Sonderbooks Children's Nonfiction Book Reviews

Children's Nonfiction Reviews:
What's new?

January 16, 2021

Announcing the 2020 Sonderbooks Stand-outs! This is my twentieth list of my favorite books from a year of reading! Check them out!

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann, my #1 Sonderbooks Stand-out in Children's Nonfiction Picture Books, is a stunningly beautiful look at the life of a honeybee. It's still my favorite prospect for this year's Caldecott Medal.

Happy reading!

The Arts

Drawn from Nature

by Helen Ahpornsiri

Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines

gathered and compiled by Angela Hovak Johnston
with photographs by Cora De Vos

Artist to Artist

Edward Hopper Paints His World

by Robert Burleigh
paintings by Wendell Minor

What's Your Favorite Animal?

by Eric Carle and Friends

What's Your Favorite Color?

by Eric Carle and Friends

Oops Paint

by Kathryn Horn Coneway

The Scraps Book

by Lois Ehlert

I Dreamed of Flying Like a Bird

by Robert B. Haas

A Is For Art

by Stephen T. Johnson

Go
A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design

by Chip Kidd

Seeing Things

by Joel Meyerowitz

An Eye for Art

presented by the National Gallery of Art

Strong Is the New Pretty

by Kate T. Parker

The Heart of a Boy

by Kate T. Parker

Colorful Dreamer

by Marjorie Blain Parker
illustrated by Holly Berry

Playlist

by James Rhodes

The Noisy Paint Box

by Barb Rosenstock
illustrated by Mary Grandpré

Biography

When Stars Are Scattered

by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Imagine

by Juan Felipe Herrera
illustrated by Lauren Castillo

Ira's Shakespeare Dream

by Glenda Armand
illustrations by Floyd Cooper

The Griffin and the Dinosaur

by Marc Aronson with Adrienne Mayor
illustrated by Chris Muller

Gregor Mendel
The Friar Who Grew Peas

by Cheryl Bardoe
illustrated by Jos. A. Smith

Nothing Stopped Sophie

by Cheryl Bardoe
illustrated by Barbara McClintock

The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown

by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Sarah Jacoby

The Day-Glo Brothers

by Chris Barton
illustrated by Tony Persiani

Whoosh!

by Chris Barton
illustrated by Don Tate

El Deafo

by Cece Bell

Fancy Party Gowns

by Deborah Blumenthal
illustrated by Laura Freeman

The Goat Lady

by Jane Bregoli

A River of Words

by Jen Bryant
illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Planting Stories

by Anika Aldamuy Denise
illustrations by Paola Escobar

Dancing Hands

by Margarita Engle
illustrated by Rafael López

Barnum's Bones

by Tracey Fern
illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Dare the Wind

by Tracey Fern
pictures by Emily Arnold McCully

W Is For Webster

by Tracey Fern
pictures by Boris Kulikov

The Trouble Begins at 8

by Sid Fleischman

The Lincolns

by Candace Fleming

Amelia Lost

by Candace Fleming

Malala
Activist for Girls' Education

by Raphaël Frier
illustrated by Aurélia Fronty

The True Story of Bass Reeves

by Joel Christian Gill

Bessie Stringfield

by Joel Christian Gill

Rosa

by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Spirit Seeker

by Gary Golio
paintings by Rudy Gutierrez

Real Friends

by Shannon Hale
illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Best Friends

by Shannon Hale
artwork by LeUyen Pham

Keith Haring
The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing

by Kay Haring
illustrated by Robert Neubecker

The Boy Who Loved Math

by Deborah Heiligman
pictures by LeUyen Pham

The Faithful Spy

by John Hendrix

I Am Jazz

by Jessica Herthel & Jazz Jennings
pictures by Shelagh McNicholas

Ada's Violin

by Susan Hood
illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

Tiny Stitches

by Gwendolyn Hooks
illustrated by Colin Bootman

Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek

by Deborah Hopkinson
illustrated by John Hendrix

Antsy Ansel

by Cindy Jenson-Elliott
illustrated by Christy Hale

Hey, Kiddo

by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

In Search of the Little Prince

by Bimba Landmann

Queen of the Track

by Heather Lang
illustrated by Floyd Cooper

The Man Who Loved Libraries

by Andrew Larsen
pictures by Katty Maurey

I Dissent

by Debbie Levy
illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley

March, Book One

by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

March, Book Two

by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

March, Book Three

by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

Looking Back

by Lois Lowry

Randolph Caldecott
The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing

by Leonard Marcus

Pop!

