Recommended Books for Nonfiction Read-Alouds
PRIMARY
INTERMEDIATE
Our Seasons – Grace Lin & Ranida McKneally
I Wonder Why (series) – Kingfisher
If You Decide to Go to the Moon; How To Dig a
Hole to the Other Side of the Earth – Faith
McNulty
Should There Be Zoos? – Tony Stead
Owen and Mzee – Isabella Hatkoff (companion
book to Mama? – Jeanette Winter)
Astronaut Handbook – Meghan McCarthy
The Scoop on Poop – Wayne Lynche
The Five Senses – Adele Ciboul
Extreme Animals – Nicola Davies
Arabella Miller’s Tiny Caterpillar – Clare Jarrett
Growing Frogs – Vivian French
My Story of Life in a Pond – Steve Parker
In One Tidepool: Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails;
In One Cattail: Turtles, Logs and Leaping
Frogs; In One Flower: Butterflies, Ticks and
a Few More Icks – Anthony D. Fredericks
It’s Disgusting and We Ate It! – Food Facts from
Around the World – James Solheim
The Island That Moved: How Shifting Forces
Shape Our Earth – Meredith Hooper &
Lucia deLeiris
All About My Brother – Sarah Peralta
Follow That Map - Scot Ritchie
Hurricanes Have Eyes But Can’t See – Melvin &
Gilda Berger
Oh, Canada! - Per-Henrik Gurth
This Is Your Life Cycle – Heather Lynne Miller
Snowy Sports – Ready,Set,Play! – Per-Henrik
Gurth
Tribal Alphabet – Nan Richardson
The Snow Show – Carolyn Fisher
How To Build Your Own Country – Valerie
Worth
INTERMEDIATE AND PRIMARY
WHY? The best ever question and answer book about science, nature and the world around you –
Catherine Ripley
How Big It It?; How Strong It It? – Ben Hillman
Are You a Spider?- Judy Allen (The Backyard books also available include Grasshopper, Ant, Bee,
Dragonfly, Snail)
An Egg Is Quiet; A Seed Is Sleepy – Dianna Aston
I Wanna Iguana - Karen Orloff
The West Is Calling: Imagining British Columbia - Sarah N. Harvey, Leslie Buffam, & Dianna
Bonder
A.Gear, 2009
Recommended Books for ZOOM IN (to nonfiction features)
PRIMARY
INTERMEDIATE
A Closer Look - Mary McCarthy
Zoom or Re-Zoom - Istvan Banyai
Looking Closely at the... (series include Forest,
Seashore, Pond, Desert) – Frank Serafini
The Top of the World: Climbing Mt. Everest –
Steve Jenkins
Imagine You’re a Pirate … (series titles include
Fairy, Knight, Mermaid, Princess, Astronaut)
- Lucy & Meg Clibbon
See More Readers – Seymour Simon
Smart About Art (series includes Frieda Kahlo,
Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas) - Grosset
& Dunlap
Creepy Crawlies – Editors of Kingfisher
EYE Know (series) - DK Publishing
INTERMEDIATE AND PRIMARY
Looking Down – Steve Jenkins
My Map Book – Sara Fanelli
Take Two Books – published by the Wright Group
Recommended Books for Promoting DEEP THINKING Questions
PRIMARY
INTERMEDIATE
Stella books – Marie-Louise Gay
The Philosopher’s Club – Christopher Phillips
Ask Me – Antje Damm
The Kids’ Book of Questions – Gregory Stock
Where Does Pepper Come From? - Brigitte
Raab
Philosophy for Kids: 40 Fun Questions That Help
You Wonder About Everything! - David A.
White (intermediate)
I Wonder Why: A Poem for Children – Connie
Amarel
I Wonder Why – Lois Rock
What? Where? Why? – Questions and Answers
About Nature – Jim Bruce
If – Sara Perry
I Wonder – Tana Hoban
I Wonder – Harriet Fishel
Biggest Ever Book of Questions and Answers –
Ian James
Why? - Lila Prap
How Come? Planet Earth – Kathy Wollard
Have You Ever Seen a Duck in a Raincoat? –
Etta Kaner
INTERMEDIATE AND PRIMARY
Why? Everyday Questions About Science, Nature and the World Around You - Catherine Ripley
(primary, intermediate)
Thinking Stories 1, 2 & 3 (Philosophical Inquiry for Children series) - Philip Cam (editor)
A.Gear, 2009
Recommended Books for Teaching MAIN IDEA (Determining Importance)
PRIMARY
INTERMEDIATE
Up Close:Tails That Talk and Fly - Diane
Swanson (also Up Close: Noses That Blow
and Poke)
Animals Eat the Weirdest Things; Animals Can
Be So Speedy; Animals Can Be So Sleepy Diane Swanson
Extreme Readers (series) - School Specialty
Publishing
World of Plants (series includes Why Do Plants
Have Flowers? Where Do Plants Grow?) Louise & Richard Spilsbury (Heinemann)
Poo - Nicola Davies
Extreme Animals - Nicola Davies
Animals Nobody Loves - Seymour Simon
How Big Is It? – Ben Hillman
How Strong Is It? - Ben Hillman
The Daily Disaster: Real Life Stories of 30
Amazing Disasters - Cormac O’Brien
Text on Two Levels (series includes Energy,
Geography, Solar Power, Resources)
(Stargazer Books)
INTERMEDIATE AND PRIMARY
Nonfiction Reading Practice (Evan-Moore Publishing): reproducible units with articles at three
different reading levels; available in various grade levels.
