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Novel Non-Fiction for Younger Kids

The Mini Reviewers are now 1, 3 and 5 years old. Over the past year there have been some incredible non-fiction releases aimed specifically at the younger end of the children's market. Here are five non-fiction books that we feel really stand out from the crowd...




Town and Country: A TurnAround Book by Craig Shuttleworth is an award winning book that was first published by Ivy Kids earlier this year. Aimed at children aged three years and up, it is a highly engaging book to be poured over and explored together.  The fun "TurnAround" concept makes it easy to compare the similarities and differences between the Town and the Country. Open the book one way to look at the Town scene and then turn the book around to discover the Country scene. There is a list of things to spot in a panel along the side of each page. Mini Reviewer, Theo, 3, is a big fan of this book and enjoys the novelty of turning the book around to discover a new scene to explore. It has prompted lots of discussions about our own surroundings and we can see why it won the Platinum Award (first place) in the Best Books for Children (5+) category at this year's Junior Design Awards.




Up & Down is the fourth title in the A Walk in the Countryside board book series illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. Published by Nosy Crow in association with the National Trust, this early learning series turns to nature and the seasons to introduce some important concepts to little ones. In this delightful book the little explorers go on a Winter walk and learn all about opposites including inside/outside, up/down and warm/cold. We were already familiar with this series when we received this book and we had previously included 123 in our Brilliant Books for 2 Year Olds round up. Up & Down is available from 7th September 2017 and is a perfect addition to the series, which already includes 123, ABC and Colours.



At The Garage: A Shine-A-Light Book is part of the amazing Shine-A-Light series of books published by Ivy Kids. When we first discovered these books we were blown away by the originality of the concept and just how effective it is. By shining a torch (an iphone torch works really well) behind each page, you reveal that there are even more things to see in the pictures. Unfortunately our photos below don't really do the books justice! Published in July 2017 At The Garage is one of the latest additions to the series and one of our favourites. This book features lots of different types of vehicles and is a great introduction to the role of a hardworking mechanic. I was pleased to see a female mechanic in the book too. Mini Reviewer, Theo, has always had a wheel obsession and after we read this book he played garages for two days solid! 





Mummy! is a really fun and unusual lift-the-flap board book illustrated by Lerryn Korda and published by Nosy Crow in association with The British Museum. We have previously reviewed some of the other board books in this range, you can read more about them here. Not only does this book have flaps to lift but there are hieroglyphs too! The younger Mini Reviewers, Poppy (1) and Theo (3), enjoyed helping the little Egyptian girl find her mummy. Along the way we discovered lots of different mummies too, a mummy frog, a mummy crocodile, a mummy donkey and even a mummified mummy! There are so many things to spot and talk about and with the inclusion of hieroglyphs and artefacts from Ancient Egypt this book is suitable for slightly older children too.


Whose Eyes Are These? is written and illustrated by Parisian based duo, Virginie Gobert-Martin and Madeline Peirsman. Recently published by Tate, this colourful picture book is a great way to introduce little readers to nine of nature's more unusual creatures including Jessica the Jellyfish, Lenny the Lemur and Humphrey the Hummingbird. First the reader is asked to guess "Whose eyes are these?" before turning the page to discover a little about the creature in question. Then finally the reader can spot each creature in turn as they hide within highly decorative drawings of their natural environments. This incredibly engaging book is a visual delight and the glossary at the end of the book is packed full of interesting facts.


Buy here: Whose Eyes Are These? Virginie Gobert-Martin and Madeline Peirsman, Tate Publishing 

Do you have a favourite non fiction book?
If so please do share it with us below!

Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Kate & the Mini Reviewers xx

*We received copies of these books for review purposes, however, all opinions are our own. This post contains affiliate links. You can find out more about affiliate links here.

11 comments:

  1. A great selection, I really like the look of Town and Country, such a unique set up. Thanks for sharing with #readwithme

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  2. The illustrations on the Up and Down book look adorable :)

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  3. What a fabulous selection! We love Town and Country too. There are some truly brilliant non fiction books around at the moment. #readwithme

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  4. Ooooo we must get Whose Eyes Are These! And great recommendations - I wrote a post on this topic recently, as you know, and we totally had different books which goes to show how many great new non-fiction books there are at the moment. #readwithme

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  5. I think my reception class would love these! x #KCACOLS

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  6. These look great - we also like some of the usbourne lift the flap non-fiction books which are popular with our lot too! #kcacols

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  7. Love the look of the Shine-A-Light book, looks like great fun! #kcacols

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  8. I love the idea of the flash the light book! Very cool. Thanks for sharing these. I hadn't heard of any of them! Cheers, #KCACOLS

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  9. I definitely want to get Snappy Town and Country and Whose Eyes Are These. Great choices. #kcacols

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  10. Ooh a really great selection! I like the look of the at the garage book, it looks great for car lovers. Thanks for linking up to #KLTR

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  11. These books look fab. I like the sound of the whose eyes book and look a good falp book so the mummy one looks great too. Thanks for linking up to KLTR.

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