2025 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Visual
This might be one of my favorite lists this month! I’m a very visual learner, so having books that put a focus on creating a visual environment for readers, especially nonfiction titles, is wonderful! Visual nonfiction is just one type of nonfiction writing and if you want to learn more about the other styles, check out my blog post just before this challenge that explains each one.
As I’ve mentioned (probably more often that I should), children’s nonfiction is really in a period of change. Gone are the days of text heavy pages with black and white pen illustrations. Rather, nonfiction for kids is now engaging and accessible with a lot of graphs, charts, primary photographs (when available) and illustration. They really are some of the coolest books being published right now, especially the ones that lean heavily into this visual format.
And if you’ve got a kid who might be intimidated reading a book cover-to-cover, these visual nonfiction titles are great because you can often flip to different sections, reading pieces and parts that interest you. Get kids interested in learning and in nonfiction by trying some of these titles below!
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2025 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Visual
The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to Inventing the World by Dylan Thuras and Jennifer Swanson, illustrated by Ruby Fresson
This illustrated and STEM-oriented exploration of the planet’s 50 most interesting inventions and scientific discoveries sends middle-grade readers on an unforgettable trip around the planet and across time.
Each spread focuses on a world-changing technology and how it led to or influenced the tech or discovery on the next page. Starting with the very first invention, fire, readers will spelunk the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa for evidence of humankind’s earliest control of flames, then learn how fire is necessary to create another essential tech: glass, including the modern-day glass bridge in Zhangjiajie, China, that offers a crystal-clear (and terrifying!) view of the chasm 1,300 feet below.
As you gaze at comets through telescopes, create unbreakable codes, zap space garbage with lasers, and break supersonic records in the world’s fastest car, gorgeously illustrated scenes will transport readers across continents and centuries into a world of wonder and discovery.
Britannica’s Encyclopedia Infographica: 1,000s of Facts & Figures Revealed Through Pictures by Valentina D’Efilippo , Andrew Pettie, and Conrad Quilty-Harper
This authoritative encyclopedia is perfect for visual learners: it reveals astonishing information about space, Earth, animals, humans, and technology through 200 infographics, including maps, charts, timelines, and more!
Grasp facts at a glance as you turn every page: discover the size of our Sun in comparison to the largest star in the universe; find out which animal can leap 200 times its body length; learn how many cups of snot your body makes a day; compare the sizes of the biggest beasts that have ever lived; witness what happens in a single second across the world.
With stunning infographics by internationally renowned data designer Valentina D’Efilippo, along with beautiful color photography, as well as interviews with leading expert consultants for every chapter, this ravishing book from Britannica offers an exhilarating visual way to understand the world around us.
How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure by John Rocco
Everyone knows of Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps on the moon. But what did it really take to get us there?
The Moon landing is one of the most ambitious, thrilling, and dangerous ventures in human history. This exquisitely researched and illustrated book tells the stories of the 400,000 unsung heroes–the engineers, mathematicians, seamstresses, welders, and factory workers–and their innovations and life-changing technological leaps forward that allowed NASA to achieve this unparalleled accomplishment.
From the shocking launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik to the triumphant splashdown of Apollo 11, Caldecott Honor winner John Rocco answers every possible question about this world-altering mission. Each challenging step in the space race is revealed, examined, and displayed through stunning diagrams, experiments, moments of crisis, and unforgettable human stories.
Explorers of all ages will want to pore over every page in this comprehensive chronicle detailing the grandest human adventure of all time!
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why by Amy Shields
Linking to a popular feature in the super successful National Geographic Little Kids magazine, this book brings the browsable fun of the bestselling National Geographic Kids Almanac to a new audience: preschoolers! Using an interactive question-and-answer format and content grounded in a child’s immediate world, the Big Book of Why delivers lively information, hands-on games, simple recipes, crafts, and more. What makes a car go? How does mushy dough become a crispy cookie? What does the doctor see in my throat?
An essential parent reference, The Big Book of Why invites children to ask big questions, think big thoughts, and get answers that are accurate, engaging, level-appropriate, and based on sound educational findings. It helps prepare preschoolers for school in an interactive way—the very best way to foster learning at this age, according to research. Highly photographic and playful, this big book is an adventure in exploration.
North America: A Fold-Out Graphic History by Sarah Albee, illustrated by William Exley
North American history unfolds in this graphic timeline that places the United States, Canadian and Mexican/Caribbean histories in the context of their continent.
- From healers in the Aleutian islands in 10,000 BCE to the first to cultivate corn in 3,000 BCE in Mexico to Canadian scientists studying butterfly migration in 1975.
- From the Aztecs of the city of Tenochtitlan to the Mississippians who built Cahokia to the Inuit of the arctic and the Taino of the Caribbean.
