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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Lighthouse ladies : shining a spotlight on hardy heroines
Coronado, Kris
The derring-do of Shark Lady meets the inspiration of Mae Among the Stars in the true stories of four intrepid and diverse women of history as they battle weather and waves to save sailors at sea. Kris Coronado's debut nonfiction picture book, perfect for fans of Hello, Lighthouse,...
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...
Whales in the city
Castaldo, Nancy F.
Paper Book
For fans of If Sharks Disappeared, this kid-friendly picture book is a true story about how community action saved the whales of New York Harbor and reversed the effects of climate change. Spanning from pre-colonization to today, learn how the industrial revolution,...
Dragonflies of glass : the story of Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany girls
Rubin, Susan Goldman
Paper Book
From award-winning kids' nonfiction author Susan Goldman Rubin, and radiantly illustrated by Susanna Chapman, the picture book Dragonflies of Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of the brilliant woman artist behind the world-famous Tiffany glass ...
Making light bloom : Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany lamps
Nickel, Sandra
Paper Book
The untold story of Clara Driscoll, a nature lover with the mind of a creative innovator and the unsung genius who designed and engineered the iconic Tiffany lamp Drawing inspiration from her childhood gardens, Clara Driscoll created designs for Louis C. Tiffany's stained glass...
Woody's Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where the Red Fern Grows
Rogers, Lisa
Paper Book
The life of Woodrow "Woody" Wilson Rawls, the author of the children's classic Where the Red Fern Grows, is revealed in this nonfiction picture book for ages 7 - 10 that celebrates persistence, creativity, and chasing dreams. When Woody Rawls read The Call of the Wild<...
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...
Spying on spies : how Elizebeth Smith Friedman broke the Nazis' secret codes
Moss, Marissa
Ebook
Bestselling and award-winning author-illustrator Marissa Moss tells the gripping story of America's first female cryptanalyst, Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who busted Nazi spy rings.   Praised for her accessible blend of narrative nonfiction with graphic novel...
At last she stood : how Joey Guerrero spied, survived, and fought for freedom
Kelly, Erin Entrada
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Honor Book Chicago Public Library Best Book "A courageous, uplifting biography of a woman almost lost to history." -ALA Booklist World War II spy, Filipino guerrilla fighter,...
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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