Picture Perfect Fun & Learning: Great Picture Books for Your Homeschool

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Thank you to Audrey Sauble for sharing this guest post. Audrey is a mother of two and amateur naturalist. She’s also a children’s author obsessed with slugs, bugs, and trees—along with all kinds of other green things and creepy-crawlies. So far, she has published several picture books and two science-themed coloring books. You can find more reading lists and book-themed activities on Audrey’s blog, KidLit & STEAM.

Back when my oldest started talking and asking questions, I used to joke that answering all his questions would probably get him through high school.

I’ve got a slightly different take on that these days—that parents can introduce their children to almost any topic using picture books.

Yes, there is the Magic School Bus series and other classics—my kids enjoy these as well—but more and more authors are creating nonfiction and informational picture books. These new picture books can entertain even the youngest readers while explaining art, history, science, technology, and even engineering and math.

Instead of a few key “history books” about major historical figures, you can now find gorgeous picture book biographies about famous artists (The Noisy Paint Box, by Barb Rosenstock), unusual inventors, (Ticktock Banneker’s Clock, by Shana Keller), and even ordinary people with extraordinary stories (The Oldest Student, by Rita Lorraine Hubbard). Even math gets its turn with books like Infinity and Me, by Kate Hosford.

My own picture book favorites include a massive list of science and nature stories, which have taught me about ecosystems and animals that I’ve never properly appreciated—or even heard about in many cases. If you are looking for ideas for what to read next, here are some of my favorite series to get you started:

The Nature Books Series, by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long

This set was my initial introduction to educational picture books. They are beautifully illustrated and include a ton of facts about nests, beetles, seeds, and even rocks, while explaining those facts in a fun read-aloud style.

The Alphabet Book Series, by Jerry Pallota

This set has over 20 books, with the newest one due out in early May. Some of the books include the US Navy and construction vehicles, but most of them focus on nature themes. There’s a bird alphabet, along with books about fish, multiple types of insects, flowers, and more. The author also uses a slightly snarky sense of humor, which my kids love. The Skull Alphabet Book, for example, doesn’t say which animal the skulls belong to—kids must guess that themselves from the clues in the text and the images.

The Over and Under Series, by Kate Messner

This four-book series explores different ecosystems, including a snowy forest, a pond, a garden, and a rainforest. This series isn’t written in verse, but it reads like poetry.

The Read and Wonder Series, by various authors

These books introduce children to nature through a set of simple, delightful stories. The main series has six books listed, but there are other books in the series, exploring topics such as eels, octopuses, insects, worms, and much more.

The Time To Series, by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

This three-book set explores different ways that animals eat, sleep, and bath, but it’s just a small sample of this author/illustrator team’s detailed artwork and lively writing style. Like many of these authors’ books, this series uses layered text, pairing one simple sentence for younger readers with a longer, more detailed paragraph for older children.

These five series highlight some of my favorite picture books, but my list of favorite nonfiction authors also includes: 

• Yuval Zommer (The Big Book series), 
• Melissa Stewart (Feathers: Not Just for Flying), 
• Mia Posada (Who Was Here?), 
• Judy Allen (The Backyard Books series), 
• Elise Gravel (The Disgusting Critters series), 
• Brenda Guiberson (Frog Song), 
• Nicola Davies (Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes), and 
• Jennifer Ward (The Busy Tree). 

These books are all fun read-aloud stories for your younger kids (around ages 5 to 8, or kindergarten through 2^nd grade). Many of these authors have dozens of other fantastic picture books as well. My kids and I are slowly working our way through their other books and finding even more favorites in the process. Sometimes we pair these books up with craft projects, but mostly we just read.

The list could go on, but I’d highly recommend checking out these authors and their picture books. They can fill your shelves and your summer with amazing, beautiful books about nature and science.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below: what picture books or authors would you add to this list?