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
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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,...
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 adorable and informative nonfiction picture book with actual-size illustrations from Sibert Honoree Melissa Stewart and Caldecott Honoree Brian Lies. Big mammals like elephants, hippos, and giraffes get a...
The friendship train : a true story of helping and healing after World War II
Levy, Debbie
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection An impeccably researched, touching true story of the kindness of strangers around the world following World War II from a bestselling author and award-winning illustrator. On one side of the ocean, a war...
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...
Tell me about Juneteenth
Nash, Kortney
Paper Book
Celebrate Juneteenth with this empowering picture book! On June 19th, 1865, the last enslaved African Americans were finally freed in Galveston, Texas. Every year, our community comes together to honor this special day. We play hopscotch, eat spice cake, and listen to music,...
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...
Cactus queen : Minerva Hoyt establishes Joshua Tree National Park
Alexander, Lori
Paper Book
A 2025 Bank Street College of Education Cook Prize Silver Medalist The Nature Generation's 2025 Green Earth Book Award Short List How did the Joshua Tree National Park in California come to be? Meet Minerva Hamilton Hoyt, an artist, activist, and environmentalist, whose...
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...
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...
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...
Mariam's dream : the story of Mariam Al-Shaar and her food truck of hope
Boukarim, Leila
Paper Book
women-run kitchen in the Bourj Al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon. This is a story about how one woman can make a huge difference. Once Mariam decides to start a food business in the refugee camp where she's spent her whole life, she must see her dream through. She will need money. She...
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 world entire : a true story of an extraordinary World War II rescue
Brown, Elizabeth
Everyone knows Oskar Schindler and his famous list, but few have heard of Aristides de Sousa Mendes―a Portuguese diplomat who saved the lives of thousands in World War II. This magnificently illustrated picture book biography tells a moving story
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,...
Spying on spies : how Elizebeth Smith Friedman broke the Nazis' secret codes
Moss, Marissa
Paper Book
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-style chapter openers...
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...
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...
White House secrets : medical lies and cover-ups
Jarrow, Gail
Finalist, 2026 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults A School Library Journal Best Book Chicago Public Library Best of the Best List 2025 Here are the shocking, yet true, stories of presidential medical cover-ups from the 19th to the 21st century-the...

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