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Best Informational Books for Older Readers of 2023

We recommend these as the very best nonfiction books published for kids in 4th though 8th grade in 2023.

Chicago Public Library

20 items

  • Breaking the Mold

    Changing the Face of Climate Science

    Levy, Dana Alison,
    Meet a cave explorer turned science writer, a disabled vulcanologist who spends time near active volcanoes, an Indigenous Hawaiian surfer who studies the microbiomes of other surfers and more in this anthology featuring sixteen of the…
    BookNew York : Holiday House, [2023] — Q141.L352 2023
  • Chinese Menu

    the History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods

    Lin, Grace,
    If you love Chinese food, you may have wondered how your favorite dishes got their names. Take a deep dive into the history, myths and legends behind your favorite foods in this beautifully illustrated book laid out just like a Chinese…
    BookNew York : Little, Brown and Company, 2023. — TX360.C6L56 2023
  • Coretta's Journey

    the Life and Times of Coretta Scott King /

    Duncan, Alice Faye,
    Explore Coretta Scott King’s life through poetry and prose, highlighting all the many ups and downs that she and her family weathered through determination, hard work and gumption. Coretta’s parents taught her those values and she brought…
    BookNew York : Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, [2023] — E185.97.K47D86 2023
  • Come along with Dan Santat as he shares his amazing, and sometimes cringeworthy, experiences on a group trip to Europe at age 13. His experiences with friendship, embarrassment and first love are relatable, and his illustrations of the…
    PaperbackNew York : First Second, 2023. — HQ797.S26 2023
  • Holding Her Own

    the Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes

    Todd, Traci N.,
    Artist, journalist, cartoonist, activist, fashionista and doll designer – Jackie Ormes was all these things and more! But first, Jackie Ormes was Zelda Jackson, a little girl from Pennsylvania with two artistic parents and a knack for…
    BookNew York : Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2023. — PN6727.O74Z88 2023
  • Just Jerry

    How Drawing Shaped My Life

    Pinkney, Jerry,
    In this memoir, Jerry Pinkney, one the most renowned children’s book illustrators of all time, gives us an inside look into his world as a little boy growing up on East Earlham Street in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 50s. From funny family…
    BookNew York : Little, Brown and Company, 2023. — NC975.5.P56A2 2023
  • Learning to Be Wild

    How Animals Achieve Peace, Create Beauty, and Raise Families

    Safina, Carl, 1955-
    Are humans the only animals on Earth with culture – the ability to learn from each other and pass along certain behaviors socially? This young reader’s edition exploring the social lives of chimpanzees, macaws, and sperm whales suggests…
    BookNew York, NY : Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership, 2023. — QL775.S245 2023
  • Where do baby [rabbits, snakes, humans] come from? Using scientific terms and diagrams, Katherine Roy describes how various species “meet, merge, and create.” Roy’s stunning and scientifically accurate drawings illustrate the concepts…
    BookNew York, NY : Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Company, [2023] — QH471.R69 2023
  • In this graphic memoir, author, illustrator, and self-proclaimed “Mexikid” Pedro/Peter Martinez takes us all the way back in time to 1977 when Star Wars was his favorite movie, Superman was his favorite action hero, and his entire family –…
    PaperbackNew York : Dial Books for Young Readers, [2023] — PN6727.M2453Z46 2023
  • The Mona Lisa Vanishes

    a Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

    Day, Nicholas, 1991-
    Travel back and forth in time through this thrilling nonfiction narrative to discover how the Mona Lisa became THE Mona Lisa. Not only will you walk the footsteps of the thief and detectives to solve the greatest heist in history, but you…
    BookNew York : Random House Studio, [2023] — ND623.L5A7 2023
  • The Monkey Trial

    John Scopes and the Battle Over Teaching Evolution

    Sanchez, Anita, 1956-
    Could a science teacher be arrested for teaching students about a scientific theory? In Dayton, Tennesse in 1925, the answer was yes. This is the page-turning true story of a court case once deemed “the trial of the century.”
    BookNew York, NY : Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2023] — KF224.S3S26 2023
  • More Than a Dream

    the Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

    Williams, Yohuru, 1971-
    More than likely, you have heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, but how did the day it happened come to be? Any huge event takes much planning, as did the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.…
    BookNew York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023. — HT675.W54 2023
  • My Head Has a Bellyache

    More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-ups

    Harris, Chris, 1970-
    Be prepared before you open this book: anything can happen with the poems inside. A meteor might crash into a poem, there may be a poem in the footnotes, one poem might suddenly become a snake. There might even be a book-within-the-book.…
    BookNew York : Little, Brown and Company, [2023] — PS3608.A78237M9 2023
  • Of All Tribes

    American Indians and Alcatraz

    Bruchac, Joseph, 1942-
    A lesser-known but no less noteworthy chapter of history, this is the powerful story of a group of Native American activists who in 1969 occupied the abandoned island and prison of Alcatraz for over a year, declaring it stolen – and now…
    BookNew York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, [2023] — E78.C15B74 2023
  • A Place Called America

    a Story of the Land and People /

    Thermes, Jennifer,
    This history of America, from 15,000 years ago until today, selects major historical events to tell the story of the United States. And while that may not sound groundbreaking, the book centers the perspective of the colonized and/or…
    BookNew York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023. — E178.3.T45 2023
  • Polar

    Wildlife at the Ends of the Earth

    Carmichael, L. E. (Lindsey E.),
    Even though the Arctic and Antarctica are at opposite ends of the Earth, they have a lot in common: they’re both cold, windy, and dark for six much each year! Due to these environmental similarities, distinctly different animals have…
    BookToronto : Kids Can Press, [2023] — QL104.C37 2023
  • Shining a Light

    Celebrating 40 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World

    Bybee, Veeda,
    Meet a variety of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in this collective biography with a bold portrait paired with an informative essay. This small selection starts in the 19th century and takes us through the present featuring notable…
    BookNew York, NY : Versify, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023. — E184.A75B934 2023
  • Total Garbage

    a Messy Dive Into Trash, Waste, and Our World /

    Donnelly, Rebecca,
    From compost to conservation, reducing to recycling, this book reveals the entire life cycle of the endless tons of trash that humans create daily. Beyond being a fascinating discussion on what are the easiest materials to recycle and why,…
    BookNew York : Henry Holt and Company, [2023] — TD788.D66 2023
  • A gorgeous and innovative showcase of 34 prominent Indigenous leaders from 1000 A.D. to today. Each two-page spread contains a poem on one side discussing the titled figure and their deeds while the other side provides unique illustrations…
    BookNew York, NY : Reycraft Books, 2022. — PS3552.R794V65 2022
  • Your Freedom, Your Power

    a Kid's Guide to the First Amendment /

    Matulli, Allison,
    The first amendment offers freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government but what does that mean for kids? Do you have the right to protest at school? Are curfew laws allowed under the first amendment? …
    BookPhiladelphia : RP Kids, 2023. — KF4770.M375 2023