by Meghan McCarthy

Me . . . Jane

by Patrick McDonnell

Temple Grandin

by Sy Montgomery

Kate Warne
Pinkerton Detective

by Marissa Moss
illustrated by April Chu

Stay
The True Story of Ten Dogs

by Michaela Muntean
photographs by K. C. Bailey and Stephen Kazmierski

Frederick Douglass
The Lion Who Wrote History

by Walter Dean Myers
illustrated by Floyd Cooper

The Book Itch

by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Me, Frida

by Amy Novesky
illustrated by David Diaz

Ten Days a Madwoman

by Deborah Noyes

Free Lunch

by Rex Ogle

Stories of my Life

by Katherine Paterson

One Plastic Bag

by Miranda Paul
illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon

I Am Farmer

by Baptiste and Miranda Paul
illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

by Jan Pinborough
illustrated by Debby Atwell

A Poem for Peter

by Andrea Davis Pinkney
pictures by Lou Fancher & Steve Johnson

The Quest for Z

by Greg Pizzoli

A Boy and a Jaguar

by Alan Rabinowitz
illustrated by Cátia Chen

Helen's Big World

by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Matt Tavares

To Dare Mighty Things

by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by C. F. Payne

Frederick's Journey

by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by London Ladd

Two Friends
Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass

by Dean Robbins
illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko

Lights! Camera! Alice!

by Mara Rockliff
illustrated by Simona Ciraolo

House of Dreams

by Liz Rosenberg

Drawing from Memory

by Allen Say

Silent Days, Silent Dreams

by Allen Say

Martin de Porres
The Rose in the Desert

by Gary D. Schmidt
illustrated by David Diaz

So Tall Within

by Gary D. Schmidt
illustrated by Daniel Minter

Knucklehead

by Jon Scieszka

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies

by Joyce Sidman

Let Your Voice Be Heard

by Anita Silvey

Swan

by Laurel Snyder
illustrated by Julie Morstad

Sandy's Circus

by Tanya Lee Stone
illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Balloons Over Broadway

by Melissa Sweet

Some Writer

by Melissa Sweet

Becoming Babe Ruth

by Matt Tavares

Smile

by Raina Telgemeier

Samurai Rising

by Pamela S. Turner
illustrated by Gareth Hinds

Wise Guy

by M. D. Usher
pictures by William Bramhall

Queen of the Falls

by Chris Van Allsburg

Erika's Story

by Ruth Vander Zee
illustrated by Roberto Innocenti

Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine

by Laurie Wallmark
illustrated by April Chu

Leontyne Price
Voice of a Century

by Carole Weatherford Boston
illustrated by Raul Colón

The World Is Not a Rectangle

by Jeanette Winter

All the Way to America

by Dan Yaccarino

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau

by Dan Yaccarino

Folklore & Literature

Brave Red, Smart Frog

by Emily Jenkins
illustrated by Rohan Daniel Eason

The Singing Bones

by Shaun Tan

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal

by Paul Fleischman
illustrated by Jane Paschkis

Hansel & Gretel

by Neil Gaiman
art by Lorenzo Mattotti

Whiskers, Tails & Wings

by Judy Goldman
illustrated by Fabricio VandenBroeck

Shahnameh
The Persian Book of Kings

retold by Elizabeth Laird
illustrated by Shirin Adl

History

The Grand Escape

by Neal Bascomb

The Eye That Never Sleeps

by Marissa Moss
illustrations by Jeremy Holmes

The Undefeated

by Kwame Alexander
illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Sugar Changed the World

by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

Dazzle Ships

by Chris Barton
illustrated by Victo Ngai

The Nazi Hunters

by Neal Bascomb

Aim for the Skies

by Aimée Bissonette
illustrated by Doris Wittlinger

Bootleg

by Karen Blumenthal

How to Build a Museum

by Tonya Bolden

Strong Voices

introductions by Tonya Bolden
illustrated by Eric Velasquez

This Promise of Change

by Jo Ann Allen Boyce
and Debbie Levy

The Great American Dust Bowl

by Don Brown

Drowned City

by Don Brown

Rocket to the Moon!

by Don Brown

Infinite Hope

by Ashley Bryan

O Captain, My Captain

by Robert Burleigh
illustrations by Sterling Hundley

Grover Cleveland, Again!

by Ken Burns
illustrated by Gerald Kelley

Revolutionary Friends

by Selene Castrovilla
illustrated by Drazen Kozjan

Hoop Genius

by John Coy
illustrations by Joe Morse

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel

written by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
illustrated by Gilbert Ford

