Biblio File

NYPL Recommends: New Nonfiction for Kids

Our staff have been busy reading and reviewing 2016 titles. Here are a few of their favorite new nonfiction books for kids.

Science

 Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure
 Clues to the Past

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Robert Burleigh [Gr. 2 - 4]
A beautifully illustrated biography about the first person to successfully map the ocean floor.

Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure: A Journey Through Physics by Dr. Dominic Walliman & Ben Newman [Gr. 2 - 5]
A cat explains physics and finally I get it!

Living Fossils: Clues to the Past by Caroline Arnold [Gr. 3 - 6]
Modern animals that bear and uncanny resemblance to their ancient relatives.

Biographies

 A Pair to Compare
 The Death-defying Tightrope Adventures of the Great Blondin
 The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas

Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare by Gene Barretta [Gr. 1-4]
Readers will be amazed to learn how much these two men born so far apart have in common, aside from the fact they were both Presidents of the United States.

Crossing Niagara: The Death-defying Tightrope Adventures of the Great Blondin by Matt Tavares [Gr. 2-4]
The year is 1859 and Monsieur Blondin will attempt to walk from America to Canada via tightrope across the raging Niagara River.

Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas by Gwendolyn Hooks [Gr. 2 - 5]
An African-American research assistant develops a procedure used to perform open-heart surgery on babies.

Sports

 How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game
 The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon
You Never Heard of Casey Stengel
 The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber

The Kid From Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton by Audrey Vernick [PK – 3]
An inspiring story about a girl with heart and a love for baseball set in 1922.

The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game by Nancy Churin [Gr. PK – 3]
The story of success against the odds and the man responsible for the hand signals: strike, ball, and out.

The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon by Meghan McCarthy [Gr. K- 3]
St. Louis is hosting the Olympics and the World’s Fair in 1904. The Olympics games include a wacky marathon that only three runners will complete.

You Never Heard of Casey Stengel ?! by Jonah Winter [Gr. K - 3]
A picture book about legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel.

Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber by Sue Macy [Gr. 2-4]
An illustrated biography of one of the first female sports journalists in America.

Animals

Flying Frogs and Walking Fish
 Discovering the World’s Perfectly Pink Animals
Orangutan Orphanage
The Great White Shark Scientist

Flying Frogs and Walking Fish: Leaping Lemurs, Tumbling Toads, Jet-propelled Jellyfish, and More Surprising Ways That Animals Move by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page [Gr. K - 3]
An array of creatures and their preferred mode of travel.

Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World’s Perfectly Pink Animals by Jess Keating [Gr. 1 - 4]
Princess Bubblegum meets the animal kingdom.

Orangutan Orphanage by Suzi Eszterhas [Gr. 1 - 5]
The second in the wildlife rescue series, these photos will make you long to hold a baby orangutan.

The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery [Gr. 5 - 8]
Step onto the boat with Greg Skomal, biologist and head of the Shark Research Program, as he tests his latest hypothesis.

Art

 The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay
 How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk
 The Making of a Famous Photograph

Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood [Gr. 2 - 5]
The lovely story of an orchestra of children playing instruments built from things they find in a landfill in Paraguay.

Will’s Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk by Jane Sutcliffe [Gr. 3 - 6]
Discover all the famous phrases we take for granted that can be directly attributed to Shakespeare’s work.

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill [Gr. 4 - 7]
The story of a free-form photo shoot feature famous jazz musicians in Harlem 1958.

Other Stuff

Secret Subway
Death is Stupid
The Slowest Book Ever
 An Honest Look at Lying

Secret Subway by Shana Corey [Gr. PK - 3]
A fascinating look at the New York City subway circa 1860.

Death is Stupid by Anastasia Higginbotham [Gr. PK - 3]
Part of the Ordinary Terrible Things Series, Death is Stupid is a tool for discussing death.

The Slowest Book Ever by April Pulley [Gr. 3 - 7]
Slow down and savor some fun facts about all things that move slowly.

Half Truths and Brazen Lies: An Honest Look at Lying by Kira Vermond [Gr. 4 - 6]
A book about why we lie, what kinds of lies we tell, the consequences of lying and how to detect lies.

Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!