Elementary Boys: Nonfiction
"Afraid of the Water" (Series):
Natalie Lunis. Blue-Ringed Octopus: Small But Deadly. (Bearport, 2010)
Natalie Lunis. Boxed Jellyfish: Killer Tentacles. (Bearport, 2010)
Meish Goldish. Moray Eel: Dangerous Teeth. (Bearport, 2010)
Snakes. Snakes underwater. Huge snakes underwater, with big teeth that curve in so no prey can
escape. They blend into their surroundings so you don't know they are there, until it's too late! Moray
eels are just one of the nightmare creatures lurking in the deep in the series "Afraid of the Water"!
Natalie Lunis. Portugese Man-of-War: Floating Misery. (Bearport, 2010)
Meish Goldish. Shark: The Shredder. (Bearport, 2010)
Meish Goldish. Stonefish: Needles of Pain. (Bearport, 2010)
Fred Bowen. No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season. (Dutton, 2010)
Sylvia Branzei. Animal Grossology. (Price Stern Sloan, 2004)
Sylvia Branzei. Grossology. (Price Stern Sloan, 2002)
Sylvia Branzei. Grossology and You. (Price Stern Sloan, 2002)
Sylvia Branzei. Hands-On Grossology. (Price Stern Sloan, 2003)
Karen Chin and Thom Holmes. Dino Dung: The Scoop on Fossil Feces. (Random House, 2004)
Marty Crump. Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon: The Biggest, Deadliest Lizard Gives Up His Secrets.
(Boyds Mills Press, 2010)
Timothy Decker. For Liberty: The Story of the Boston Massacre. (Calkins Creek, 2009)
For those elementary and middle school kids who remember their picture book days as the last time
they loved reading, here is a powerful take on a grimly fascinating event. This is "small" history;
fifteen minutes that changed the world, and the drama is enhanced by stark, black and white
illustrations that evoke both David MacAulay and the Manga form. Perhaps its greatest gift is to
individualize the players, making the tragedy all the more human. This is history that comes alive.
"Disaster Survivors" (Series)
Stephen Person. Struck By Lightning! (Bearport, 2010)
Person manages to give a great deal of very real information without losing the wonder, the awe, the
raw power of nature unleashed in bolts of pure energy that can travel more than 20 miles in the blink
of an eye. This is the perfect setting for the big five questions: who does lightning strike? Where?
When? How often? And most importantly, why? It's all here in a slim volume with some spectacular
photography and easily accessible text. Give a kid twenty minutes with this book and he will be
running to the computer to find more, diving for another book in the series, or looking for a kite and a
key.
Joyce L. Markovics. Blitzed By a Blizzard! (Bearport, 2010)
Stephen Person. Devastated By a Volcano! (Bearport, 2010)
Jessica Rudolph. Erased By a Tornado! (Bearport, 2010)
Laura DeLallo. Hammered By a Heat Wave! (Bearport, 2010)
Adam Reingold. Leveled By an Earthquake! (Bearport, 2010)
Miriam Aronin. Slammed By a Tsunami! (Bearport, 2010)
"Extreme Cuisine" (Series):
Meish Goldish. Baby Bug Dishes. (Bearport, 2009)
Meish Goldish. Bug-a-licious. (Bearport, 2009)
From cricket lollipops to roasted ants in the movie theatre, here are the stories of bug foods from
around the world. Part cook book, part social study, and all queasy, this is a fun nonfiction written at a
very accessible level.
Meish Goldish. Mammal Menu. (Bearport, 2009)
Dinah Williams. Shocking Seafood. (Bearport, 2009)
Dinah Williams. Slithery, Slimy, Scaly Treats. (Bearport, 2009)
Meish Goldish. Spider-tizers and Other Creepy Treats. (Bearport, 2009)
Nancy Bo Flood. Sand to Stone and Back Again. (Fulcrum, 2009)
For those young explorers who are obsessed with the question "How?", here is a stunning look at the
natural wonders of the desert. The words seem to gladly sink into the background as pictures of rock
formations and minerals just dance across the page. It looks like fantasy, and reads like nonfiction.
How can you go wrong?
Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. Gee Whiz! It’s All About Pee. (Viking Juvenile, 2006)
Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. The Truth About Poop. (Viking, 2004)
"Gross-Out Defenses" (Series):
Lori Haskins Houran. Bloody Horned Lizards. (Bearport, 2009)
A tiny lizard that scares off coyotes by shooting blood out of their eyes at them? If it wasn't for the
disgusting pictures I wouldn't have believed it myself!
Jennifer Dussling. Deadly Poison Dart Frogs. (Bearport, 2009)
Meish Goldish. Disgusting Hagfish. (Bearport, 2009)
Catherine Nichols. Prickly Porcupines. (Bearport, 2009)
Catherine Nichols. Smelly Skunks. (Bearport, 2009)
Catherine Nichols. Tricky Opossums. (Bearport, 2009)
Kelly Milner Halls and William Grahasm Sumper. Saving the Baghdad Zoo. (Greenwillow Books, 2009)
War destroys lives, and not just human lives. A handful of brave people, led by an American Army
officer, took on the challenge of saving the animals in zoos all over Baghdad during the Iraq War. With
bullets flying around them, they wrangled lions, alligators and many more animals. Heroes come in
some surprising shapes.
Gail Jarrow. Lincoln's Flying Spies: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War Balloon Corps. (Calkins Creek,
2010)
How did man first fly? Who made up the first US Air Force? Don't think planes or the Wright Brothers,
think balloons and Thaddeus Lowe. Four decades before Kitty Hawk, and five decades before World
War One, a few brave men went thousands of feet above enemy lines, hanging from a silk balloon, to
spy out the Confederate forces. Artillary shells burst around them, generals dismissed them, storms
sent them careening, but the Balloon Corps played their part in American history, even if that history
has gone untold for too long. Now read their heroic true story.
"Horror Scapes" series:
Michael Burgan. Dracula's Dark World. (Bearport, 2011)
Natalie Lunis. Tut's Deadly Tomb. (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Ghostly Alcatraz. (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Voodoo in New Orleans. (Bearport, 2011)
Steven L. Stern. Witchcraft in Salem. (Bearport, 2011)
Kathleen Kudlinski. Boy Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs. (Dutton, 2005)
Kenneth Mallory. Adventure Beneath the Sea: Living in an Underwater Science Station. (Boyds Mill
Press, 2010)
Dreaming of exploring another world? You don't have to wait until you can fly to Mars, there are
unexplored worlds here on Earth. Forget being an astronaut, why not try being an aquanaut?
Jennifer Morse. Guiness Book of World Records 2009. (Scholastic Reference, 2008)
"Nightmare Plagues" series:
Miriam Aronin. Tuberculosis: The White Plague! (Bearport, 2011)
William Caper. Typhoid Fever: Dirty Food, Dirty Water! (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Bubonic Plague: The Black Death! (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Malaria: Super Killer! (Bearport, 2011)
Adam Reingold. Smallpox: Is it Over? (Bearport, 2011)
Jessica Rudolph. The Flu of 1918: Millions Dead Worldwide! (Bearport, 2011)
Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. Ghosts: A Nonfiction Companion to A Good Night for
Ghosts. [Magic Tree House Research Guide] (Random House, 2009)
It is always great to get a kid hooked on a series, but so much better to hook them on a series that
has both fiction and nonfiction books. We don't give nonfiction enough credit, nor do we honor the fact
that so many boys want to connect their reading with real life. Well, in this case it is real death in the
form of real ghost stories, highly illustrated and quickly told. Great for those kids already addicted to
the series, and a grand introduction for those who aren't.
Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. Leprechauns and Irish Folklore: A Nonfiction
Companion to Leprechauns in Late Winter. [Magic Tree House Research Guide] (Random House,
2010)
Who needs a story written ABOUT some of the best stories ever? Why not just enjoy Irish folklore?
Revel in the playful, and sometimes not so playful, deeds of the wee folk, whether meeting to dance
beneath the stars, tearing apart houses that were built on fairy roads, or spiriting away their little
hoards of gold. Learn how to find that gold, how to lift a fairy spell, and what it means when a Banshee
wails outside your window.
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Special Edition 2009. (Scholastic, 2008)
Michael Sandler. "Fast Rides" (Series):
Dynamic Drag Racers. (Bearport, 2011)
Electrifying Eco-Race Cars. (Bearport, 2011)
It's where gear-heads, speed-freaks, tree-huggers, and techno-nuts meet to say... "Wow!"
Hot Hot Rods. (Bearport, 2011)
Jet Powered Speed. (Bearport, 2011)
Michael Sandler. "X-Moves" (Series):
Cool Snowboarders. (Bearport, 2010)
Daring BMXers. (Bearport, 2010)
Gnarly Skateboarders. (Bearport, 2010)
Mighty MotoXers. (Bearport, 2010)
For the early gear-head crowd, here is a quick, highly visual tour of the motocross world. The stop-
action photos of every step of a trick are particularly stunning.
Rally Car Dudes. (Bearport, 2010)
Super Surfers. (Bearport, 2010)
"Scary Places" (Series)
Dinah Williams. Abandoned Insane Asylums. (Bearport, 2008)
Sarah Parvis. Creepy Castles. (Bearport, 2008)
Michael E. Goodman. Dark Labyrinths. (Bearport, 2008)
Sarah Parvis. Ghost Towns. (Bearport, 2008)
Sarah Parvis. Haunted Hotels. (Bearport, 2008)
Dinah Williams. Haunted Houses. (Bearport, 2008)
Dinah Williams. Spooky Cemeteries. (Bearport, 2008)
Steven L. Stern. Wretched Ruins. (Bearport, 2010)
Marilyn Singer. What Stinks? (Darby Creek, 2006)
James Solheim. It's Disgusting and We Ate It!: True Food Facts from Around the World and
Throughout History. (Simon & Schuster, 1998)
Cat Urbigkit. Path of the Pronghorn. (Boyds Mills Press, 2010)
Desiree Webber. The Buffalo Train Ride. (Eakin Press, 1999)
Desiree Webber. Bonehead: Story of the Longhorn. (Eakin Press, 2003)
"The Work of Heroes: First Responders in Action" (Series)
Meish Goldish. Doctors to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
Meish Goldish. Firefighters to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
Nancy White. Paramedics to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
Nancy White. Police Officers to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
"Afraid of the Water" (Series):
Natalie Lunis. Blue-Ringed Octopus: Small But Deadly. (Bearport, 2010)
Natalie Lunis. Boxed Jellyfish: Killer Tentacles. (Bearport, 2010)
Meish Goldish. Moray Eel: Dangerous Teeth. (Bearport, 2010)
Snakes. Snakes underwater. Huge snakes underwater, with big teeth that curve in so no prey can
escape. They blend into their surroundings so you don't know they are there, until it's too late! Moray
eels are just one of the nightmare creatures lurking in the deep in the series "Afraid of the Water"!
Natalie Lunis. Portugese Man-of-War: Floating Misery. (Bearport, 2010)
Meish Goldish. Shark: The Shredder. (Bearport, 2010)
Meish Goldish. Stonefish: Needles of Pain. (Bearport, 2010)
Fred Bowen. No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season. (Dutton, 2010)
Sylvia Branzei. Animal Grossology. (Price Stern Sloan, 2004)
Sylvia Branzei. Grossology. (Price Stern Sloan, 2002)
Sylvia Branzei. Grossology and You. (Price Stern Sloan, 2002)
Sylvia Branzei. Hands-On Grossology. (Price Stern Sloan, 2003)
Karen Chin and Thom Holmes. Dino Dung: The Scoop on Fossil Feces. (Random House, 2004)
Marty Crump. Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon: The Biggest, Deadliest Lizard Gives Up His Secrets.
(Boyds Mills Press, 2010)
Timothy Decker. For Liberty: The Story of the Boston Massacre. (Calkins Creek, 2009)
For those elementary and middle school kids who remember their picture book days as the last time
they loved reading, here is a powerful take on a grimly fascinating event. This is "small" history;
fifteen minutes that changed the world, and the drama is enhanced by stark, black and white
illustrations that evoke both David MacAulay and the Manga form. Perhaps its greatest gift is to
individualize the players, making the tragedy all the more human. This is history that comes alive.
"Disaster Survivors" (Series)
Stephen Person. Struck By Lightning! (Bearport, 2010)
Person manages to give a great deal of very real information without losing the wonder, the awe, the
raw power of nature unleashed in bolts of pure energy that can travel more than 20 miles in the blink
of an eye. This is the perfect setting for the big five questions: who does lightning strike? Where?