14 Cows for America

by Carmen Agra Deedy
in collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah
photographs by Andy Comins

Energy Island

by Allan Drummond

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
for Young People

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese

This Bridge Will Not Be Gray

story by Dave Eggers
art by Tucker Nichols

Her Right Foot

by Dave Eggers
art by Shawn Harris

Locomotive

by Brian Floca

We Will Not Be Silent

by Russell Freedman

The Gettysburg Address
A Graphic Adaptation

written by Jonathan Hennessey
art by Aaron McConnell

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

by Philip Hoose

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler

by Phillip Hoose

Attucks!

by Phillip Hoose

Titanic
Voices from the Disaster

by Deborah Hopkinson

I Have a Dream

by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
paintings by Kadir Nelson

Fearless Flyer

by Heather Lang
illustrated by Raúl Colón

Stormy Seas

by Mary Beth Leatherdale
illustrated and designed by Eleanor Shakespeare

We've Got a Job

by Cynthia Levinson

Watch Out for Flying Kids!

by Cynthia Levinson

Hello World

by Jonathan Litton
illustrated by L’Atelier Cartographik

Fry Bread

written by Kevin Noble Maillard
illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

Balderdash!

by Michelle Merkel
illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Finding Winnie

by Lindsay Mattick
illustrated by Sophie Blackall

The Hole Story of the Doughnut

by Pat Miller
illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch

My Country 'Tis of Thee

by Claire Rudolf Murphy
illustrated by Bryan Collier

Truce

by Jim Murphy

We Are the Ship

by Kadir Nelson

Heart and Soul

by Kadir Nelson

Your Presidential Fantasy Dream Team

by Daniel O'Brien
illustrations by Winston Rowntree

This Land Is Our Land

by Linda Barrett Osborne

The Nantucket Sea Monster

by Darcy Pattison
illustrated by Peter Willis

Elizabeth Started All the Trouble

by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Matt Faulkner

Stamped

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
read by Jason Reynolds

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

by Susan Goldman Rubin

Pale Male

by Janet Schulman
illustrated by Meilo So

Bomb

by Steve Sheinkin

The Wall

by Peter Sis

The Inventor's Secret

by Suzanne Slade
illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Sachiko

by Caren Stilson

Almost Astronauts

by Tanya Lee Stone

Pass Go and Collect $200

by Tanya Lee Stone
illustrated by Steven Salerno

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky

by Lauren Stringer

They Called Us Enemy

by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott
art by Harmony Becker

The Secret of Priest's Grotto

by Peter Lane Taylor with Christos Nicola

Thomas Jefferson Grows a Nation

by Peggy Thomas
illustrations by Stacy Innerst

Winnie

by Sally M. Walker
illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss

Magic Ramen

by Andrea Wang
illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz

The Boo-Boos That Changed the World

by Barry Wittenstein
illustrated by Chris Hsu

The Skydiving Beavers

by Susan Wood
illustrated by Gÿsbert van Frankenhuyzen

Mathematics

How Many?

by Christopher Danielson

Goodnight, Numbers

by Danica McKellar
illustrated by Alicia Padrón

Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar

by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno

Mysterious Patterns

by Sarah C. Campbell
photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

Which One Doesn't Belong?

by Christopher Danielson

What in the World?
Numbers in Nature

by Nancy Raines Day
illustrated by Kurt Cyrus

The Cat in Numberland

by Ivar Ekeland
illustrated by John O'Brien

A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars

by Seth Fishman

Greater Estimations

by Bruce Goldstone

That's a Possibility

by Bruce Goldstone

I See a Pattern Here

by Bruce Goldstone

How Much Does a Ladybug Weigh?

by Alison Limentani

Which Is Round?
Which Is Bigger?

by Mineko Mamada

How Many Jelly Beans?

by Andrea Menotti
illustrated by Yancey Labat

Bedtime Math

by Laura Overdeck
illustrated by Jim Paillot

Just a Second

by Steve Jenkins

You Can Count on Monsters

by Richard Evan Schwartz

Really Big Numbers

by Richard Evan Schwartz

If America Were a Village

by David J. Smith
illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong

If...

by David J. Smith
illustrated by Steve Adams

Poetry

Martin Rising

by Andrea Davis Pinkney
paintings by Brian Pinkney

Ordinary Hazards

by Nikki Grimes

Out of Wonder

by Kwame Alexander
with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth
illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Shout

by Laurie Halse Anderson

When Green Becomes Tomatoes

by Julie Fogliano
pictures by Julie Morstad

One Last Word

by Nikki Grimes

Jumping Off Library Shelves

selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
illustrated by Jane Manning

My People

by Langston Hughes
photographs by Charles R. Smith Jr.

