Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

25 Great Expository Nonfiction Read Alouds

Since 2019 marks the
10th Anniversary of this blog, on Fridays this year, I’m updating
some past posts that sparked conversation or that I think still have a lot to
offer people teaching or writing nonfiction. Today’s post is an updated version of a list that originally appeared
on December 15, 2018.

Here are some of my favorite
expository nonfiction titles that are perfect for sharing in 10 minutes or
less.*

Actual
Size by Steve Jenkins
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011)

Birds
of a Feather: Bowerbirds and Me by Susan L. Roth (Neal Porter Books/Holiday
House, 2019) 

Born in the Wild: Baby Mammals and Their Parents by Lita Judge (Roaring Brook, 2014)

Daylight Starlight Wildlife by Wendell Minor (Paulsen/Penguin Random House,
2015)



An
Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long (Chronicle, 2006)

Frog
Song by Brenda Z.
Guiberson and Gennady Spirin (Holt, 2013)

Homes in the Wild: Where Baby Animals and Their
Parents Live by Lita Judge (Roaring
Brook, 2019)

A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth
Fishman and Isabel Greenberg (Greenwillow, 2017)

If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian and Barbara Hirsch Lember (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000)

Mama Dug a Little Den by
Jennifer Ward and Steve Jenkins (Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster, 2018)

Many: The Diversity of Life on
Earth by Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton (Candlewick, 2017)

Move! by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page (Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, 2006)

Mysterious Patterns: Finding
Fractals in Nature by Sarah C.
Campbell and Richard P. Campbell (Boyds Mills Press, 2014)

One
World, One Day
by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic, 2009)

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers:
Celebrating Animal Underdogs by Melissa Stewart and Stephanie Laberis (Peachtree,
2018)

Rodent Rascals by Roxie
Munro (Holiday House, 2018)

Seashells: More than a Home by
Melissa Stewart and Sarah S. Brannen (Charlesbridge, 2019) 

The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Guillain and Yuval Zommer (words &
pictures, 2017)

Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves’ Hidden Colors by Mia Posada(Millbrook, 2019)

Swirl
by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes (Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, 2011)

This
Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World
by Matt Lamothe (Chronicle, 2017)

Tiny
Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton
(Candlewick, 2014)

Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature by Marcie Flinchum Atkins (Millbrook, 2019)

We
Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell and Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2018)

With a Friend by Your Side by Barbara
Kerley (National Geographic, 2015)

*I wish I could have included more books by
IPOC or members of other traditionally marginalized groups on this list. Unfortunately,
there are currently very few available. I hope that will change in the near
future.

5 Responses

  4. So many wonderful titles, here, and they all take a variety of approaches. That is the fun thing about expository nf–it appeals to so many kinds of readers (and listeners in the case of pre-readers).

  5. I like Maria Gianferrari's comment about the diversity of approaches. I will check all these out again and look carefully at that. I so appreciate your help in listing these, Melissa.

top 25 nonfiction blog award
Return to Blog Archive

Most Popular Posts

Topics
top 25 nonfiction blog award
Return to Blog Archive

Most Popular Posts

Topics

© 2001–[current-year] Melissa Stewart. All rights reserved. All materials on this site may be copied for classroom or library use but may not be reprinted or resold for commercial purposes. This website is COPPA compliant. If you are a child under age 13 and wish to contact Melissa Stewart, please use the email address of a teacher, librarian, or parent with that adult’s permission. Webhost Privacy Policy.