For Kids
Using Information Books with Young Children
You can teach your child many things using picture books with facts and realistic pictures. It will help him to read and gather information about the world. It will answer his curiosity and give him pleasure. It will build on knowledge he already has. By connecting with interests he has, he will become a better reader. The following books have been selected as appropriate for sharing with children in preschool through second grade. Find these and other information books at your neighborhood Chicago Public Library. Ask your librarian for other suggested titles on subjects of interest to your child.
Quicklinks: Concept Books | The Physical World Around Us | The Natural World Around Us | The World of People
Concept Books
Alphabet Books
A is for Africa
By Ifeoma Onyefulu
Alphabet City
By Stephen Johnson
An Edible Alphabet: 26 Reasons to Love the Farm
By Carol Watterson
Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English
By Alma Flor Ada
Tomorrow's Alphabet
By George Shannon
The Turn-Around, Upside-Down Alphabet Book
By Lisa Campbell Ernst
Colors
Chidi Only Likes Blue: An African Book of Colors
By Ifeoma Onyefulu
City Colors
By Zoran Milich
Growing Colors
By Bruce McMillan
Lemons Are Not Red
By Laura Vaccaro Seeger
White is for Blueberry
By George Shannon
A World of Colors: Seeing Colors in a New Way
By Marie Houblon
Counting
26 Letters and 99 Cents
By Tana Hoban
Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
By Yuyi Morales
Missing Math: A Number Mystery
By Loreen Leedy
One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book
By April Pulley Sayre
Turtle Splash! Countdown at the Pond
By Cathryn Falwell
Used Any Numbers Lately?
By Susan Allen and Jane Lindaman
The Physical World Around Us
All Around the Town
ABC in Chicago
By Robin Segal
Building a House
By Byron Barton
Construction Zone
By Tana Hoban
Firefighters A to Z
By Chris L. Demarest
Home
By Jeannie Baker
I Read Signs
By Tana Hoban
On the Town: A Community Adventure
By Judith Casele
Police Officers
By Paulette Bourgeois
Sanitation Workers
By JoAnn Macken
What Should I Do? Near a Busy Street
By Wil Mara
Science Surrounds Us
Guess Whose Shadow?
By Stephen R. Swinburne
I Fall Down
By Vicki Cobb
I Get Wet
By Vicki Cobb
I See Myself
By Vicki Cobb
Pop! A Book About Bubbles
By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Sounds All Around
By Wendy Pfeffer
Transportation
Bicycle Book
By Gail Gibbons
Everything Goes on Land
By Brian Biggs
My Car
By Byron Barton
On the Go
By Ann Morris
Subway Ride
By Heather Lynn Miller
The Natural World Around Us
Animals
About Fish: A Guide for Children
By Cathryn Sill
About Reptiles: A Guide for Children
By Cathryn Sill
Actual Size
By Steve Jenkins
Animal Dads
By Sneed B. Collard III
Animals Nobody Loves
By Seymour Simon
Biggest, Strongest, Fastest
By Steve Jenkins
Bring on the Birds
By Susan Stockdale
Chameleon, Chameleon
By Joy Cowley
Chickens Aren't the Only Ones
By Ruth Heller
Ducks Don't Get Wet
By Augusta Goldin
The Emperor's Egg
By Martin Jenkins
How to Talk to Your Cat
By Jean Craighead George
How To Talk to Your Dog
By Jean Craighead George
The Milk Makers
By Gail Gibbons
Night Animals
By Bobbie Kalman
One Tiny Turtle
By Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Panda Kindergarten
By Joanne Ryder
Pigs
By Gail Gibbons
Red-Eyed Tree Frog
By Joy Cowley
Surprising Sharks
By Nicola Davies
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?
By Steve Jenkins
Wonderful Worms
By Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Insects and Spiders
Bugs
By Nancy Winslow Parker
Bugs by the Numbers: Facts and Figures for Multiple Types of Bugbeasties
By Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss
Insect Detective
By Steve Voake
The Life and Times of the Ant
By Charles Micucci
Spinning Spiders
By Melvin Berger
Waiting for Wings
By Lois Ehlert
Archaeology and Dinosaurs
Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones
By Byron Barton
Digging Up Dinosaurs
By Byron Barton
Dinosaur Bones
By Bob Barner
Dinosaurs!