Firefly July

selected by Paul B. Janeczko
illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Are You an Echo?

poems by Misuzu Kaneko
illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri
narrative by David Jacobson

Poems to Learn by Heart

selected by Caroline Kennedy
paintings by Jon J Muth

Edgar Allan Poe's Pie

by J. Patrick Lewis
illustrated by Michael Slack

The Lost Words

by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris

How I Discovered Poetry

by Marilyn Nelson
illustrated by Hadley Hooper

Giving Thanks

edited by Katherine Paterson
illustrations by Pamela Dalton

Guyku

by Bob Raczka
illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Wet Cement

by Bob Raczka

Haiti
My Country

Poems by Haitian Schoolchildren
illustrated by Rogé

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

lyrics by Fred Rogers
illustrated by Luke Flowers

What the Heart Knows

by Joyce Sidman
illustrations by Pamela Zagarenski

Winter Bees

by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Rick Allen

Follow Follow

by Marilyn Singer
illustrated by Josée Masse

I Heard God Talking to Me

by Elizabeth Spires

No Fair! No Fair!

poems by Calvin Trillin
pictures by Roz Chast

Why War Is Never a Good Idea

by Alice Walker
illustrations by Stefano Vitale

Won Ton
A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

by Lee Wardlaw
illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

Science

Honeybee

by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann

Water, Land

by Christy Hale

Animal Ark

photographs by Joel Sartore
words by Kwame Alexander
with Mary Rand Hess and Deanna Nikaido

Octopus Escapes Again!

by Laurie Ellen Angus

Secrets of the Sky Caves

by Sandra K. Athans

The Periodic Table
Elements With Style!

created by Basher
written by Adrian Dingle

Penguin Day

by Nic Bishop

ZooBorns: The Next Generation

by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

Lesser Spotted Animals

by Martin Brown

Handle with Care

by Loree Griffin Burns
photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz

Look Up!

by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Grand Canyon

by Jason Chin

A Little Book of Sloth

by Lucy Cooke

8
An Animal Alphabet

by Elisha Cooper

Just the Right Size

by Nicola Davies
illustrated by Neal Layton

Inside Your Insides

by Claire Eamer
illustrated by Marie-Ève Tremblay

Moto and Me

by Suzi Eszterhas

Wild Horse Scientists

by Kay Frydenborg

Calling All Minds

by Temple Grandin
with Betsy Lerner

Frog Song

by Brenda Z. Guiberson
illustrated by Gennady Spirin

Hawk Mother

by Kara Hagedorn

I, Fly

by Bridget Heos
illustrated by Jennifer Plecas

Moonbird

by Phillip Hoose

Never Smile at a Monkey

by Steve Jenkins

Dogs and Cats

by Steve Jenkins

My First Day

by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Eye to Eye

by Steve Jenkins

Creature Features

by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

How to Swallow a Pig

by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Pink Is for Blobfish

by Jess Keating
with illustrations by David DeGrand

The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees

by Sandra Markle

The Great Monkey Rescue

by Sandra Markle

The Great Leopard Rescue

by Sandra Markle

The Search for Olinguito

by Sandra Markle

Creekfinding

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
illustrated by Claudia McGehee

The Tapir Scientist

by Sy Montgomery
photographs by Nic Bishop

The Octopus Scientists

by Sy Montgomery
photographs by Keith Ellenbogen

Hatch!

by Roxie Munro

Butterfly Counting

by Jerry Pallotta
and Shennen Bersani

Nine Months

by Miranda Paul
illustrated by Jason Chin

Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids

by Jerome Pohlen

Birds of a Feather

by Susan L. Roth

The Mighty Mars Rovers

by Elizabeth Rusch

The Elephant Keeper

by Margriet Ruurs
illustrated by Pedro Covo

Emu

by Claire Saxby
illustrated by Graham Byrne

Traveling Butterflies

by Susumu Shingu

Swirl By Swirl

by Joyce Sidman
pictures by Beth Krommes

Can an Aardvark Bark?

by Melissa Stewart
illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled

by Catherine Thimmesh

The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk

by Jan Thornhill

The Frog Scientist

by Pamela S. Turner, photographs by Andy Comins

ABCs from Space

by Adam Voiland

Champion

by Sally M. Walker

Can You Hear the Trees Talking?

by Miranda Paul
illustrated by Jason Chin