Home | All Board Books, Fiction Picture Books, and Nonfiction Picture Books
The non-fiction picture book One Night in the Coral Sea by Sneed B. Collard III (illustrated by Robin Brickman; Hyperion, 2006) tells about the yearly spawning of coral. Brickman’s three-dimensional painted paper illustrations make this book stand out in the pile. But also Collard’s detail about the mass spawning of the coral in the world …
The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung (illustrated by Hanna Cha; Henry Holt & Company, 2023) captures two different dragon traditions with rich illustrations depicting each culture’s tradition in a style reminiscent of the culture. Leung picture book is told from the grandmother’s perspectives, as if telling the child the story. The distinct shift between …
Spring Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow (Grimms Smith, 2019) is a refreshing spring book. The book’s focus is two-fold. First there are light, black-and-white line illustrations and a simply rhyming text. In this, the author-illustrator shows children going for a nature walk in a garden with Grammy. Then, in the foreground on each page is …
Living Things and Nonliving Things: A Compare and Contrast Book by Kevin Kurtz (Arbordale Publishing, 2017) is an early nonfiction picture book for the youngest readers. It features real photographs and minimal text with lots of nonfiction facts about what makes living things different from nonliving things. Lots of white space and bright, up-to-date illustrations …
How Mountains Are Made by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfelt (illustrated by James Graham Hale; Harper Collins, 1995) is a Lets-Read-and-Find-Out book (Level 2). The books in this picture book informational science series are sometimes uneven, but this one hits the mark for teaching many concepts with a friendly frame. In How Mountains Are Made, the facts …
Dear Earth: From Your Friends In Room 5 by Erin Dealy (illustrated Luisa Uribe; Harper Collins, 2020) is an inspiring environmental activism picture book told through a series of letters between the students in room five of a school and the earth (who receives the letters through the wind). The students tell how they have …
Courage Like Kate: The True Story of a Girl Lighthouse Keeper by Anna Crowley Redding (illustrated by Emily Sutton; Random House 2022) is based on the true story of Kate Moore, the first official female lighthouse keeper. In order to help her father, young Kate takes care of the lighthouse for him. Illustrations are created …
I’m always excited to find picture books that would work well as writing prompts for elementary school kids, so I was extra excited to find Ten-Word Tiny Tales: To Inspire and Unsettle by Joseph Coelho (Candlewick, 2023). This volume has stories that are each, as the title suggests, just ten-words long. With a variety of …
With a rhythm and rhyme of just a few syllables per page, Bloom Boom by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane Books, 2019) provides not just a simple read-aloud for young children but also a great book of inspiration for finding flowers and other blooming plants that one enjoys. This book of flower photography is a …
Oscar and the Bird: A Book about Electricity by Geoff Waring (Candlewick Press, 2011) has a fictional frame for an otherwise instructional book about electricity basics. The fictional animal characters makes an otherwise difficult concept easy to approach. When Oscar the cat accidently turns on the windshield wipers on the tractor, a bird explains to …
As the title suggests, Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari (illustrated by Diana Sudyka; Beach Lane Books, 2023) is a nonfiction picture book focusing on the growth, spread, and purpose of fungi through the world. With realistic illustrations, a variety of fonts, and both a storyline and sidebar facts, this picture book provides a welcome and …
Because of an Acorn by Lola and Adam Schaefer (Chronicle Books, 2016; illustrated by Fran Preston-Gannon) has pretty pictures and simple text to show the connection between an acorn growing and the other types of life surrounding it. Birds, fruit, deer, chipmunks, and other animals all are able to live. They also contribute to adding …
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