18 New Nonfiction Books, December 2024
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Hold on to your hats because I have so many great nonfiction books to share with you today!
New Nonfiction Books, December 2024
Christmas Puzzles Deluxe Highlights Hidden Pictures
Full color with eye-popping artwork, kids can search for objects in the many winter and Christmas themed pictures. But that’s not all! There are spot the differences, stickers, and directions for Christmas crafts. If my kids were younger, they would LOVE this. Highly recommended.
Alfie Explores A to Z A Seek & Find Adventure written and illustrated by Jeff Drew 
SEEK AND FIND
This is an exceptional book that will enchant readers on every level filled with stunning art and alliterative, rhyming poems. Each letter gets a two page spread. One page is full of imagery beginning with that letter, the opposite page shows the poem of words that mostly start with that letter and are found in the illustration. (“A longhorn lounges in long johns.“) Search for Alfie, the bookworm, and Betty, the dust bunny, on every page, too.
Narwhal Unicorn of the Arctic written by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Deena So’oteh
OCEAN ANIMAL
Learn about the life of a narhwal written in second person point of view with you as a male narwhal. You cross tusks with another male, your scars showing you’ve done it before. Around you is the Arctic with its shrieking wind and glowing sky and are other narwhals. You use clicks to find food under the water. Then, you migrate, swimming and diving near hundreds of others, including mothers with calves. You barely escape a frozen-over ocean and a predator before you find a way out and travel back to your winter home. At 48 pages, this is a longer picture book than most. Beautiful, blue illustrations.
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight For Free Speech to the Supreme Court written by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gómez
BIOGRAPHY
This biographical story with beautiful writing and meaningful repetition will prompt many important discussions with children about words, racism, and free speech. Simon Tan named his Asian-membered punk band after a word that he wanted to rebrand–“Slant”– a derogatory word he wanted to become something powerful instead. He fought the Trade and Patent Office’s denial for eight years, taking his petition all the way to the Supreme Court. Strong imagery in muted colors gives the story a retro feel.
Who Knew? The Wonders of Biomimicry written and photographed by Kathleen E. Madden
STEM
From bats who inspired robots to polar bear fur that inspired a space travel material, this fascinating book shares interesting inventions that used nature for inspiration. Full color photographs accompany about two paragraphs of informational text elaborating on the natural element and the invention.
Bounce! A Scientific History of Rubber written by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen
STEM
The bounciness of the balls in the Americas impressed the Europeans, as did the ball games. The reason for the bounce? Rubber plants. Soon, rubber became used in other inventions, including erasers, boots, balloons, and more. The only problem? Rubber got sticky in the heat and brittle in the cold so manufacturers abandoned it until someone famous figured out how to solve that problem and the world started a new production of rubber inventions like sneakers and bike riding. Informational spreads explain the science of why rubber is stretchy, bouncy, how it can be molded, and so forth. Fascinating information from front to back with back matter and a bibliography.
Snake Milker and Other Animal Jobs written by Stepanka Sekaninova, illustrated by Jakub Cenkl
CAREERS
This illustrated book shares some of the hundreds of jobs involving animals beyond being a vet. From animal bodyguard to dog fashion designer to pet psychologist, these are fun, niche jobs. Each job is written as a job advertisement for interested applicants with reviews from customers, animal endorsements, and/or descriptions.
Do Fish Go Fishing? How Animals Eat written by Petra Bartikova, illustrated by Katarina Macurova
ANIMALS
Busy cartoon illustrations are packed full of facts about how different animals eat, plus silly dialogue and text in all capital letters. How do platypuses eat? How about moose? Kids will learn about eleven animals and their diets, biomes, and other eating habits.
Cut, Paste, and Create Highlights Christmas
Want a Christmas craft book? This activity book includes matching puzzles, snowflakes, snow globes, ornaments and more — all that you will cut, paste, and sometimes color.
My First Guide to Space written by Camilla De La Bedoyere, illustrated by Aaron Cushely
SPACE
Oversized, illustrated, and fun to read, this space book covers it all from what is space to galaxies, the solar system, space travel, and space words.
