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Topic Lists

Sometimes books just don't slot neatly into a chronological list, but that doesn't mean they don't have a place on a whole-book educated student's shelf. Books on topics like nature, economics, or psychology are good examples. If you have a biography or study of a certain economist or psychologist and their work, you can easily slot it in chronologically and study it alongside the history of that time. I highly encourage you to do so. But what to do with that survey of world economies or psychology? Or those wonderful nature studies?

That is where these lists come in, covering those and many other topics. 

Books you won't find on these lists:

  • History encyclopedias

  • Science surveys

  • Atlases

  • Timeline surveys

  • Art history surveys

 

(You can find them on the Main Spines page.)

Fiction?

Where, I'm often asked, is all the stellar children's and YA fiction? Many wonderful blogs and websites spotlight general fiction; I focus elsewhere. Classics are slotted in on the main lists by publication date or, if historical fiction, chronologically by event.

This page is being reformatted. Thank you for your patience as I work to make these lists more functional. Unfortunately, this required temporarily removing the information and redoing each section of each list. It will be worth it, I promise!

General Science:
Grammar

  • Not for Me, Please!: I Choose to Act Green by Maria Godsey

  • What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French

  • The Story of Rubbish by Katie Daynes

  • One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of Gambia by Miranda Paul

  • See How It's Made by DK Publishing

  • Coding for Beginners Using Scratch by Rosie Dickins

  • History of Science in 100 Pictures by Abigail Wheatley

  • The Story of Science by Anna Claybourne

  • Foldout Anatomy: An Interactive Look Inside Humans and Animals by Jana Albrechtova, Radka Piro, and Lida Larina

Dialectic

  • Garbage: Investigate What Happens When You Throw It Out With 25 Projects by Donna Latham (Build It Yourself)

  • Planet Earth: Finding Balance on the Blue Marble with Environmental Science Activities for Kids by Kathleen M. Reilly (Build It Yourself)

  • Eco Kids Self-Sufficiency Handbook: STEAM Projects to Help Kids Make a Difference by Alan and Gill Bridgewater

  • Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

  • The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope by Kirsteen Rogers

  • Mysteries and Marvels of Science by Phillip Clarke (Usborne)

  • Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself  by Maxine Anderson

  • Coding for Beginners Using Python by Louie Stowell

  • Get Real: What Kind of World are You Buying by Mara Rockliff

  • The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan

  • What Color Is My World by Kareem Abdul Jabbar & Raymond Obstfeld

Rhetoric

  • Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel

  • Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Freinkel

  • Blood, Bullets, and Bones: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA by Bridget Heos

  • The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

  • The House of Wisdon: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance by Jim Al-Khalili

  • The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science by Seb Falk

Biology:

Grammar 

  • How Flowers Grow by Emma Helbrough (Usborne Beginners)

  • 50 Wildflowers to Spot (cards) by Kirsteen Rogers (Usborne)

  • World of Plants by Laura Howell (Usborne)

  • Berry Song by Michaela Goade

  • Trees (nature cards) by Struan Reid (Usborne)

  • Caterpillars and Butterflies by Stephanie Turnbull (Usborne Beginners)

  • 50 Butterflies to Spot (cards) by Fiona Patchett (Usborne) 

  • Eggs and Chicks by Fiona Patchett, et al. (Usborne Beginners Nature)

  • Tadpoles and Frogs by Anna Milbourne (Usborne Beginners Nature)

  • Follow the Moon Home by Philippe Cousteau and Deborah Hopkinson (Sea Turtles/Environmental Activism)

  • Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home by Lindsay Moore

  • A River's Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn by Patricia Newman 

  • Under the Sea by Fiona Patchett (Usborne Beginners)

  • World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky 

  • World of Animals by Susanna Davidson (Usborne)

  • The Usborne Animal World by Laura Howell

  • First Encyclopedia of Animals by Paul Dowswell (Usborne)

  • First Encyclopedia of the Human Body by Fiona Chandler (Usborne)

  • Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole

  • What Makes You Ill? by Mike Unwin (Usborne Starting Point Science)

  • How Your Body Works by Judy Hindley

  • See Inside Your Head by Alex Frith

Dialectic

  • Human Body! by DK-Smithsonian (Knowledge Encyclopedias)

  • The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body by Anna Claybourne

  • The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey by Jason Chin

  • Understanding Your Brain by Rebecca Treays

  • Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman

  • Introduction to Genes and DNA by Anna Claybourne (Usborne)

  • Blood and Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides by Linda Allison

  • Encyclopedia of Animals by DK

  • A Life in the Wild: George Schaller's Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts by Pamela S. Turner

  • Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer

  • Encyclopedia of Nature by DK

  • What's Biology All About? by Hazel Maskell

  • On the Origin of Species adapted by Sabina Radeva

  • Human Body by Kirsteen Rogers

  • Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank

  • American Murderer: The Parasite That Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow

  • World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky

Rhetoric

  • The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life by Jack Challoner

  • Micro Life: Miracles of the Miniature World Revealed (Smithsonian) by Derek Harvey 

  • Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer

  • Micro Life: Miracles of the Miniature World Revealed by DK Smithsonian

  • The Story of Life: Great Discoveries in Biology by Sean B. Carroll

  • The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben 

  • Insect Museum by Sonia Dourlot

  • The Birds of America by John James Audubon

  • Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

  • Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank H. Netter, MD

  • Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty

  • Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley

  • Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures by Ben Mezrich

  • A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Jennifer A. Doudna, et al.

  • Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, et al.

  • Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty

  • Neurocomic by Dr. Matteo Farinella and Dr. Hana Ros

Earth Science:

Grammar

  • Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole

  • The Usborne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth by Anna Claybourne

  • Planet Earth by Leonie Pratt (Usborne Beginners)

  • Rocks & Fossils by Struan Reid

  • Volcanoes by Stephanie Turnbull

  • Earthquakes and Tsunamis by Emily Bone

  • Storms and Hurricanes by Emily Bone

  • See Inside Weather and Climate by Katie Daynes

  • Weather illustrated by Kuo Kang Chen and Tim Haggerty (Usborne Beginners)

  • Save the Ocean by Bethany Stahl

  • First Encyclopedia of Seas and Oceans by Ben Denne (Usborne First Encyclopedia)

  • One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss and Rosemary Woods

  • Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole

  • My First Space Encyclopedia by DK

  • First Encyclopedia of Space by Paul Dowswell

  • Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin (plenty here for older students, too!)

  • Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen

  • A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations--and How You Can Find Them in the Sky by Meredith Hamilton

Dialectic

  • Super Earth Encyclopedia by DK (DK-Smithsonian Super Encyclopedias)

  • Encyclopedia of Planet Earth by Anna Claybourne and Gill Doherty

  • See for Yourself: Water by Trevor Day

  • One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss and Rosemary Woods

  • Weather by Brian Cosgrove (DK Eyewitness)

  • Weather and Climate Change by Laura Howell (Usborne)

  • They Changed the World: Copernicus-Bruno-Galileo by Rik Hoskin and Naresh Kumar

  • Space! by DK-Smithsonian (Knowledge Encyclopedias)

  • The Usborne Book of Astronomy and Space by Lisa Miles

  • The Usborne Official Astronaut's Handbook by Louie Stowell

  • A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations--and How You Can Find Them in the Sky by Meredith Hamilton

  • What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky by Kelsey Oseid

  • Beyond: A Solar System Voyage by Michael Benson

  • The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch

  • Mission Control, This is Apollo: The Story of the First Voyages to the Moon by Andrew Chaikin 

  • The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth: Understanding Our World and Its Ecosystems by Rachel Ignotofsky

  • Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed by Sally M. Walker

  • Black Gold: The Story of Oil in Our Lives by Albert Marrin

Rhetoric

  • Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester (volcanoes)

  • Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide by Robert Dinwiddie, et al. (DK-Smithsonian)

  • The Astronomy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK

  • The Ecology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by Tony Juniper for DK

  • Black Gold: The Story of Oil in Our Lives by Albert Marrin

  • The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet by Henry Fountain (1964, Easter Sunday, Alaska) 

  • The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester 

  • The Planet in a Pebble: A Journey into Earth's Deep History by Jan Zalasiewicz

  • Jacques Cousteau: The Ocean World by Jacques-Yves Cousteau

  • Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man's Obsession Revolutionized Ocean Science by Curtis Ebbesmeyer, et al.

  • The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies by Richard Hamblyn

Chemistry:     
 

Grammar

  • Lift the Flap Periodic Table by Alice James (Usborne)

  • The Element in the Room: Investigating the Atomic Ingredients That Make Up Your Home by Mike Barfield

  • Super Science: Matter Matters! by Tom Adams

  • How Do Molecules Stay Together by Madeline J. Hayes

  • The Usborne Library of Science Mixtures and Compounds by Kirsteen Rogers

Dialectic 

  • The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Jeanne Bendick

  • Chemically Active: Experiments You Can Do at Home by Vicki Cobb

  • Atoms and Molecules (Usborne Understanding Science) by Roxbee-Cox

  • Molecules (A Look at Chemistry) by Kennon O'Mara

  • What's Chemistry All About? by Alex Frith

  • The Usborne Library of Science Materials by Alastair Smith

Rhetoric

  • The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

  • Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray

  • Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything by Theodore Gray

  • Reactions: An Illustrated Exploration of Elements, Molecules, and Change in the Universe by Theodore Gray

  • Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History by Laural Merlinton

  • Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World by Nick Lane

Physical Science and Physics:

Grammar

  • Light: Shadows, Mirrors, and Rainbows by Natalie Myra Rosinsky

  • Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids by Christina Schul

  • Quantum Physics for Smart Kids: A Little Scientist's Guide to Atoms, Molecules, Matter, and More by Carlos Pazos

Dialectic

  • Energy: 25 Projects Investigate Why We Need Power & How We Get It by Kathleen M. Reilly (Build It Yourself)

  • How Electricity and Magnetism by Peter Adamczyk and Paul-Francis Law (Usborne)

  • What's Physics All About? by Kate Davies

  • Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future with 20 Projects by Kathy Ceceri (Build It Yourself)

  • Artificial Intelligence by Henry Brook

  • Cool Stuff 2.0: And How it Works by Jon Woodcock and Chris Woodford

  • The Industrial Revolution: Investigate How Science and Technology Changed the World with 25 Projects by Carla Mooney (Build It Yourself)

  • The Story of Inventions by Anna Claybourne

  • Engineers: From the Great Pyramids to the Pioneers of Space Travel by DK

Rhetoric

  • The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard P. Feynman (Individual volumes or a complete boxed set; there is also one book of exercises that covers all of the lecture volumes)

  • Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond by Megan Watzke and Kimberly Arcand

  • The Atom: A Visual Tour by Jack Challoner

  • The Astronomy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK

  • The Physics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK

  • A Brief History of Time by Stephen W. Hawking

  • The Cosmic Machine: The Science That Runs Our Universe and the Story Behind It by Scott Bembenek

  • The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein

  • Meltdown: Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima by Deirdre Langeland

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