Adult Nonfiction
Cook Korean!: a Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha
This is 80% cookbook in a very attractive and creative format, and 20% info on Korean culture/food with actual graphic novel/comic strip pages.
Target Readers:
- Curious Readers, Foodies, Culture Studiers, Graphic Novel Fans
Random Illustrated Facts: a Collection of Curious, Weird, and Totally Not Boring Things to Know by Mike Lowery
Just what it sounds like, a compendium of random facts about history, animals, food, science, and every day things presented like in an illustrated journal.
Target Readers:
- Bite Size/Short on Time Readers, Graphic Novel Fans, Curious Readers
Seeing Flowers: Discover the Hidden Life of Flowers by Teri Dunn Chace, photos by Robert Llewellyn
Teri Dunn Chace and Robert Llewellyn take readers on a tour of the various flowering plants and the characteristics of the most common families with lively informative text and incredible photographs. Yes, this is a hefty book, but it is mostly lustrous photographs. And you can pick how much or how little of the text you want to read.
Target Readers:
- Photography Fans, Art Lovers, Flower Lovers, Botany Nerds, Casual Gardeners
Vanishing: The World’s Most Vulnerable Animals (Photo Ark) by Joel Sartore
The third book in the Photo Ark project which aims to document living creatures of animals on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List before they disappear. The book both educates on what is causing various animals to become more endangered, what works to help bring them back from the brink, what anybody can do to help make a difference, and bring these animals that need saving to life for readers in vivid photographs. This book focuses on looking at animals that are Ghosts (believed to have recently become extinct or at least extinct in the wild), Disappearing (critically endangered species), Fading (those listed as endangered on the red list), and the Dimming (which highlights vulnerable species, especially those whose numbers have dropped quickly or are success stories of rebounding). Each section starts with 2-4 pages of text and then is primarily full-page photographs of animals with short captions. Occasional quotes from those on the front lines of conservation activities are interspersed. And each chapter highlights one issue that is threatening the numbers of multiple species. All of the Photo Ark books are amazing. And mostly photos, so they are fairly quick reads.
Target Readers:
- Photography Fans, Animal Lovers, Science Buffs
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
If you need to give your mad scientist a little air time, then this is the perfect book for you. It's like Mythbusters on steroids. All the craziest science questions you can think of that Mythbusters could not hope to answer without endangering the entire human race, those are the questions that Munroe explores, attempts to answer with the help of serious mathematical prowess, heavy science know-how, humor, and a touch of just the right kind of slightly-disturbing imagination. Oh, and stick figures to help illustrate. It's a great way to give the science mind a mental workout, and the body a laughter-induced core workout. If you've ever wondered what would happen if all the rain in a thunderstorm came down in one drop of water, or what would happen if you pitched a baseball at 90% the speed of light, this is a book that just might save your life by answering those deep burning questions and reducing the temptation to figure them out by experimentation...which could turn out really, really badly. (If you like this one, Munroe just released his 2nd book How To where he discusses extremely creative ways to do things like move houses (jet engines) or keep ants out of your kitchen (lava moats).)
Target Readers:
- Science Nerds, Math Buffs, Humor Fans, Closet Mad Scientists, Imaginative Readers, Curious Readers
Young Adult Nonfiction
Ain’t Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson
Nelson shares how he was researching the men who worked on the railroad, and that led him to start looking for the real John Henry. There were enough details consistent throughout the various version of the song that suggested people were singing about a real man. He shares about his research process and what he eventually uncovered about a man who worked the railroad named John Henry.
Target Readers:
- Those Studying Researching, History Buffs, Curious Readers, John Henry Legend Fans, Music Lovers, Curious Readers
Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd
Chip Kidd provides an easy-to-read (and understand) guide to the basics of graphic design, how it works on our minds, and what we should be aware of in both seeing it and creating it. At the end of the book are several graphic design project ideas for beginners.
Target Readers:
- Art & Design Lovers, Psychology Studiers, Curious Readers, Smart Consumers
Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
Jarrow relates how the War of the Worlds radio adaptation came about in 1938, how the radio crew thought it was going to bore the audience to tears, how the public responded to the broadcast (both positively and negatively), and then how the actual history of the reaction to this event itself became a piece of fake news and was misrepresented for many years.
Target Readers:
- History Buffs, Drama/Literature Buffs, Those Building Skills to Spot Fake News, Curious Readers
Stronger Than Steel: Spider Silk DNA and the Quest for Better Bulletproof Vests, Sutures, and Parachute Rope (Scientists in the Field) by Bridget Heos, photos by Andy Comins
Goats who produce spider silk? Sounds like something out of a sci-fi book, but Bridget Heos takes reader to meet real live goats with spider silk proteins in their milk and the scientists behind this genetic research. Along the way, readers get to learn about DNA, genetic engineering, spiders, the ways spider silk could benefit society at large, debates about genetically modified organisms, and some other real, live sci-fi-ish creatures.
Target Readers:
- Biology Studiers, Biology Teachers, Informed Consumers, Curious Readers
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales) by Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale gives a broad sweeping overview of the Great War with different animals representing each country. Due to the grand scheme of the tale, Hale only focuses on the main things that led to war and the most important battles.
Target Readers:
- WWI Studiers, History Buffs, Graphic Novel Fans, Reluctant Nonfiction Readers
Middle Grade Nonfiction
Beneath the Waves: a Journey through the World’s Oceans by Lily Murray, ill. by Helen Ahnpornsiri
Learn about creatures that live along the coast, in tide pools, near the shore, and in the deep ocean. There are lots of books on ocean life out there. This distinguishes itself because of Helen Ahpornsiri's amazing, beautiful, unforgettable artwork. She uses all natural materials to make collages that become the ocean life featured. Seaweed becomes lines and anemones, coastal flowers make patterns on fish and birds, and your eyes will not want to stop looking at this beautiful book.
Target Readers:
- Animal Lovers, Art Lovers, Curious Readers
A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano, ill. by Michael Carroll
A crash course in astronomy, the theory of relativity, and really dense matter broken down in such a way that anyone 10 to 100 should be able to understand the concepts.
Target Readers:
- Astronomy Studiers, Science Teachers, Science Nerds, Curious Readers
Sandwiches!: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know about Making and Eating America’s Favorite Food by Alison Deering, ill. by Bob Lentz
Sandwiches is part infographic guide to the history and fun facts of food you happen to find between two slices of bread and part cookbook. The book is divided into five sections, from easiest to assemble at level one to sandwiches that require some prep work in level five. Kitchen safety instructions are provided as you go along with ideas of ingredients to swap out in various sandwiches or dares to try some more out there ingredients on a select few sandwiches for the brave. Whether you’re hungry for knowledge or hungry for a meal, this is a fantastic book to satisfy those cravings. And it is insanely popular with the students at our school.
Target Readers:
- Foodies, Graphic Novel Fans, Curious Readers
The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky, ill. by S.D. Schindler
Kurlansky gives kids a whirlwind history of salt's importance on earth, from the ways it determined top empires to how it impacted the diets of civilizations, and even how it permanently changed our vocabulary.
Target Readers:
- History Buffs, Foodies, Science Buffs, Linguist Buffs, Curious Readers
The Trash Revolution: Breaking the Waste Cycle by Erica Fyvie, ill. by Bill Slavin
Informs kids where the products they buy come from and what they cost in terms of hydrocarbons, water waste, etc. in production and then where they usually go when thrown away and how (or if) they break down. Cutting edge ideas of how to make things better for the world are introduced, as well as practical alternatives to use the Earth’s resources in wiser ways.
Target Readers:
- Science Studiers, Ecology Buffs, Ecology/Environmental Science Teachers, Those Wanting to Be Smarter Consumers, Community Activists, Curious Readers
Lower Grade Nonfiction
The Airport Book by Lisa Brown
A family of four is headed to their grandparents' house and are travelling by plane. The little boy explains what to expect when you go to the airport and travel by plane. A fantastic book to get little ones ready for air travel.
Target Readers:
- Little Travelers, Curious Readers, Kids Who Want to Know How Things Work
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, ill. by Shawn Harris
A short history of the design and construction of the Statue of Liberty, as well as a look at the symbolism of the various parts of the statue, particularly of her right foot which is in mid-step.
Target Readers:
- US History Studiers, Art Symbolism Studiers, New York City Travelers, Those Studying Views on the Immigration/Refugee Debate, Curious Readers
Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre
Close-up photographs and rhyming text illuminate raindrop activities before and after rain. Further notes in the back of the book dig deeper into the science of water.
Target Readers:
- Science of Water Studiers, Puddle Stompers, Poetry Fans, Photography Fans
The Secret Life of the Red Fox by Laurence Pringle, ill. by Kate Grachinsky
Follow a vixen for one year to find out about the life cycle, habits, and habitat of the red fox. Gorgeously illustrated.
Target Readers:
- Animal Lovers, Life Cycle Studiers, Art Lovers, Curious Readers
Water Land: Land and Water Forms around the World by Christy Hale
Die cut pages help illustrate different land form and bodies of water names for children. This was quite cleverly done. A pond on one spread becomes an island on the next spread. A straight of water becomes an isthmus, and kids get clear pictures of these different names for bodies of water and landforms. In the back of the book is a big foldout showing the locations of examples of all of these things in the world.
Target Readers:
- Geography Term Learners, Clever Book Fans, Map Lovers, Curious Kids
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