Behind the Books: Great Narrative Nonfiction

Here are some of my favorite narrative nonfiction picture books:

Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan (illus. by Brian Floca)

Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad Tale by April Pulley Sayre (illus Barbara Bash)

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley (illus Brian Selznick)

Family Pack by Sandra Markle (illus. Alan Marks)

Little Lost Bat by Sandra Markle (illus. Alan Marks)

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola

Red-eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley (illus. Nic Bishop)

Those Rebels, John & Tom by Barbara Kerley (illus. Edwin Fotheringham)

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass (E.B. Lewis)

Waiting for Ice by Sandra Markle (illus. Alan Marks)

And here are some great narrative nonfiction books for older readers:

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming

Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge by Marc Aronson

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by Sy Montgomery (illus. Nic Bishop)

The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery (photos Nic Bishop)

We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson