Texas Topaz Nonfiction List for Grades K-12

Here are just some of the recommended titles for grades K-12 from the 2026 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List! The purpose of the Texas Topaz Reading List is to provide children, teens, and adults with recommended nonfiction titles that stimulate reading for pleasure and personal learning. It is intended for recreational reading and is not designed to support any particular curriculum. Visit txla.org/reading-lists for the full list and lists from previous years.

Updated January 13, 2026
Lewisville Public Library Lewisville Public Library
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Texas Topaz Nonfiction List for Grades K-12

Here are just some of the recommended titles for grades K-12 from the 2026 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List! The purpose of the Texas Topaz Reading List is to provide children, teens, and adults with recommended nonfiction titles that stimulate reading for pleasure and personal learning. It is intended for recreational reading and is not designed to support any particular curriculum. Visit txla.org/reading-lists for the full list and lists from previous years.

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Earthrise : the story of a photograph that changed the way we see our planet
Marcus, Leonard S.
Paper Book
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from The New York Times and Kirkus Reviews From award-winning historian Leonard S. Marcus, Earthrise is a unique middle-grade nonfiction book about the astonishing photograph taken during the Apollo 8 mission that forever shifted...
Meet the mini-mammals : a night at the natural history museum
Stewart, Melissa
Meet some of the world's very smallest mini-mammals in this "interesting and engaging" (School Library Journal, starred review) picture book with actual-size illustrations from Sibert Honoree Melissa Stewart and Caldecott Honoree Brian Lies. Big mammals like elephants,...
His fairytale life : a book about Hans Christian Andersen
Yolen, Jane
Paper Book
The storyteller becomes the story in this illuminating biographical picture book of Hans Christian Andersen, father of the modern fairy tale. A century and a half have passed since Hans Christan Andersen's death, but his stories are more alive than ever. Across languages, borders...
Narwhal : unicorn of the Arctic
Fleming, Candace
Paper Book
Venture to the Arctic Ocean and discover real life underwater unicorns--narwhals--in this stunningly illustrated nonfiction picture book. A HORN BOOK AND BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR You are a narwhal. Shy... Swift... Small...
Volcanoes
Beckerman, Nell Cross
Paper Book
The team behind the acclaimed book Caves returns with an enticing exploration of one of the most explosive wonders on the planet -- Volcanoes! A rumble. A tremble. A grumble. Growing, growling, getting hot. When will it... POP?! Using evocative storytelling, Nell Cross...
The crane and the keeper : how an endangered crane chose a human as her mate
Pincus, Meeg
Paper Book
"This outstanding book with great information is endearing...demonstrating the power of perseverance, love, and commitment." --School Library Journal (starred review) The true story, widely reported on social and in print media, of a white-naped crane who saw her human...
Dancing through space : Dr. Mae Jemison soars to new heights
Lukidis, Lydia
Paper Book
"A quick but lyrical character study."--Kirkus Reviews "The sky proves no limit in Lukidis's encouraging biography of Black female astronaut Mae Jemison."--Publishers Weekly "This makes a good addition to STEAM literature." -- Booklist...
Dragonflies of glass : the story of Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany girls
Rubin, Susan Goldman
The five sides of Marjorie Rice : how to discover a shape
Alznauer, Amy
Paper Book
"Writing with a storyteller's flair, Alznauer captures her audience's attention with colorful phrases and interesting facts." --Booklist (starred review) Ablaze with pattern and color, this ebullient picture book biography celebrates the intersection of art and science-...
Gold rush : the untold story of the First Nations women who started the Klondike gold rush
Delargy, Flora
Paper Book
The house on the canal : the story of the house that hid Anne Frank
Harding, Thomas
Paper Book
"Deeply moving, powerful, and breathtaking." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A house reveals the story of its inhabitants, including Anne Frank--and honors four centuries of history--in a moving and exquisitely illustrated picture book from the creators of...
Hurricane
Chin, Jason
Caldecott and Sibert Medalist Jason Chin charts the thrilling saga of an island community's brush with a category three hurricane, and the cutting-edge science that helps them prepare. It's a beautiful day on Hatteras Island, North Carolina. But while all seems calm now, a...
The bard and the book : how the first folio saved the plays of William Shakespeare from oblivion
Bausum, Ann
Paper Book
The unlikely true story of why we know the name William Shakespeare today, and the four-hundred-year-old book that made it possible. Four hundred years ago, no one bothered to write down the exact words of stage plays. Characters' lines were scribbled on small rolls of paper (as...
Fighter in the woods : the true story of a Jewish girl who joined the partisans in World War II
Greene, Joshua
Paper Book
From award-winning author Joshua M. Greene (The Girl Who Fought Back; Signs of Survival) comes this remarkable true story of a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied Poland who escaped near death to join -- and fight -- with the Soviet partisans in the woods. For Celia, life is...
Seeds of discovery : how Barbara McClintock used corn and curiosity to solve a science mystery and win a Nobel prize
Alexander, Lori
Paper Book
The quirky and singular Nobel Prize winner Barbara McClintock, a founder of modern genetics who did things her own way, is honored in this lively young STEM biography by Sibert Honor winner Lori Alexander.  Celebrating the power of curiosity and the rewards of tenacity,...
The true story of vanilla : how Edmond Albius made history
Richards, Ann
★ "Moving and bittersweet...Discusses the reality of slavery and the racial violence and prejudice formerly enslaved individuals experienced." -- Booklist, starred review In 1841, a 12-year-old enslaved boy, Edmond Albius, made history when he discovered how to hand-pollinate vanilla...
Wish I Was a Baller
Shah, Amar
Wish I Was a Baller is part New Kid, part The Tryout, and part Dragon Hoops! Amar Shah has some story to tell! In 1995, he was a fourteen-year-old aspiring sports journalist (and basketball superfan) angling to get into an Orlando Magic team practice. He did, and it...
At last she stood : how Joey Guerrero spied, survived, and fought for freedom
Kelly, Erin Entrada
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Honor Book An ALA Notable Book Rise: A Feminist Book Project List Chicago Public Library Best Book ...
Death in the jungle : murder, betrayal, and the lost dream of Jonestown
Fleming, Candace
Paper Book
How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch? From a master of narrative nonfiction comes a chilling chronicle of one of the most notorious cults in American history. A YALSA...
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