Read and Understand Science (Evan Moore Publishing): reproducible articles for content area
reading practice; available in various grade levels.
The Comprehension Toolkit: Primary and Intermediate - Stephanie Harvey & Anne Goudvis
Recommended Books for Teaching CONNECT
PRIMARY
INTERMEDIATE
In My Neighbourhood (series) – Paulette Bourgeois
The Bare Naked Book – Kathy Stinson
Usborne Book of Peoples of the World – Anne
Claybourne
What Is a Community? – Bobbie Kalman
Wake Up World! A Day in the Life of Children
Around the World – Beatrice Hollyer
You and Me Together, Moms and Dads and Kids
Around the World – Barbara Kerley
Canada from A-Z – Bobbie Kalman
Me and My Family Tree – Joan Sweeny
Mysterious You (series) – Diane Swanson &
Trudee Romanek
My Five Senses – Aliki
Looking at Weather – David Suzuki
I Am a Living Thing – Bobbie Kalman
Me and My Amazing Body – Joan Sweeny
Our Seasons – Grace Lin
Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story – Neil Waldman
Weather FAQ’S – Valerie Wyatt (Frequently
Asked Questions series)
Four Seasons Make a Year – Anne Rockwell
INTERMEDIATE AND PRIMARY
I Wonder Why I Blink and Other Questions About My Body – Brigid Avison
A.Gear, 2009
Recommended Books for Teaching TRANSFORM
PRIMARY
INTERMEDIATE
10 Things I Can Do to Help My World – Melanie
Walsh
One Well: The Story of Water on Earth –
Rochelle Strauss
A Cool Drink of Water - Barbara Kerley
Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of
Life on Earth - Rochelle Strauss
Polar Bear, Why is Your World Melting? - Robert
E.Wells
Most Loved in All the World – Tonya Cherie
Hegamin
Where the Forest Meets the Sea - Jeanette Baker
If the World Were a Village - David J. Smith
Where Once There Was a Wood – Denise Fleming
We - Alice Schertle
First the Egg – Laura Vaccaro Seeger
The Storm: Students of Biloxi, Mississippi
Remember Hurricane Katrina - Barbara
Barbieri McGrath
The Bizarre Body – Katharine Kenah
Weird and Wacky Plants – Katharine Kenah
Earth Then and Now: Amazing Images of
Our Changing World - Fred Pearce
Space Mysteries – Katharine Kenah
I Wonder Why There’s a Hole in the Sky and Other
Questions About the Environment – Sean
Callery (Kingfisher)
Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the
World - Jane Breskin Zalben
Material World: A Global Family Portrait –
Peter Menzel
I Wonder Why Spiders Spin Webs and other
questions about creepy crawlies – Amanda
O’Neill (Kingfisher)
Can We Save Them? Endangered Species
of North America - David Dobson
I Wonder Why the Dodo Is Dead and other questions
about extinct and endangered animals –
Andrew Charman (Kingfisher)
Dear Children of the Earth – Schim Schimmel
Our Home – Linda Glaser
INTERMEDIATE AND PRIMARY
A Little Peace - Barbara Kerley
A Cool Drink of Water – Barbara Kerley
The Great Kapok Tree - Lynne Cherry
What the Sea Saw - Stephanie St. Pierre
Ice Bear: In the Steps of the Polar Bear – Nicola Davies
Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest; Actual Size; Biggest, Fastest, Strongest; Almost Gone; The Top
of the World: Climbing Mt. Everest; I See a Kookaburra; What Do You Do When Someone
Wants to Eat You? Slap, Squeak and Scatter: How Animals Communicate – Steve Jenkins
A.Gear, 2009