When? How often? And most importantly, why? It's all here in a slim volume with some spectacular
photography and easily accessible text. Give a kid twenty minutes with this book and he will be
running to the computer to find more, diving for another book in the series, or looking for a kite and a
key.
Joyce L. Markovics. Blitzed By a Blizzard! (Bearport, 2010)
Stephen Person. Devastated By a Volcano! (Bearport, 2010)
Jessica Rudolph. Erased By a Tornado! (Bearport, 2010)
Laura DeLallo. Hammered By a Heat Wave! (Bearport, 2010)
Adam Reingold. Leveled By an Earthquake! (Bearport, 2010)
Miriam Aronin. Slammed By a Tsunami! (Bearport, 2010)
"Extreme Cuisine" (Series):
Meish Goldish. Baby Bug Dishes. (Bearport, 2009)
Meish Goldish. Bug-a-licious. (Bearport, 2009)
From cricket lollipops to roasted ants in the movie theatre, here are the stories of bug foods from
around the world. Part cook book, part social study, and all queasy, this is a fun nonfiction written at a
very accessible level.
Meish Goldish. Mammal Menu. (Bearport, 2009)
Dinah Williams. Shocking Seafood. (Bearport, 2009)
Dinah Williams. Slithery, Slimy, Scaly Treats. (Bearport, 2009)
Meish Goldish. Spider-tizers and Other Creepy Treats. (Bearport, 2009)
Nancy Bo Flood. Sand to Stone and Back Again. (Fulcrum, 2009)
For those young explorers who are obsessed with the question "How?", here is a stunning look at the
natural wonders of the desert. The words seem to gladly sink into the background as pictures of rock
formations and minerals just dance across the page. It looks like fantasy, and reads like nonfiction.
How can you go wrong?
Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. Gee Whiz! It’s All About Pee. (Viking Juvenile, 2006)
Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. The Truth About Poop. (Viking, 2004)
"Gross-Out Defenses" (Series):
Lori Haskins Houran. Bloody Horned Lizards. (Bearport, 2009)
A tiny lizard that scares off coyotes by shooting blood out of their eyes at them? If it wasn't for the
disgusting pictures I wouldn't have believed it myself!
Jennifer Dussling. Deadly Poison Dart Frogs. (Bearport, 2009)
Meish Goldish. Disgusting Hagfish. (Bearport, 2009)
Catherine Nichols. Prickly Porcupines. (Bearport, 2009)
Catherine Nichols. Smelly Skunks. (Bearport, 2009)
Catherine Nichols. Tricky Opossums. (Bearport, 2009)
Kelly Milner Halls and William Grahasm Sumper. Saving the Baghdad Zoo. (Greenwillow Books, 2009)
War destroys lives, and not just human lives. A handful of brave people, led by an American Army
officer, took on the challenge of saving the animals in zoos all over Baghdad during the Iraq War. With
bullets flying around them, they wrangled lions, alligators and many more animals. Heroes come in
some surprising shapes.
Gail Jarrow. Lincoln's Flying Spies: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War Balloon Corps. (Calkins Creek,
2010)
How did man first fly? Who made up the first US Air Force? Don't think planes or the Wright Brothers,
think balloons and Thaddeus Lowe. Four decades before Kitty Hawk, and five decades before World
War One, a few brave men went thousands of feet above enemy lines, hanging from a silk balloon, to
spy out the Confederate forces. Artillary shells burst around them, generals dismissed them, storms
sent them careening, but the Balloon Corps played their part in American history, even if that history
has gone untold for too long. Now read their heroic true story.
"Horror Scapes" series:
Michael Burgan. Dracula's Dark World. (Bearport, 2011)
Natalie Lunis. Tut's Deadly Tomb. (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Ghostly Alcatraz. (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Voodoo in New Orleans. (Bearport, 2011)
Steven L. Stern. Witchcraft in Salem. (Bearport, 2011)
Kathleen Kudlinski. Boy Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs. (Dutton, 2005)
Kenneth Mallory. Adventure Beneath the Sea: Living in an Underwater Science Station. (Boyds Mill
Press, 2010)
Dreaming of exploring another world? You don't have to wait until you can fly to Mars, there are
unexplored worlds here on Earth. Forget being an astronaut, why not try being an aquanaut?
