Children’s Nonfiction for the animal-obsessed

If you have ever tried to use the Dewey Decimal System to find a nonfiction book at the library, you may have noticed that the collection is often not evenly divided across the categories. In Youth Services, there is a reason the animal section (the 590s) spans so many shelves. For many kids, a book about a favorite animal or a reference material filled to the brim with unusual facts and pictures can capture their attention for hours. At Peter White, we are constantly adding new animal books to our juvenile nonfiction collection. Here are just a few recent absorbing options.

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic by Candace Fleming

After inviting readers to imagine “you are a narwhal”, this picture book wastes no time answering questions about the animal’s most obviously unique feature: its long tusk. As the narwhal, readers are immediately immersed in a quick joust before continuing along in the Arctic Ocean, where they learn about the importance of evading predators while finding breathing holes through the ice. A dramatic fold-out section underscores the impressive dives narwhals are capable of making. If it seems like this book effortlessly conveys a wealth of information, it is because the readers are in the skilled hands of Candace Fleming, an award-winning nonfiction writer.

The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Caves by Lindsey Leigh

Best for independent readers, The Dark! thoughtfully breaks down foundational concepts about life within caves, before offering a more in-depth look at cave animals and notable caves from around the world. The playful illustrations with speech bubbles do not detract from the information-rich content, because Leigh has a knack for pulling out the facts most likely to grab young readers’ attention, while anticipating their questions. (When introducing a pink salamander known as an olm, for example, she makes sure to offer a comparison to the axolotl.) Readers who enjoy this format might want to check out The Deep!, which is also written by Leigh and explores the adaptations of deep-sea creatures.

Weird and Wonderful Nature by Ben Hoare

If you think your child would be captivated by the spiral egg cases of horn sharks or wood frogs that endure winter in a semi-frozen state, try handing them this hefty book full of similarly fascinating adaptations of the natural world. Beyond animals, the content also covers unique plants, natural phenomena and rocks and minerals. The publisher, DK, specializes in reference materials on many different topics, and excels at creating the types of books that a reader can spend hours flipping through. Many other DK Eyewitness titles are available in Youth Services, and their Reptile, Fossil, and National Parks books are just a few of the other materials in the collection.

An Animal A Day by Miranda Smith

Despite the title, most kids will be tempted to browse this book, flipping through to see if their favorite animals receive a mention. (For the child who is a dinosaur enthusiast instead, the library also has the companion volume: A Dinosaur A Day.) To give the book a little focus, each month has two themed spreads – animals that live near volcanoes, for example, or animals that display mimicry – to highlight the diverse species that can live within an ecosystem or display a trait. One thing to note is that this book exclusively relies upon illustrations to support the text, but some kids prefer their animal reference books to have real photos. For those readers and for the kids who want to understand how species compare to one another, National Geographic’s Animal Encyclopedia by Lucy H. Spelman might be a better fit.

By Meghan LeBoeuf,

Youth Services