By Gail Gibbons
Fossils Tell of Long Ago
By Aliki
The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs
By Joanna Cole
Habitats and Homes
About Habitats: Deserts
By Cathryn Sill
Beachcombing: Exploring the Seashore
By Jim Arnoski
Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs
By Linda Ashman
A House is a House for Me
By Mary Ann Hoberman
I See a Kookaburra!: Discovering Animal Habitats Around the World
By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
I Took a Walk
By Henry Cole
Jack's Garden
By Henry Cole
On Meadowview Street
By Henry Cole
The Year at Maple Hill Farm
By Alice and Martin Provensen
Plants
Apples, Apples, Apples
By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Are Trees Alive?
By Debbie S. Miller
How a Seed Grows
By Helen J. Jordan
Leaves! Leaves! Leaves!
By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden
By George Levenson
Pumpkin Day
By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
A Seed is Sleepy
By Dianna Hutts Aston
Seeds
By Ken Robbins
Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids
By Gail Gibbons
This Tree Counts!
By Alison Formento
Space
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System
By Joanna Cole
On Earth
By G. Brian Karas
Our Stars
By Anne Rockwell
The Planets
By Gail Gibbons
The Sun: Our Nearest Star
By Franklyn Branley
What's So Special About Planet Earth?
By Robert E. Wells
Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations
By Jacqueline Mitton
Weather and Seasons
The Cloud Book
By Tomie dePaola
Every Autumn Comes the Bear
By Jim Arnosky
Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll
By Franklyn Branley
I Face the Wind
By Vicki Cobb
It's Fall!
By Linda Glaser
It's Spring!
By Linda Glaser
It's Summer!
By Linda Glaser
It's Winter!
By Linda Glaser
The Reasons for Seasons
By Gail Gibbons
The World of People
Our Minds and Bodies
The Busy Body Book
By Lizzy Rockwell
Germs Make me Sick!
By Melvin Berger
How You Were Born
By Joanna Cole
I'm Growing!
By Aliki
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body
By Joanna Cole
My Feet
By Aliki
My Hands
By Aliki
Open Wide: Tooth School Inside
By Laurie Keller
Sleep is for Everyone
By Paul Showers
Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup, and Yawn
By Melvin Berger
You Can't Smell a Flower in Your Ear!
By Joanna Cole
The Food We Eat
Bread Comes to Life: A Garden of Wheat and a Loaf to Eat
By George Levenson
Everybody Bakes Bread
By Norah Dooley
Everybody Cooks Rice
By Norah Dooley
Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition
By Lizzy Rockwell
Ice Cream: The Full Scoop
By Gail Gibbons
The Popcorn Book
By Tomie dePaola
Watch Me Grow!: A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City
By Deborah Hodge
An Artistic Flair
Ah, Music!
By Aliki
Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring
By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
By Melissa Sweet
Charlie Needs a Cloak
By Tomie dePaola
Meet the Orchestra
By Ann Hayes
The Pot That Juan Built
By Nancy Andrews-Goebel
What Do Authors Do?
By Eileen Christelow
What Do Illustrators Do?
By Eileen Christelow
Our Country
America the Beautiful
By Katharine Lee Bates, illustrated by Wendell Minor
Celebrate the 50 States!
By Loreen Leedy
Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
By Linda Glaser
I Pledge Allegiance
By Francis Bellamy, Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson
This is the Dream
By Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander
This Land is Your Land
By Woody Guthrie, illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen
Our World
Children Around the World
By Donata Montanari
Families
By Ann Morris
Kindergarten Day USA and China
By Laura Vaccaro Seeger
A Little Peace
By Barbara Kerley
One World, One Day
By Barbara Kerley
This is the Way We Go to School
By Laine Falk and Amanda Miller
What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World
By Maya Ajmera and Elise Derstine