WORK Interviews with People Doing Jobs They Love written by Shaina Feinberg, illustrated by Julia Rothman
CAREERS
Illustrations and an appealing layout will draw readers in to the fascinating jobs of different people around the world. What kind of jobs will you read about? Jobs like toy shop owners in the Brox, a candlestick maker in Ireland, a playwright in Japan, a muralist in India, Vegan Butchers in Minnesota, and a ferry captain in Germany.
An Animal a Day 365 Amazing Animals to Take You Through the Year written by Miranda Smith, illustrated by Kaja Kajfez, Santiago Calle, Mateo Markov, and Max Rambaldi
ANIMALS
Would your animal-loving kids want to read about one animal each day from January 1st to December 31st? Each date gives you a new animal to learn about, an informational paragraph, an illustration, and other facts like diet, location, and status. March 1st is the Maned Wolf from South America. June 13th is the Tokay Gecko from southeastern Asia with a strong bite that can regrow its tail. Gift idea?
Cluedle The Case of the Dumpleton Diamond written by Hartigan Browne
ACTIVITY BOOK
Readers are going to love the cheeky narrative voice of Hartigan Browne who wants to recruit YOU to his detective agency because there are SO many mysteries to be solved. Each case has a short description of the mystery, but to solve it, you must do the puzzles–puzzles like mazes, crosswords, codes, visual comparisons, coordinate searches, and more. Also read Cluedle The Case of the Golden Pomegranate.
Rube Goldberg’s Big Book of Building written by Ed Steckley, Jennifer George, Zach Umperovitch
ENGINEERING
A must-own for homeschoolers, parents who love learning activities at home, and STEAM teachers, this is such a great book for learning about simple machines and energy with clear directions, captivating illustrations (often funny), and fun facts. With five levels of difficulty, build the 25 machines in the book with these six tools: duct tape, scissors, string, hot glue/glue sticks, a surge protector, and zip ties. Make machines whose tasks include sweeping the floor, putting on a band-aid, putting money in a bank, and pouring a bowl of cereal. Doesn’t this sound fun?
The Kids’ Book of Craft Love written by Irene Smit & Astrid Van Der Hulst
ACTIVITY BOOK
Your kids won’t be able to resist this big book of FUN crafts and activities. Cut and fold, sticker, build, loop, construct, decorate, and more! I LOVE this book because it’s filled with cards, stickers, coloring pages, lots of papers to punch out, fold, or cut, all to make over 75 crafty projects! Projects include puppets, a rainbow paper chain, origami butterflies, and leaf rubbings. The only thing I don’t like is there isn’t a table of contents or glossary so it’s a bit tricky to pick a project without looking through the whole book.
The Astronaut’s Guide to Leaving the Planet written by Terry Virts, illustrated by Andres Lozano
ASTRONAUT CAREER / SPACE
Part biography of the author and part history and part space travel information, this will be a hit with readers who love space and might be interested in astronaut as a career. Organized into sections beginning with early space travel to life in space and training, this well-designed guide is full of photos, illustrations, and interesting facts.
The Ultimate Book of Would You Rather Questions written by Kimberly McLeod
ACTIVITY / GAME
Take this little book with you to restaurants, car rides, waiting rooms, or anywhere — even the dinner table. The questions are organized by categories like historical, clothes, animals, and food. For example: Would you rather never have ice cream again or never have pizza again? Kids love these!
Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook for Kids written by David Borgenicht and Justin Heimberg, illustrated by Wenke Kramp
SURVIVAL TIPS
When I ran into a real live BEAR on a hike, I decided I’d read all the Worst-Case Scenario Handbooks to help me in any other crazy, dangerous scenarios. I mean, you never know, right? This little guidebook will help you learn what to do to survive worst-case scenarios in the sea, mountains, desert, jungle, arctic, and safari. Perfect for if you’re stuck in quicksand, or on a runaway camel, or stung by a jellyfish. Easy to read, well organized, and illustrations make this an essential guidebook for EVERYONE. Especially us worst case scenario people who feel calmer when we are prepared.
