… and now you can have answers! These three non-fiction books cover everything from baby animals to what we eat, and whole host of bathtime, bedtime, and playtime questions in between.
Animal Babies
by Pascale Hedelin and Stephanie Herrbach
Owl Kids
ISBN: 978 1 897349 90 8
Audience: ages 5 and up
This great book full of flaps and movable features makes discovering the world of baby animals fun. Nicely-drawn illustrations and small chunks of information cover an impressive range of information about how animals are born, how they are taught by their parents, and how they adapt to their environment. Sturdy card pages and a wire binding help this book lie flat for easy perusing by even smaller, clumsier hands. This is a great pick for curious animal lovers!
Why?
by Catherine Ripley
Owl Kids
ISBN: 978 1 926818 00 9
Audience: children with questions and their parents
This book is actually a tenth anniversary edition – and kids still keep asking! If your kid has questions – and whose doesn’t? – this book is a terrific place to find answers in simple, kid-friendly terms. The questions are grouped the way they are likely to appear – at the supermarket or the kitchen, for example, or at bathtime or bedtime. Cartoonish illustrations of a family going through its day accompany the answers and help set questions in context. For any parent who would like a little help answering kids in a thoughtful but accessible way, I fully recommend having this on your shelf – you know you’ll need it!
Who Wants Pizza?
by Jan Thornhill
Owl Kids
ISBN: 978 1 897349 97 7
Audience: grades 3-6
Jan Thornhill is known for through non-fiction that appeals to kids with her light tone as well as her willingness to go right into the subjects some shy away from. This makes for a great look at food, since she covers everything from why we eat to what we eat, where it came from, and some things to consider when choosing your food. At the same time, she talks about the gross stuff – which lots of kids love – like eating bugs and how we kill animals for our table. She’s not Michael Pollan, though some of the same messages come through, here, and parents who want their children to grow up mindful of their eating habits might find this a perfectly-pitched book to start their kids thinking.