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Best Kids Books

The Best Fun and Engaging Nonfiction Books For Kids

Be it history, science, or facts about incredible animals, nonfiction books have the power to capture a child’s heart and mind. Why? Because what they’re reading is real. With nonfiction books, you can help your child discover what topics spark their interest while improving motor skills and taking their vocabulary to new heights. (Say, the height of a skyscraper.) Plus, these fun-to-read titles include lots of irresistible extras like stickers, flaps, optical illusions, and more to keep every reader hooked from beginning to end. 

That’s why our literary experts here at Literati put together this list of exciting nonfiction on every topic under the sun, moon, and stars. Whether you’re looking for nonfiction books for 10-year-olds, budding readers, or interactive learners, we’ve got something that’s sure to satisfy your amateur scientist. Or engineer. Or entomologist.

Book cover for First Explorers Night Animals

First Explorers: Night Animals

By Jenny Wren

For diaper-wearing nature lovers, First Explorers: Night Animals encourages fine motor skills while introducing marvelous nocturnal animals. A perfect bedtime read, this sturdy board book invites readers to explore the natural world at night. Beautiful full-color illustrations paint nighttime settings of a farm, meadow, and garden, allowing kids to draw a whole new perspective of the world around them. Interactive flaps, pull-outs, and pop-ups will keep readers ages 0 to 3 engaged as they learn about how owls, foxes, and bats navigate the night. Looking for more ways to build babies’ reading habits early? Check out our tips on reading aloud to babies.

Book cover for The Ultimate Book of Cities

The Ultimate Book of Cities

By Anne-Sophie Baumann

Grocery stores, post offices, and buses may seem like mundane places—but for young readers widening their horizons, they’re part of a brave, new world. If your child is beginning to ask questions like “Where does the mail go?” or “How do traffic lights work?” The Ultimate Book of Cities offers answers. Packed with pop-ups and flaps that give kids a sneak peek inside buildings and even underground, every page interactively explores the inner workings of a city. For 5- to 8-year-olds beginning to read independently, each page contains new vocabulary words and context clues to help decipher them.

Book cover for This is Not a Science Book

This is Not a Science Book

By Clive Gifford

Looking for a book to get older kids off their electronics and onto hands-on activities? Look no further! This is Not a Science Book is one of our favorite nonfiction books for 10-year-olds to 12-year-olds. (But a word to the wise: older siblings and parents will want to get in on the fun, too.) Grab a pencil and get ready for brain-teasers, visual puzzles, experiments, and optical illusions. Hand your child this book on your next long car ride—and don’t be surprised if they don’t look up for a few hours. Once they do, give your junior scientist some fiction to mix it up from our list of best sci-fi books for 4th and 5th graders.

Book cover for Big Sticker Book of Bugs

The Big Sticker Book of Bugs

By Yuval Zommer

Artistic yet informational, The Big Sticker Book of Bugs brings a creative, sticky twist to learning. Guided by Freddy the Fly, readers from Kindergarten and up can color, decorate, and arrange bug stickers across different habitats. Find drawing activities and insect facts with vocabulary for readers who are beginning to sound out words on their own. And don’t shriek with fear! This book is not single-use. All 500 stickers are reusable, allowing for endless bug arrangements and discoveries. Whether you have an insect-lover or a not-so-fond-of-creepy-crawlies kiddo, this interactive sticker book is too engaging to resist.

Book cover of Maze Quest History

Maze Quest History: Travel Through Time

By Anna Brett

For George and his pup Milly, it’s just a normal day at the Natural History Museum—until they’re suddenly rocketed into the past! To get home, they’ll need the reader’s help. Your little historian must take to the helm and help George and Milly navigate time itself. With over 48 mazes to solve, this interactive book sprinkles historical facts across several time periods, from ancient Egypt to the American Civil War. Perfect for readers ages 7 and up who are reading independently and love to share facts they’ve learned from books.

Build Imaginations and Confidence With Literati Book Clubs

The best nonfiction gives kids a glimpse into the fascinating, surprising, and exciting world outside their bedroom windows. As a Literati Kids book club member, you’ll never run out of amazing nonfiction books for 10-year-olds, pre-K, and early elementary schoolers—or any other reading level, for that matter.

Whether your child wants to dive into the mysteries of the deep, dig into the past, or blast off into space, Literati is here to help them reach their fullest academic potential. Just take our quick personalization quiz to tell us more about your reader’s interests and reading level, and we’ll send a selection of books they’re sure to fall in love with. Get your young reader started on a real reading adventure today.

Authored by Charlie DeTar
November 17, 2022

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