Sonderbooks Children's Nonfiction Index

Children's Nonfiction

Within each category, the books are arranged by rating, with the most recent reviews first.
Click on the book title below to read the complete review.

The Arts

****Unlikely Pairs, by Bob Racza

****A Book About Design, by Mark Gonyea

****Under the Spell of the Moon
****Show; Don't Tell! by Josephine Nobisso, illustrated by Eva Montanari

****My Art Class, by Nellie Shepherd

****The Pot That Juan Built, by Nancy Andrews-Goebel. Pictures by David Diaz

***See the City, by Matteo Pericoli

***Degas and the Dance, by Susan Goldman Rubin
***Look! Zoom in on Art, by Gillian Wolfe
***Footnotes, by Frank Augustyn and Shelley Tanaka

**The Yellow House, by Susan Goldman Rubin

Biography

****The Wand in the Word, compiled and edited by Leonard S. Marcus
****Through the Tempests Dark and Wild, by Sharon Darrow, illustrated by Angela Barrett

****Thura's Diary, by Thura Al-Windawi

****A Life Like Mine

****Helen Keller: A Determined Life, by Elizabeth MacLeod

****Wilma Unlimited, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by David Diaz

****Ben Franklin's Almanac, by Candace Fleming
****Open Your Eyes, edited by Jill Davis

****When Marian Sang, by Pamela Munoz Ryan. Pictures by Brian Selznick

***The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen, by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Dennis Nolan

***Mother Teresa, by Demi

***Gargoyles, Girders, and Glass Houses, by Bo Zaunders, illustrated by Roxie Munro
***On Writing for Children and Other People, by Julius Lester
***The Voice That Challenged a Nation, by Russell Freedman

***The King and the Castle: Neuschwanstein, by Peter O. Kruckmann

***Strange Mr. Satie, by M. T. Anderson, illustrated by Petra Mathers

***Confucius: The Golden Rule, by Russell Freedman, illustrated by Frédéric Clément

***Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer, by Robert Byrd

***Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Illustrated by Mary Azarian

***Harvesting Hope, by Kathleen Krull. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales

***Things Will Never Be the Same, by Tomie dePaola

***Beatrix, by Jeannette Winter

***Talkin' About Bessie, by Nikki Grimes. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis

***Rabble Rousers, by Cheryl Harness

***To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers, by Wendie Old. Illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker

***We Are the Many, by Doreen Rappaport. Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Wu

***A Library for Juana, by Pat Mora. Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal

***So You Want To Be an Inventor? by Judith St. George. Illustrated by David Small

***Carver: A Life in Poems, by Marilyn Nelson

***Across a Dark and Wild Sea, by Don Brown

***Take Command, Captain Farragut! by Peter and Connie Roop

***I Am a Skater, as photographed by Jane Feldman

***Shakespeare, by Peter Chrisp
***Triumph of the Imagination: The Story of Writer J. K. Rowling, by Lisa A. Chippendale

***J. R. R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created The Lord of the Rings, by Michael Coren

***The Brothers Grimm, by Donald R. Hettinga

***To Be a Princess, by Hugh Brewster and Laurie Coulter

***Conversations with J. K. Rowling, by Lindsey Fraser

***The Kid Who Invented the Trampoline, by Don L. Wulffson

**The Making of a Writer, by Joan Lowery Nixon

Folklore and Literature

****The Princess and the White Bear King, retold by Tanya Robyn Batt, illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli

****Dr. Ernest Drake's Dragonology
****Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion, written and compiled by Eric A. Kimmel

****Journeys With Elijah, by Barbara Diamond Goldin. Paintings by Jerry Pinkney
****Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales

***Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp, retold by Philip Pullman

***The Bremen Town Musicians and Other Animal Tales from Grimm, retold by Doris Orgel, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
***Gilgamesh the Hero, by Geraldine McCaughrean

