It’s back to school and back to informational texts. This book selection will make learning fun, with facts presented in a creative (and colorful) way. Young readers can learn about an elusive wild animal and meet a famous person who loved to read about the wild. There’s much information to be shared, so let’s get started.
Learning From the Great Outdoors
‘Little Bee and the Bloom’
By Carly Kremer and Katie Hunt
In this brightly illustrated picture book for preschoolers and kindergarteners, young learners will discover pollination in a child-friendly way. Its rhyming verses are pleasing to little ears, and the simple dialogue between a bee and a flower will hold children’s attention. It is a great introduction to why bees are important and, at the end, provides feasible ways to draw bees to one’s garden. A “bee”-utiful starter book on these important pollinators for the youngest of readers.
Tiny Torch Books, 40 pages, Sept. 1, 2026
‘Puma Concolor: In Search of Patagonia’s Wild Pumas’
By René Araneda, Julio Antonio Blasco, and Lawrence Schimel
René Araneda is probably best known for his many documentaries on the wildlife in Patagonia, a region at the southernmost tip of South America. Araneda approaches this children’s nonfiction picture book on the elusive puma as he would a documentary.
The book follows a mother puma named Rupestre, which roams the diverse ecosystems of the Chilean national park it resides in. Much like observing the pumas in the wild through a filmmaker’s camera, Rupestre’s activities are described in this picture book as though Sir David Attenborough himself were narrating it. It is a personal and intimate look at one of nature’s highly territorial felines. For readers who are huge fans of big cats, 10 years old and up!
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 48 pages, Sept. 29, 2026
Learning From Great Men
‘The Boy Behind the Wardrobe: How C.S. Lewis Grew Up to Create Narnia’
By Suzanne Poulter Harris and Mira Miroslavova
Young fans of C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” will be just as delighted to read about how the author grew up, how his love for storytelling and story-writing began, and how a wardrobe and World War II evacuees helped shape his most famous story, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”
In this beautifully illustrated picture book, readers navigate what it was like to grow up in early-1900s England. A young Lewis tries to fit in with his peers and eventually finds his calling in the literary world. It is not just a biographical account of a famous author’s life, but an inspiring true story of not losing one’s childlike wonder when the world seems to be falling apart. Great for Lewis fans aged 8 and up!
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 56 pages, Oct. 20, 2026
‘My Word, Theodore: How Books, Writing, and Reading Saved Theodore Roosevelt’
By Kate Hannigan and Stacy Innerst
Author Kate Hannigan masterfully condenses the 36th president’s life story, centering around his love for books and his passion for putting pen to paper. Readers will learn how, as a young boy, Theodore Roosevelt was sickly and often cooped up in bed. This, however, did not deter him from visiting far-off places through his many animal picture books, where he learned about birds and beasts found in prairies and jungles.
As he grew older, he longed to visit these places in person. But first, he had to become physically stronger. He eventually became a frontiersman, an expedition leader, and, of course, president of the United States. Along the way, he recorded all his observations, feelings, and deeds in his journal and in published books. As a politician, his writings included letters and speeches, one of which literally saved his life.
The book is packed with as much information a 40-page picture book could possibly hold, with wonderful illustrations to match the text. It is a fascinating biography, appropriate for children 8 and up.
Calkins Creek, 40 pages, Nov. 24, 2026
Learning From Great Works
‘We Are the Wright Brothers’
By Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos
The latest addition to the “Ordinary People Change the World” series features the wonderful Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, documenting their childhood love for tinkering and problem-solving.
When presented with a wind-up helicopter by their father, the brothers did not content themselves with playing with the toy. They also observed how it worked. Their quest to build a machine that takes man up in the air was fraught with losses and disappointments. In the end, they succeed, not because of luck, but by sheer determination. Readers as young as kindergarten will love the message of persistence!
Rocky Pond Books, 40 pages, Oct. 6, 2026
‘Freedom to Read: The Story of Teacher Mary Peake and One Mighty Oak Tree’
By Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome
In a time when education was outlawed for black people, an educated lady taught reading and writing at a great cost to herself. Her name was Mary Peake, and her classroom was under a gigantic oak tree, now called the Emancipation Oak. Readers learn how the mighty oak is called a “witness tree” by the National Park Service, as it recounts the many historical events that took place under its sheltering branches. A great overview of Hampton, Virginia during the Civil War era. Appropriate for children 9 and up who already have some background on this historical period.
A Paula Wiseman Book/Beach Lane Books, 48 pages, Aug. 25, 2026
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