Jennifer Morse. Guiness Book of World Records 2009. (Scholastic Reference, 2008)
"Nightmare Plagues" series:
Miriam Aronin. Tuberculosis: The White Plague! (Bearport, 2011)
William Caper. Typhoid Fever: Dirty Food, Dirty Water! (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Bubonic Plague: The Black Death! (Bearport, 2011)
Stephen Person. Malaria: Super Killer! (Bearport, 2011)
Adam Reingold. Smallpox: Is it Over? (Bearport, 2011)
Jessica Rudolph. The Flu of 1918: Millions Dead Worldwide! (Bearport, 2011)
Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. Ghosts: A Nonfiction Companion to A Good Night for
Ghosts. [Magic Tree House Research Guide] (Random House, 2009)
It is always great to get a kid hooked on a series, but so much better to hook them on a series that
has both fiction and nonfiction books. We don't give nonfiction enough credit, nor do we honor the fact
that so many boys want to connect their reading with real life. Well, in this case it is real death in the
form of real ghost stories, highly illustrated and quickly told. Great for those kids already addicted to
the series, and a grand introduction for those who aren't.
Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. Leprechauns and Irish Folklore: A Nonfiction
Companion to Leprechauns in Late Winter. [Magic Tree House Research Guide] (Random House,
2010)
Who needs a story written ABOUT some of the best stories ever? Why not just enjoy Irish folklore?
Revel in the playful, and sometimes not so playful, deeds of the wee folk, whether meeting to dance
beneath the stars, tearing apart houses that were built on fairy roads, or spiriting away their little
hoards of gold. Learn how to find that gold, how to lift a fairy spell, and what it means when a Banshee
wails outside your window.
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Special Edition 2009. (Scholastic, 2008)
Michael Sandler. "Fast Rides" (Series):
Dynamic Drag Racers. (Bearport, 2011)
Electrifying Eco-Race Cars. (Bearport, 2011)
It's where gear-heads, speed-freaks, tree-huggers, and techno-nuts meet to say... "Wow!"
Hot Hot Rods. (Bearport, 2011)
Jet Powered Speed. (Bearport, 2011)
Michael Sandler. "X-Moves" (Series):
Cool Snowboarders. (Bearport, 2010)
Daring BMXers. (Bearport, 2010)
Gnarly Skateboarders. (Bearport, 2010)
Mighty MotoXers. (Bearport, 2010)
For the early gear-head crowd, here is a quick, highly visual tour of the motocross world. The stop-
action photos of every step of a trick are particularly stunning.
Rally Car Dudes. (Bearport, 2010)
Super Surfers. (Bearport, 2010)
"Scary Places" (Series)
Dinah Williams. Abandoned Insane Asylums. (Bearport, 2008)
Sarah Parvis. Creepy Castles. (Bearport, 2008)
Michael E. Goodman. Dark Labyrinths. (Bearport, 2008)
Sarah Parvis. Ghost Towns. (Bearport, 2008)
Sarah Parvis. Haunted Hotels. (Bearport, 2008)
Dinah Williams. Haunted Houses. (Bearport, 2008)
Dinah Williams. Spooky Cemeteries. (Bearport, 2008)
Steven L. Stern. Wretched Ruins. (Bearport, 2010)
Marilyn Singer. What Stinks? (Darby Creek, 2006)
James Solheim. It's Disgusting and We Ate It!: True Food Facts from Around the World and
Throughout History. (Simon & Schuster, 1998)
Cat Urbigkit. Path of the Pronghorn. (Boyds Mills Press, 2010)
Desiree Webber. The Buffalo Train Ride. (Eakin Press, 1999)
Desiree Webber. Bonehead: Story of the Longhorn. (Eakin Press, 2003)
"The Work of Heroes: First Responders in Action" (Series)
Meish Goldish. Doctors to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
Meish Goldish. Firefighters to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
Nancy White. Paramedics to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
Nancy White. Police Officers to the Rescue. (Bearport, 2012)
| Books For Boys Suggestions by Michael Sullivan |
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| The Web Home of Michael Sullivan teacher, librarian, chess instructor, author, storyteller, expert on boys and reading. |