- Then there are Spanish, French, English, and other Europeans who invaded in the 1500s, the enslaved Africans forcibly brought to our shores, and millions more, from all around the world.
Ours is the story of creation and destruction, migration, exploration, conquest, wars, alliances, trade, governments, railroads, mutinies, panning for gold, invention and art. It includes terrible injustices and amazing movements toward equality and freedom and so much more. So unfold the book and immerse yourself in the vast tapestry that is North American history.
Pizza, Pickles, and Apple Pie: The Stories Behind the Foods We Love by David Rickert
Whether it’s pizza and pickles or sushi and salad, there’s a story behind all of our favorite foods. From breakfast to dinner, this book explores popular foods from our history, and explains their origins. Young readers will travel back in time—sometimes thousands of years—to cultures all over the globe to learn how and why foods were discovered. They’ll also meet key people from food history along the way, including the inventor of breakfast cereal and the creator of salad dressing.
Stomp and Chomp: My First Book of Dinosaurs by Simon Mole, illustrated by Matt Hunt
Did you know that Giganotosaurus had a tongue big enough to be your bed? That plant eaters evolved at different heights to assure there would be more than enough food for all—with each nibbling at a different point on the tree? Thirty exuberant poems, divided into four fact-packed sections, put readers up close and personal with species from T. rex and Triceratops to Stegosaurus and Velociraptor.
Some have lines of terrible teeth, while others sport feathery peacock tails. All thunder off the page in vibrant illustrations pitched to poems that ring with humor and heart, while relaying well-researched facts about dinosaur anatomy, diet, herd behavior, and more. Young devotees will demand to read this energetic tribute to the dinosaurs, in all their larger-than-life glory, over and over again. Back matter includes a time line and information about the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.
Transported: 50 Vehicles That Changed the World by Matt Ralphs, illustrated by Rui Ricardo
From ancient chariots and Viking longships to racing cars, rockets, and solar-powered airplanes, our world has been changed by the pioneering development of many incredible vehicles.
Discover vehicles that have shaped our world in this fascinating book, written by narrowboat captain and children’s author Matt Ralphs, with stunning color illustrations on every page by Rui Ricardo.
Weird But True World 2025: Incredible facts, awesome photos, and weird wonders–for this year and beyond!
Meet a chef who cooks pizza over an active volcano in Guatemala. Visit a bridge in Hungary that was repaired with LEGO bricks. And get to know the world’s smelliest frog.
You’ll find all this and more inside this jam-packed compendium of weird wonders from all around the world. Travel from continent to continent and from sea to space to find the coolest animals, natural wonders, ancient architecture, and festivals the universe has to offer. It’s everything Weird But True! fans love, and then some: adventure-filled awesomeness packed with gorgeous photography, snackable fun facts, and in-depth info about the strange history and science that makes our world so wonderful.
This annual collection is updated each year with NEW world’s weirdest winners from around the globe, weird news, fresh facts, and strange sites, animals, and events for every continent. Weird But True! World 2025 is the latest, greatest, and WEIRDEST edition yet.
What About: Digital Tech? by Baptiste Massa, illustrated by Pascal Lemaître
Who invented the Internet? What is virtual reality? How does 3-D printing work? Curious kids want to know, and they will get the answers to these questions and many more in this illustrated Q&A book. Questions about digital tech are answered in a fun, kid-friendly way and accompanied by quirky cartoon illustrations that will entertain readers and help them remember important facts,
The Wonder Garden: Wander Through Five Habitats to Discover 80 Amazing Animals by Jenny Broom, illustrated by Kristjana S Williams
Open the gates of the Wonder Garden to explore five of Earth’s most extraordinary habitats, each filled with incredible creatures and epic scenery. Trek through the Amazon Rainforest, travel to the Chihuahuan Desert, dive in the Great Barrier Reef, delve deep into the Black Forest and stand on the roof of the world – the Himalayan Mountains – to see nature at its wildest. Breathtaking, engraved illustrations bring to life Earth’s spectacular Wonder Garden.
The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth: Understanding Our World and Its Ecosystems by Rachel Ignotofsky
Making earth science accessible and entertaining through art, maps, and infographics, The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth explains how our planet works—and how we can protect it—from its diverse ecosystems and their inhabitants, to the levels of ecology, the importance of biodiversity, the cycles of nature, and more. Science- and nature-loving readers of all ages will delight in this utterly charming guide to our amazing home.
2025 is my tenth year participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge! This year, I chose as my theme: Fact Finders Club: Nonfiction for Curious Kids with a focus on providing book lists focused on all types of nonfiction books for readers from birth to teens. Each letter of the alphabet will focus on different topics and will provide twelve titles on each list. Nonfiction is having a heyday in children’s literature and if you think it’s dry and boring, then I implore you to take a look at these amazing suggestions! Stop by daily to check out the new books and other posts that I’ll be sharing in April.
