Our Children's Editor's Reading List

"A Seed Is Sleepy is an award-winning picture book (32 pages) about botanical science for children age 4-6. It is part of the beautiful Nature Books series by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long. Other titles are: An Egg Is Quiet , A Rock Is Lively , A Nest Is Noisy , A Butterfly is Patient , A Beetle Is Shy , and A Shell Is Cozy . Together, these books give children an idea of the complexity and beauty of the natural world, and a sense of how much there is still to discover. A Seed Is Sleepy celebrates the incredible variety of seeds, and introduces facts about plants such as how they make their food through photosynthesis. We encounter the Texas mountain laurel which might wait ten years to bloom; the redwood – the world’s tallest tree – which can grow from a seed the size of a freckle; and the dandelion whose fine hairs can take its seed 160 kilometres from the parent plant. The ink and watercolour illustrations are detailed and attractive, and the book is well tailored to 4-6 year olds by being both simple and very informative."

"How Colour Works How Colour Works is a vibrant picture book (32 pages) about the science of colour, written by Catherine Barr. The bright, splashy pictures with simple shapes and animals are by Yulia Gwilym, an award-winning illustrator originally from Ukraine. Readers learn about light waves, pigment, how the eyes of humans and different animals work, blue light, sunlight, camouflage and much else besides. The book comes with a useful glossary at the end."

"Bright in the Night Bright in the Night is a 48-page scientific picture book by award-winning Swedish author and illustrator Lena Sjöberg. It has double-page spreads on different topics, mostly about nocturnal animals in various habitats but also other themes such as fluorescent mushrooms and city lights. This is an effortless way for children to be introduced to concepts such as bioluminescence and biofluorescence. With a broad range of topics tied by a common theme, most children age 4-8 will find something of interest in this beautiful information book."

"The Big Book of Bugs is the first in Yuval Zommer’s award-winning Big Book series, which seamlessly combines engaging and beautiful illustrations with interesting facts. Readers learn that bugs live nearly everywhere on our planet (including in our homes), and are introduced to key groups of creepy-crawlies such as beetles, moths, butterflies, bees, snails, crickets, grasshoppers, worms and spiders. Other titles in this series include The Big Book of Beasts about wild animals, The Big Book of the Blue about life in the ocean, The Big Book of Birds , and The Big Book of Blooms about flowering plants. There is also a sticker book spin-off series. Longer than a normal picture book (64 pages) and in a large format, The Big Book of Bugs and other titles in this natural science book series are probably best suited for children age 5-8."

"Creatures of the Deep: The Pop-Up Book Creatures of the Deep is a fabulous wordless pop-up book, not a traditional story or science book, or particularly a book for kids. As there is no text, children can enjoy it as soon as they are able to turn the pages without breaking the elaborate three-dimensional paper engineering created by Maike Biederstädt. Creatures of the Deep is based on underwater illustrations from Ernst Haeckel’s Art Forms in Nature ( Kunstformen der Natur ) prints originally published between 1899 and 1904. It is an amazing work of art that instils a feeling of wonder about the underwater world. Although there are only seven pop-ups readers get a sense of the incredible variety of the flora and fauna there. Haeckel is known for his use of vivid colours, exceptional detail and fascination with mathematically-based patterns in nature. In addition to being an inspiration to budding marine biologists, this book can provide a handy new approach if you want to talk about geometry with children who think they don’t like maths."

"What a Shell Can Tell by Helen Scales (PhD in marine biology from the University of Cambridge, UK), illustrated by Sonia Pulido. May 30, 2023. Updated: February 20, 2025 Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected] Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you've enjoyed this interview, please support us by donating a small amount ."

"The illustrations in this book are not only anatomically accurate but so delicate and detailed that they are honestly difficult to distinguish from photographs. Ben Rothery has written and illustrated several other beautiful books about animals (covering creatures on land, in the sea and in the air), but if you are looking for a science book with almost guaranteed appeal to a 9-12 year old, you are unlikely to go wrong with this topic. The book (54 pages) is organised into sections such as teamwork, speed, stealth and mimicry, and makes readers think analytically about what makes something deadly and dangerous. Not all the deadliest animals are obvious hunters such as the leopard on the cover. For example, the poison of a golden frog can kill several adult humans, an adult dragonfly catches up to 95% of the prey it chases, and the Sargassum fish can swallow creatures larger than itself. This book was shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2023 ."

