Incredible New Nonfiction Children’s Books, March 2025

Little Robin’s Book of Birds written and illustrated by Yuval Zommer (ages 1 – 4)
BIRDS
Follow Little Robin throughout one day as she finds other birds like hummingbirds, flamingos, and owls. With delicate illustrations, onomatopoeia, and a sweet morning-to-night arc, this will be a new favorite read aloud that introduces children to different kinds of birds.

Also read: Little Bee’s Book of Blooms

In the Desert written by David Elliot, illustrated by Gordy Wright
POETRY / DESERT BIOME
In this book of poetry about the Sahara, read short poems about a desert horned viper, fennec fox, deathstalker scorpion, and more desert animals. It’s a lyrical, engaging way to learn.

Pine Cone Regrown How One Species Thrives After Fire written by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Kevin & Kristen Howdeshell
FIRE / ENVIRONMENT
Fire can be scary, but this book about a pine cone shows us the possibility of hope after a natural disaster like fire. Lyrical, verby, and evocative, the fire’s heat makes the simple pine cone burst open and drop its seeds. After the fire, those seeds grow into new trees. Powerful writing will pull you in.

Salamander Song written by Ginny Neil, illustrated by Charli Vince
REPTILES
From autumn and winter, the vibrant illustrations show a class of school children playing and learning while a little salamander curls up in its underground hole. Exquisite illustrations plus image-filled writing with lots of onomatopoeia enchant as we watch the salamanders in the spring. “While water slips, DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! into the deep and tickles the salamander out of its sleep.” The salamander loves rain. The school children help the salamanders cross a busy road safely to their pool. Highly recommended.

Painting Wonder How Pauline Baynes Illustrated the Worlds of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien written and illustrated by Katie Wray Schon
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
I love the way the text and illustrations complement each other in a whimsical, atmospheric way to tell the story of Pauline Baynes. (With just the perfect amount of text.) As an adult, her artwork of dragons caught the attention of writers Tolkien and Lewis. Pauline painted pictures for Lewis and drew maps for both writers.

Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead written by Brooke Hartman, illustrated by Maria Garcia
ANIMALS
Like the subject of this book (cute animals), the illustrations are ADORABLE. Read about each cute but dangerous animal and learn what makes them dangerous. For example, slow lorises have poisonous fur and a venomous bite, and platypuses have venom that is lethal to small animals. I think kids will LOVE this book. The publisher, Sourcebooks, sent me three playing cards with different animals– and, no surprise, they’re super cute!

All About Brains A Book About People written by Lake Bell, illustrated by Rachel Katstaller
NEURODIVERSITY
At school, Nova shares what makes her unique –epilepsy, which she calls brain sparkles. Very kid friendly, right? The students in her class also share how they’re unique, sometimes the things they do and like, but also their neurodiversity, like dyslexia, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and OCD. The book is long (48 pages), so you might break up the read aloud into different sessions.

If I Could Choose a Best Day Poems of Possibility selected by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Olivia Sua
POETRY
Poetry crafted with precise, sensory language and vivid imagery shares the possibilities of our lives. The poems are thoughtful and inspiring, sure to engage readers’ hearts and minds. I can also imagine using any of these poems as mentor poems to inspire poetry writing. My favorite poets have contributed to this new anthology, including Nikki Grimes, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Georgia Heard, and Nancy Tupper Ling!

Meet the Mini-Mammals A Night at the Natural History Museum written by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Brian Lies
ANIMALS
Mammals can be small and this book features the mini-mammals as if they’re in a museum exhibit. Each animal gets a two-page spread with information about them and two beautiful (framable) illustrations with the question asking if the featured mammal is the mini-est mammal of all. At first, I was surprised that the question wasn’t answered. But wait until the last page and the question is answered with the smallest mammal of them all.

We Are the Wibbly! A Tadpole’s Tail written by Sarah Tagholm, illustrated by Jane McGuinness
AMPHIBIANS
A delightful read aloud about the tadpole-to-frog journey and the scariness and excitement of change! A tadpole in the wibbly (a group of eggs) narrates the panic of growing and changing in hilarious kid language as it becomes longish, grows things out the side, and does air-swimming. “Oh my crikeys!”

The Spider Lady Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army written by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Anne Lambelet
SCIENTIST BIOGRAPHY
How do you feel about spiders? Love them or hate them, you will be astounded by this scientist who not only studied spiders but let them live inside her home — everywhere. She wanted to find a way to harvest the strongest silk that the military could use on crosshairs on rifles. Well written but very long– 48 pages.

A Book of Maps for You written by Lourdes Heuer, illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III
MAPS
Every child needs this book– because map reading is a skill, but also it’s SO fun, and kids love maps! Start with the map of a town and continue to maps of the neighborhood, stores, your house, and the sky, plus a pirate map and maze, this book gives readers so much to pour over. Some maps are three-dimensional from a front perspective, and some are 2D from an overhead perspective.

Everything You Know About Bugs (And Other Tiny Creatures) Is Wrong! written by Dr. Nick Crumpton, illustrated by Gavin Scott
BUGS
This oversized book is packed full of information. Two-page spreads debunk common myths. Filled with art and text, you’ll learn that centipedes don’t have 100 legs, only some beetles are carnivores, and some spiders don’t catch their prey in webs.

Insectarium written by Dave Goulson, illustrated by Emily Carter
INSECTS
This bug-filled tome is GIGANTIC– and I love it! Each two-page spread has an earthy oversized illustration that looks like it came from a museum, with facts on the other side, including the labels to the illustration.