Non-fiction and fact books your child will love (older children aged 9-12)
Getting older children to love reading isn't necessarily about fiction and fairy tales.
There are loads of brilliant non-fiction books that can teach your child about the world, as well as being entertaining, funny and gorgeous to look at. Sometimes non-fiction is also a fantastic way to tempt a reluctant reader into sitting down with a book.
Here are just a few of our favourites to get them excited to read.
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Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country
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Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country
A perfect book for young children interested in their cultural heritage or for those with a passion for travel and geography, this…
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Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor
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Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor
This amazing and deeply inspiring story of a largely unknown scientist – and pioneer of the care of Komodo dragons …
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Music Legends
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Music Legends
An informative, fun and cool guide to 40 of the greatest musical acts of the modern era, perfect for any young fans keen to learn …
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You Are History
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You Are History
A fun and riotous introduction to world history through fifty objects children encounter in everyday life.
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Women in Sport: 50 Fearless Athletes who Played to Win
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Women in Sport: 50 Fearless Athletes who Played to Win
So many women’s achievements in sport have been overlooked in favour of men’s over the years, so it’s a great pleasure to see thes…
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Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Courageous Animals
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Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Courageous Animals
For as long as there have been wars, animals have been saving lives. So begins the short preface to this fascinating and heartwarm…
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Kay’s Incredible Inventions
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Kay’s Incredible Inventions
A funny, informative collection of inventions, both useful and failed, across the centuries from a best-selling author and illustr…
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We’ve Got This!: Six Steps to Build Your Empathy Superpower
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We’ve Got This!: Six Steps to Build Your Empathy Superpower
Split into six chapters, We’ve Got This! explores what empathy is, how it works, using empathy, learning to recognise em…
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You Are Awesome
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You Are Awesome
An accessible, funny self-help manual for pre-teens and teenagers, based on Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory: how to train your…
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The Journey
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The Journey
What is it like to leave everything behind and travel somewhere strange? This incredibly poignant story introduces the concept of …
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The Brainiac’s Book of Robots and AI
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The Brainiac’s Book of Robots and AI
Enjoyable and fascinating, this non-fiction book explores what robots are and what they can, and might, do. Timely and accessible.…
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Girl Power: Indian Women Who Took on the World
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Girl Power: Indian Women Who Took on the World
Featuring 50 brilliant Indian women from history and the present day, Girl Power: Indian Women Who Took on the World is …
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Black and British: An Illustrated History
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Black and British: An Illustrated History
This fascinating illustrated book tells the often heartbreaking story of Black people in Britain’s history clearly, and with a foc…
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History’s Biggest Show-Offs: The Boldest, Bravest and Bra...
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History’s Biggest Show-Offs: The Boldest, Bravest and Bra...
Who are the biggest show-offs of all time? The people that have done some of the flashiest and most outrageously impressive things…
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Breaking News
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Breaking News
A perfect book for a budding news hound or any child who takes an interest in the world, this fun and stimulating read by a real-l…
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Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past a...
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Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past a...
This beautiful and eye-catching hardback celebrates a selection of black icons from history and the present day to inspire all chi…
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How Loud Can You Burp?
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How Loud Can You Burp?
This is a wonderfully funny and informative book, which helps us take a fresh look at the world (and universe) we live in, with no…
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How to Be a Doctor and Other Life-Saving Jobs
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How to Be a Doctor and Other Life-Saving Jobs
What is a doctor and how do you become one? What do doctors need to learn, and what are the different kinds of doctors you can be?…
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My Period: Find your flow and feel proud of your period!
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My Period: Find your flow and feel proud of your period!
Explaining what puberty is, how your period works, the period products there are on the market, how to chart and understand your m…
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You Will Be Okay
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You Will Be Okay
This gentle guide for children experiencing feelings of grief and loss is written by Julie Stokes, a clinical psychologist and fou…
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HERSTORY: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook the World
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HERSTORY: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook the World
Celebrated in this lavish hardback, the stories of 50 great women redefine their “herstory”, from disability activist Helen Keller…
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Pirates: Dead Men’s Tales
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Pirates: Dead Men’s Tales
This beautiful hardback reveals the gruesome truth about being a pirate with profiles of buccaneers like Blackbeard, the Barbaross…
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A Time Traveller's Guide to Life, the Universe and Everyt...
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A Time Traveller's Guide to Life, the Universe and Everyt...
In this quirky, fantastical graphic novel, Albert Einstein is at your service to guide you through time and space on a beam of lig…
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Impossible Inventions
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Impossible Inventions
In Impossible Inventions, the team behind the bestselling Maps detail a wealth of incredible inventions, from 1st-c…
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Plants to the Rescue
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Plants to the Rescue
Plants are amazing, complex organisms. In Plants to the Rescue, Vikram Baliga, a horticulturalist, takes readers through many ways…
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Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists
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Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists
A fun and funky graphic exploration of some of the greatest scientists you’ve ever heard of – and maybe a few you haven’t!
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The Wolves of Currumpaw
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The Wolves of Currumpaw
In New Mexico in the late 1800s, the wolves that had once roamed the landscape of the Old West were becoming scarce because of the…
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True Stories of Heroes
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True Stories of Heroes
From animals to astronauts, and captured spies in World War II, this collection of thirteen short stories celebrates some truly am…
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Survivors of the Holocaust
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Survivors of the Holocaust
Six people tell their stories of living through the Holocaust as children in this compelling and deeply thought-provoking graphic …
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Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure
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Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure
Laid out beautifully, covering a science topic on each double-page spread, with information in bite-size chunks, this book will gi…
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My Name is Book
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My Name is Book
If you are intrigued as to how sheep and birds have played important roles in the recording of the written word then this is the d…
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Launch a Rocket Into Space: You do the Maths
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Launch a Rocket Into Space: You do the Maths
Maths is made appealing by relating it to its use in the modern world and by the use of comic book style illustrations. With answe…
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