"This is a large format science book (112 pages) published in collaboration with the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew in London. You can happily leaf through it as an aesthetic experience (indeed the plates are also sold as postcards), but readers can learn a lot of scientific information from this book. As the introduction points out, without plants there would be no humans, and reading it makes you want to understand the patterns of plant diversity that are so important to life on Earth. There are chapters on the first plants, trees, palms, herbaceous plants, grasses, orchids and adapting to environments. We learn the science behind why some plants live in water while others are suspended in mid-air, and about especially intriguing plants such as cacti, parasitic plants and carnivorous plants. The author is an award-winning Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford, and was Director of Science at Kew when she wrote this book. The illustrations, clearly influenced by traditional botanical drawing, are by Katie Scott who has also illustrated several other titles in the ‘ Welcome to the Museum ‘ series which Botanicum is part of. Other science titles in this beautiful book series aimed at 9-12 year olds include Planetarium (winner of the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2019 ), Dinosaurium, Oceanarium, Animalium, Anatomicum, Fungarium, Arboretum and The Story of Life: Evolution . Several of the titles come in an attractive mini gift edition as an alternative to the large format edition, and there are activity book spin-offs as well. If you are looking for books about plants for slightly younger kids (around age 7-10), here are two good options: I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast: A Celebration of Plants Around the World by Michael Holland and Philip Giordano and Humongous Fungus: The Weird and Wonderful Kingdom of Fungi by Professor Lynne Boddy and Wenjia Tang. They are both very colourful and full of scientific information. I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast was shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2021 . What else?"

"If you are looking for a gift for a Harry Potter fan who already identifies with one of the four houses at Hogwarts but who doesn’t yet have the books, the house edition would be perfect. These books are sparsely illustrated and may therefore seem a surprising pick, but they are thoughtfully designed volumes in either hardcover or paperback. They are printed in the various house colours and black. Levi Pinfold has designed intricate house crests inspired by medieval heraldry, using very fine line drawing and a little ink. For a special gift you might go for a box set, in red for Gryffindor , blue for Ravenclaw , green for Slytherin or yellow for Hufflepuff . Pay attention if you are buying the box set online as some sets don’t include all seven books. In the USA, Scholastic published a 15th anniversary box set with cover art by Kazu Kibuishi, retaining Mary GrandPré’s iconic chapter illustrations. The style is quite epic and if you like to have beautiful book spines that form a picture when lined up it is an excellent choice. Kibuishi wrote about this project: “As an author myself, I tried to answer the question, ‘If I were the author of the books—and they were like my own children—how would I want them to be seen years from now?’ When illustrating the covers, I tried to think of classic perennial paperback editions of famous novels and how those illustrations tend to feel. In a way, the project became a tribute to both Harry Potter and the literary classics.” But buyers beware: reviews suggest some sets sold online are pirated low quality editions. Alternatively, editions with Mary GrandPré’s covers are widely available individually or as a box set . Juniper Books has designed a variety of high-end ornamental dust jackets to be used with the Scholastic hardcover books. They also provide a cardboard box shaped as a travelling trunk. (It is possible to buy the books with the special dust jackets, or just the covers without the books.) In the UK there are simple paperback volumes published by Bloomsbury with cover art by Jonny Duddle; they are available as the Children’s Complete Collection box set. There is also a box set marketed specifically for adults with cover art by woodcut artist Andrew Davidson."

