facts for kids in list format, often with a silly twist, and they’ll get a kick out of learning things like which 10 dinosaurs were the largest (and how much they weighed in cats) or which 10 breeds of dog are the smartest.

Shila:  An interesting science nonfiction book for kids that shows how much there is to be learned from the unfortunate animals we cross on the side of the road.

Shila:  This Is How We Do It is a lovely picture book that depicts the lives of seven kids from around the world: Peru, Italy, Russia, Uganda, Iran, India, and Japan. Readers get to observe general similarities and differences in homes, family structures, food, culture, sports, and more. Not only is this a great nonfiction book for kids, it is an excellent book that celebrates diversity too.

Alexandra F.:  This isn't your parents' old multi-volume encyclopedia set! A visually captivating collection of interesting facts about the things that fascinate kids - space, bugs, the deep sea, animal facts and so much more - with plenty of infographics, images and lists to capture and maintain their interest!

Kelly R:  A truly funny, informative and amazingly well-researched nonfiction book featuring real science-based answers to ridiculous questions. My 8th grade son read it cover-to-cover in a couple days and still flips back to some of his favorites, like "How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?"

Shila:  A funny spin on travel guides, these nonfiction books for kids share tips for visiting important times in history, like Ancient Rome or the American Revolution.

Alexandra F.:  My 7 year old got this book for his birthday and has loved flipping through it to learn interesting facts about a wide range of topics. The format is perfect for picking up and browsing any time - lots of pictures and lists of short facts.

Shila:  This is one of the best nonfiction books for kids who want to learn more about the first-ever successful moon landing. Others tend to focus primarily on the astronauts and mission control, but this award-winning book pays homage to the greater team. From seamstresses and suit testers to the launch pad engineers, thousands of people worked to achieve this. The book also uses actual photos and vivid imagery from space to bring readers back to that epic mission.

Kristy Pepping:  I find my kids asking Alexa all the time, "who invented what?" So I got this book for my youngest child to focus on reading and to actually get the answers she was seeking without turning to technology. This book talks about how Leonardo da Vinci actually invented many things. For example, bridges, contact lenses and helicopters really all date back to ideas da Vinci had.

Shila:  Tod Olson's Lost is a series of narrative nonfiction books for kids, capturing a set of harrowing true-story survival experiences. From the Amazon to Apollo 13 to a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean during WWII, these are suspenseful page-turners for kids who love to read about life-and-death events and endurance.

Kelly R:  From Andrew Jackson's foul-mouthed parrot to John Quincy Adams' bathtub alligator, this book about the animals that have called the White House home brings our presidents to life in a whole new way. My 3rd and 6th graders both loved it! We enjoy entertaining and fact-heavy nonfiction books for kids like this one that can be picked up for a few minutes at a time to learn something new.

Kelly R:  This is a huge book (I spotted it waiting for me on the holds shelf at the library from across the room) with photos and profiles of the countries of the world from A to Z. The kids and adults in my family have all loved flipping through it, looking at the beautiful photos and learning cool facts about different parts of the world.