***Tales from Shakespeare, by Tina Packer

***William Shakespeare's Hamlet, retold by Bruce Coville, illustrated by Leonid Gore

***Once Upon a Starry Night, by Jacqueline Mitton and Christina Balit

***Tales from the Odyssey, by Mary Pope Osborne
***Mightier Than the Sword, collected and told by Jane Yolen

***William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, retold by Bruce Coville. Illustrated by Tim Raglin

***The Wonders of Donal O'Donnell, by Gary Schmidt. Illustrated by Loren Long

***The Barefoot Book of Knights, by John Matthews

***Behold. . . the Unicorns! by Gail Gibbons

Fun

****The Milestones Project, photographs by Dr. Richard Steckel and Michele Steckel

****String Games, by Richard Darsie
***Let's Sign, by Kelly Ault, illustrated by Leo Landry

***Can You See What I See? Dream Machine, by Walter Wick

***C D C? by William Steig

***"It Was a Dark and Silly Night..." edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly

***Princess Lessons, by Meg Cabot

***Birthdays Around the World, by Mary D. Lankford. Illustrated by Karen Dugan

***Chickens May Not Cross the Road and Other Crazy (But True) Laws, by Kathi Linz

**Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What Is an Adverb? by Brian P. Cleary. Illustrated by Brian Gable

**Imagine You're a Fairy, by Meg and Lucy Clibbon

History

****The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein
****911: The Book of Help, edited by Michael Cart
****Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage, by Plimouth Plantation

****George Washington's Teeth, by Deborah Chandra & Madeleine Comora. Pictures by Brock Cole

***My Librarian Is a Camel, by Margriet Ruurs

***Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics, by Sue Macy

***The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence, by Judith St. George, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

***Stephen Biesty's Castles, written by Meredith Hooper

***Brave Dogs, Gentle Dogs: How They Guard Sheep, by Cat Urbigkit

***Walking the Bible, by Bruce Feiler

***Buildings in Disguise, by Joan Marie Arbogast

***Parthenon, by Lynn Curlee

***If the Walls Could Talk, by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Gary Hovland

***Castles and Forts, by Simon Adams

***Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press, by Bruce Koscielniak

***Ms Frizzle's Adventures: Medival Castle, by Joanna Cole. Illustrated by Bruce Degen
***Climbing Everest, by Audrey Salkeld

***Rome in Spectacular Cross-Section, by Stephen Biesty

***DK Eyewitness Guides: World War I, by Simon Adams

***DK Eyewitness Guides: Islam, by Philip Wilkinson

***Capital, by Lynn Curlee

***Don't Know Much About the Kings & Queens of England, by Kenneth C. Davis

***Fireboat, by Maira Kalman

***American Revolution, by Stuart Murray
***33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women’s History, edited by Tonya Bolden

***Black Potatoes, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
***After the Holocaust, by Howard Greenfeld

***1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving, by Catherine O'Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac
***Feed the Children First, edited by Mary E. Lyons

**Anne Frank in the World, compiled by the Anne Frank House
**Remember Pearl Harbor, by Thomas B. Allen

Mathematics

****1000 Play Thinks, by Ivan Moskovich

****The Best of Times, by Greg Tang

***Math Potatoes, by Greg Tang, illustrated by Harry Briggs

***If Dogs Were Dinosaurs, by David M. Schwartz, illustrated by James Warhola

***Piece = Part = Portion: Fractions = Decimals = Percents, by Scott Gifford. Photos by Shmuel Thaler

***Mathematicians Are People, Too: Volume Two, by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer

***Mathematicians Are People, Too, by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer

***Math-terpieces, by Greg Tang. Illustrated by Greg Paprocki

***Millions to Measure, by David M. Schwartz. Pictures by Steven Kellogg

***Math Appeal, by Greg Tang. Illustrated by Harry Briggs

Poetry

****Poetry Speaks to Children, edited by Elise Paschen

****A Kick in the Head, selected by Paul B. Janeszko, illustrated by Chris Raschka

****Corn Chowder: Poems by James Stevenson

****The Spider and the Fly, by Mary Howitt. Illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi

****Casey at the Bat, by Ernest L. Thayer. Illustrated by C. F. Payne

***Once Upon a Poem

***Song of Creation, by Paul Goble

***If Not for the Cat, haiku by Jack Prelutsky, paintings by Ted Rand

***If the Shoe Fits, by Laura Whipple
***Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood, by Veronica Chambers
***F E G: Ridiculous Poems for Intelligent Children, by Robin Hirsch
***Wham! It’s a Poetry Jam, by Sara Holbrook

Science

****The Future of the Earth, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, adapted by Robert Burleigh

****Actual Size, by Steve Jenkins

****DK Revealed: Human Body, by Dr. Sue Davidson and Ben Morgan

***Into the Volcano, by Donna O'Meara

***Poop, by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Neal Layton

***Everything Dolphin, by Marty Crisp
***The Kids' Book of Clouds and Sky, by Frank Staub

***Escape from Earth, by Peter Ackroyd

***Eyes and Ears, by Seymour Simon

***Horse & Pony Breeds, by Sandy Ransford

***Destination: Space, by Seymour Simon

***Kitchen Science, by Chris Maynard

***DK Guide to the Human Body, by Richard Walker

= Available at Sembach Library

Sonder is a German prefix meaning "special."

Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund