12 Nonfiction Picture Books About Nature

Erica at What Do We Do All Day? blog introduced me to Great Science Books for Kids when she guest blogged for me. Our public library’s nonfiction section is a separate room for children’s graphic novels so my kids never spent much time there.

Additionally, there was that issue of finding great nonfiction books that read like fiction, rather than the old-school boring ones with captioned square photographs from thirty years ago. With the Dewey Decimal system, the boring science books were all mixed in with the good ones so we just skipped that section altogether.

I’m glad to be finally able to find and read great nonfiction picture books. I have been seeking them out at the independent bookstore’s nonfiction section where I hang out for hours reading them. These books are some of my favorites.

I’m giving away this pair of A First Science Storybook. Fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter!

10 New Nature Nonfiction Picture Books

Hello Hello by Brendan Wenzel

Endangered animals and more common animals find similarities and differences in this exuberant celebration of the natural world. The text is rhyming but this picture book by Caldecott honor author and illustrator is all about the collage illustrations! [picture book, ages 2 and up]

Terrific Tongues! by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Jia Liu

Animal tongue evolution for specific purposes is explored in this playful picture book that includes sidebars for more details. Animal tongues can be straws, noses, and mops! Learn about the tongues of woodpeckers, moths, frogs, snakes, bats, okapis, and more! [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis

Some of these animals are teeny tiny like the Amau frog which can fit on the tip of your pinkie finger! The Galapagos tortoise is a slowpoke but its shell is powerful protection from predators. The hoatzin has a stinky defense against predators. It produces a stench so bad that its body smells like cow manure. And napping is actually a survival skill! Animals that nap a lot need less food. Animals that don’t tend to get the limelight are front and center in this fun exploration of animal underdogs. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Prickly Hedgehogs! by Jane McGuinness

The story centers around a mama hedgehog and her babies who grow up to make dens of their own to hibernate through the winter. Did you know that while there are seventeen species of hedgehogs in the world, none are wild in North America? This picture book is a great blend of a fictionalized story, blended with nonfiction side panels. The illustrations, while not completely realistic, convey a large-eyed expressive and appealing version of a hedgehog. An actual hedgehog’s face looks more rodent-like, though they are related more closely to moles and shrews. Pair this book with fiction picture book Hedgehog Needs a Hug by Jen Benton. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Richard Jones

Honestly, I am a sucker for what I call “nonfiction fiction,” a story that is engaging to read that imparts a whiff of science. It’s a genius combination. This is the first one I’ve seen that is deliberately targeting the very young reader which I also love. There are so many STEM concepts embedded into a sweet, sequential story of how a bird creates a nest.

The terms “push” and “pull” are important directionality for pre-literacy, pre-numeracy preschoolers. How a nest is constructed may lead the reader to look at birds’ nests in a whole new light. The illustrations are perfect for a young audience because I find the “photographs with captions” to be off-putting in nonfiction and so “get them ready for Standardized Testing. This is just a fun and cozy way to learn about science. There’s a simplicity with the simple shapes that make this book easy to explore, but the details also make the reader look for more and absorb more. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

The Squirrels’ Busy Year by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Richard Jones

Explore the seasons with a pair of squirrels as they go from winter’s hibernation to the busier part of their year, searching for food and avoiding predators. More science is included in the endpapers with weather and seasons explained from a scientific perspective. Surviving winter is another concept for further exploration in the back of the book. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

I’m giving away this pair of A First Science Storybook. Fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter!

Flip Flap Ocean: Full of Funny Rhymes and Crazy Creatures to Make You Giggle by Axel Scheffler

Readers can learn about ocean creatures and make up hybrid ones of their own in this interactive flap book that invites you to make crazy mash-ups of your own. [interactive board book flap book, for ages 4 and up]

Hawk Rising by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Brian Floca

With lyrical prose, Maria Gianferrari describes the drama in the day-in-a-life of a red-tailed hawk family living amongst us in suburbia. The baby chicks depend on the success of their parents’ hunt. The hawks have predators of their own, just as they are predators to small rodents and birds. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

The King of Bees by Lester L. Laminack, illustrated by Jim LaMarche

Nestled into this story of a boy visiting his aunt in the Lowcountry of South Carolina is a parallel story about honeybees and how they communicate, work, and live. The author’s note has further information about honeybee pollination and honey production. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Fruit Bowl by Mark Hoffman

Is a tomato a fruit? Will it be allowed in the fruit bowl? This seemingly fun and funny picture book also explores the differences between fruits and vegetables. In case you are wondering:

“Botanically speaking, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant, whereas vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves, and stems.” From LiveScience.com

So, what is a tomato? Fruit or vegetable? Does it belong in the fridge or the fruit bowl?! Find out in this playful picture book. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Little Whale by Jo Weaver

Learn about the gray whale migration in this charming picture book about a mother and her baby whale, making the 12,400 mile journey to the north! Little Whale going on an epic home through kelp forests, coral reefs, and terrible dangers. The grey whale migration is considered to be the longest annual migration of any mammal. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

The Things That I Love About Trees by Chris Butterworth, illustrated by Charlotte Voake

This is another picture book that covers the seasons and this time it’s with the life of a tree. Informational blocks of text accompany the story of a girl appreciating the changes of a flowering plum tree through the seasons but other trees are shown as well. This book doesn’t hang together as a story for me, but I do like the illustrations. It’s a little distracting to read both the text and the sidebars and follow a very quiet story of not much going on. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

2 Book Giveaway: A Pair of A First Science Storybooks!

I’m giving away this pair of A First Science Storybook. Fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter!

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My books:

 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• • • Junior Library Guild Gold selection
    • Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
    • Starred review from School Library Journal
    • Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
    • 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
    • Green Earth Book Award longlist
    • Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me