"If you are looking for an alternative children’s edition, Jim Kay has so far illustrated the first five titles in the series. These are relatively large books with plenty of colour illustrations, available both in hardcover and paperback. These editions are perfect for the youngest generation of readers, who are just old enough to enjoy the story but still have a preference for picture books. In 2001, J.K. Rowling wrote two companion volumes which appear as the titles of Harry’s school books within the novels: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages . Royalties from sales of these books are split between Comic Relief and Lumos , an international charity founded by J.K. Rowling in 2005 to promote family-based care alternatives to the institutionalisation of children. You can buy these books individually or in a set with a third companion volume, The Tales of Beedle the Bard , which was first published in 2008 in aid of Lumos. These three slim volumes are illustrated with black line drawings by Tomislav Tomic and cover art by Jonny Duddle. They are available as hardcover or paperback books individually or as a Hogwarts Library box set."

"Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature , the catalogue from an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, is a lovely spin-off from Fantastic Beasts . The original book was ostensibly written by magizoologist Newt Scamander as a guide to the magical beasts of the wizarding world. The exhibition highlights parallels between the film and animals in real life, which can be every bit as magical. The catalogue contains a foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and chapters by various experts in aspects of natural history, animal behaviour and biodiversity. In terms of visuals, there are illustrations by, among others, Olivia Lomenech Gill (who has authored one of the chapters as well), and wildlife photographs. Delightfully, there is a reproduction of the intriguing Olaus Magnus marine map from 1539. A perfect gift book, it is available in either hardcover or paperback and – like the exhibition – is something that adults and children can enjoy together."

"Both books are themed around the curriculum at Hogwarts, such as potions, herbology, astronomy, divination and defence against the dark arts. Both contain photos and information about the exhibits, illustrations by Jim Kay, and drafts and sketches from J.K. Rowling’s archives. The difference seems to be that A Journey through a History of Magic is more focused on Harry Potter and Hogwarts and seems chiefly aimed at children, whereas A History of Magic should appeal to anyone interested in history. This book has all sorts of captivating (or perhaps I should say bewitching) detail about alchemy, fortune-telling, invisibility spells, oracle bones, witches’ cauldrons and early illustrated herbals. Again, a very nice gift book for the whole family, with plenty of colour illustrations."

"Thrones and Bones Frostborn , the first book in the Thrones and Bones trilogy by Lou Anders, is a fast-paced and fun adventure novel packed full of Norse and Norse-inspired mythology. Our two main characters are Karn and Thianna. Karn is obsessed with playing a strategy board game and not remotely interested in learning the skills needed to take over the family farm. Thianna is a frost giant in denial about her human heritage. By force of circumstance they need to team up against trolls and a gigantic winged serpent, not to mention wyvern-mounted soldiers, undead draugs and other assorted adversaries. Perfect for fans of How to Train Your Dragon as well as Percy Jackson ."

"Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor has been recommended before on Five Books , including by author Efua Traoré in her interview on the best West African fantasy books for teens . The villain in the first book in the trilogy (published in Nigeria as What Sunny Saw in the Flames) is a serial killer who draws power from the life and innocence of child victims, so this book is generally recommended for readers age 12 and early teens rather than younger middle grade readers. Sunny, the protagonist, needs to figure out who she is and what powers she may have inherited from her grandmother, and stop the villain from increasing his magic. Sunny is constantly striving to maintain balance in her life: between the USA and Nigeria, and between her love of football and her albinism (which means she can’t play in the sun). Hardest of all, having discovered that she is a powerful Leopard person she must keep her new world of magic secret from her family. In the magical world she needs to catch up with her new friends in juju, shape-shifting and spells at breakneck pace. This is an award-winning series, and the Akata Witch audio version, narrated by Yetide Badaki, was selected as an ‘Amazing Audiobook for Young Adults’ by the American Library Association ."

"More deeply embedded in Celtic mythology, Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts by Erika Lewis features a protagonist who — during a school trip to a museum — is transported to the Otherworld. There, Kelcie unexpectedly finds herself at a cliffside boarding school where the pupils train to become warriors. More than anything, Kelcie wants to find out who her parents are and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbour as a young child. But when she finds out that she is a Saiga and that her father is in prison for treason, how certain can she really feel about her allegiances? The author, who herself struggled with learning to read, is a children’s literacy advocate. That is reflected in The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts , which is fast-paced and clearly written to engage young readers, including reluctant ones. This series is perfect for fans of Harry Potter as well as Percy Jackson ."

"F irst up is the wonderful The Way Things Work by David Macaulay. This encyclopaedic book for kids is full of hand-drawn illustrations and features a mammoth as a recurring motif, adding humour to all the explanations. (As an example, the chapter on friction features an unwilling mammoth having a bath.) There are 400 pages in six main parts, each clearly subdivided: ‘The mechanics of movement’, ‘Harnessing the elements’, ‘Working with waves’, ‘Electricity and automation’, ‘The digital domain’ and ‘The invention of machines’. There is also a glossary of technical terms."

"Sky High! This book made our best books for kids of 2023 . The text is very informative but prominence is given to the comic-like style illustrations. The large format allows plenty of room for the drawings effectively to show how things work. Sky High! Is mainly a history of aviation and different types of aircraft, but there is also a lot of content about how flight actually works. It starts from basics such as how a whirlybird or helicopter seed spins, how the dandelion fruit acts like a tiny parachute that gets pulled up in tiny eddies of air. Then we get to how hot air makes a balloon rise and how the wing of a plane glider works. Readers see how control of the rudder, elevators and ailerons change the way the air flows, and learn how different engines (jet, turbofan, rocket) work in simple terms. Concepts such as sound waves and radio are also introduced. And we learn about air currents, how temperature affects function — all the different factors involved in designing a plane. This is a fantastic book for children age 8-13 who are interested in how aviation works."

"Inventors: Incredible Stories of the World’s Most Ingenious Inventions written by multi-award winning scientist Lord Robert Winston, was shortlisted for the 2021 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize . It is a richly illustrated book with dozens of stories of inspiring inventors, from Archimedes to contemporary ones such as Deepika Kurup, who in 2012 — at the age of 14 — won a science competition with a cheap solar-powered water purifier."

"The Moose of Ewenki This picture book was written in Chinese but the culture of reindeer herding which it depicts is not one that most readers normally associate with China. The award-winning, best-selling author is an ethnic Mongolian who clearly has an affinity with other essentially nomadic cultures. He has previously written a novel for children called Black Flame , also translated into English, about a Tibetan mastiff which is stolen from its owner and has a series of adventures. In The Moose of Ewenki , the main human character is an old Evenki man called Gree Shrek. (The Evenki are a Tungusic people who live on both sides of the Argun river, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China and in the Russian Far East.) Gree Shrek is a hunter who mistakenly kills a female moose who has a calf. When the orphaned calf follows him home, Gree Shrek names him Xiao Han – Little Moose – and takes care of him. Xiao Han gets up to all sorts of mischievous antics and, even when he has outgrown all the reindeer, follows Gree Shrek everywhere. But the ageing Gree Shrek realises that he doesn’t have long to live and that Xiao Han really belongs in the forest. The Moose of Ewenki is longer than a normal picture book (over 60 pages), but there isn’t too much text – the focus is very much on the carbon pencil and watercolour illustrations of nature and animals. The illustrations add humour to the story; the pictures of the growing moose calf knocking down the tent or dripping water all over Gree Shrek are sure to delight young readers."

"Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village This book is by a prolific Taiwanese author, and both she and the illustrator have won multiple awards. Unlike the other picture books featured, all of which are by Chinese illustrators, this one is illustrated by a German artist. Danowski’s work has a detailed and realistic style with wide appeal. Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village has two parts. First we have the last day that little Xiao Le spends with his grandmother (at the time he doesn’t know that he will not see her again, but readers understand that she is very ill). Xiao Le hasn’t seen Grandma for a while, and at first he is fearful of her frailty, but she wins his confidence and they have some lovely moments together. In the second half of the story, Xiao Le and his mother are coping with their loss. They agree that Grandma has probably gone to heaven and talk about whether it is like her old home in Perfume Village. This is a sad but warm story which can help young children understand that death is a part of life, and that memories we have of our loved ones continue to bring us comfort after they are gone."