Facts & Wonders
Recommended reference books for young readers. Some to tell the straight facts, some to encourage minds to wonder.
Scholastic Canada Biography
- Elizabeth MacLeod 
, Mike Deas
Children's hardcover
$18.99
Reader Reward Price: $17.09
Meet Jim Egan -- journalist and LGBTQ2S+ activist!
Jim was born in 1921, and he had an ordinary childhood. But as he grew up, he knew he was a little different than his friends. As a young man, Jim joined the war effort and travelled the world. He discovered there were other people like himself -- he was gay. Jim hadn't even known there was a word for it when he was growing up.
At that time, being identified as a member of the LGBTQ2S+ community wasn't safe. People lost their jobs, their families, got put in jail -- or worse. Hiding who they were felt safer to most. But not Jim. He picked up his pen and started to fight for his rights. This battle would lead to protection for the LGBTQ2S+ community under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and open the door to further equal rights, including same-sex marriage.
The Scholastic Canada Biography series is an award-winning collection of titles focused on fascinating people who have shaped Canada's past and present. Written by acclaimed non-fiction author Elizabeth MacLeod, each book also features comics-inspired illustrations by Mike Deas which bring each story to life for today's young reader.
Queer History A to Z
- Robin Stevenson , Vivian Rosas
Children's hardcover
$23.99
Reader Reward Price: $21.59
An essential resource for young readers that details the people, events and places that have shaped queer history in North America. In this exploration of the history of LGBTQ+ activism in North America, middle-grade readers can learn about the key people who led the fight for equality, the events that brought about change and the places where history was made. Presented in an A to Z format, with one topic per letter ("P Is for Pride"), the entries include subjects such as coming out, pride flags, Jazz Jennings and the Stonewall Inn. Young readers will be particularly interested in learning about youth activists such as Gavin Grimm, the history of the first gay-straight alliance and the ongoing issue of banned children's books in America. Author Robin Stevenson has won numerous awards, including a Stonewall Book Award Honor. She has carefully curated the key people, places and events in queer history across North America to offer a pitch-perfect compilation of individual stories that are accessible, interesting and inspiring. Queer History A to Z is a must-have resource for young readers, and a terrific jumping-off point for discussions about history, identity and the progress made by the LGBTQ+ community. With so many fascinating biographies and cultural history lessons throughout, it also makes an excellent general social studies resource. Eye-catching art by Vivian Rosas appears on every spread, capturing many of the iconic images of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Extensive back matter includes short biographies of LGBTQ+ activists, a timeline, a glossary, resources for kids, selected author's sources and an index.
Size Wise
- ,
Children's hardcover
$26.99
Reader Reward Price: $24.29
Discover some of the biggest and smallest things in the natural world.
This book explores the wonders of nature with awe-inspiring, realistic illustrations at life-size. Across each fascinating spread, beautiful artwork shows breathtakingly large or unbelievably small natural wonders, including eyes, wings, tentacles, sand, snowflakes, flowers and much more, all at real-life size, or zoomed in for extra interest. Marvel at the dinner-plate-sized eye of the colossal squid, the rainforest flowers you can sit inside, the fingernail-width dwarf blue butterfly and what sand really looks like when magnified.
Paired with captivating information about these incredible things, size comparisons and extra fun facts, this book will have you absorbed with the littlest and largest things on our astonishing planet.
Transportation!
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Children's hardcover
$33.99
Reader Reward Price: $30.59
DK's best-selling richly illustrated encyclopedia series explores the wonderful world of transportation.
Knowledge Encyclopedia: Transportation! uses incredibly detailed 3D illustrations to show children aged 9+ everything they need to know about how vehicles work.
Children will find themselves totally absorbed in complex subjects with the Knowledge Encyclopedia series, made clear through engaging explanations, intricate illustrations, vivid photographs, and striking 3D images. Meet hundreds of vehicles that float, fly, or speed across the land, including the record breakers - the fastest, largest, longest, and strangest modes of transportation ever to zoom, sail, or soar.
This all-encompassing encyclopedia for kids offers:
- A whole collection of facts, charts, timelines, and illustrations that cover a vast range of transportation.
- Complex subjects that are explained using amazingly detailed CGIs that entice young readers to dive in and explore.
- A visual approach using illustrations, photographs and extremely detailed 3D CGI images.
Children can explore transportation as they've never seen it before, looking at groundbreaking topics like current and future craft that use green energy to transport people and goods around the world. Peer inside a car engine, feel the roar of a jet, watch a helicopter's rotor create lift, and explore below the decks of an ocean liner in this impressively detailed transportation encyclopedia.
More in the series
Knowledge Encyclopedia Transportation! is part of DK's visual and informative Knowledge Encyclopedia series. Complete the collection and dive into the deep with Knowledge Encyclopedia Ocean!, take a trip to the solar system with Knowledge Encyclopedia Space! and travel back to prehistoric times with Knowledge Encyclopedia Dinosaur!
Butt or Face? Volume 2
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Children's hardcover
$22.50
Reader Reward Price: $20.25
Are you ready for round two of the hilarious guessing game picture book? Discover fascinating facts about animals while guessing if you're looking at a butt or a face!
Butt or Face? Volume 2 continues the delightfully cheeky challenge with a whole new set of animals from all over the world. Examine a close-up photo of an animal and then guess whether you're looking at the top or the...um...bottom. The answer is revealed on the next page with a complete photo of the animal! Also included are factual animal details along with how these animals use camouflage or other trickery to engage with their home. Readers will discover animals like the alien butt spider who turns leaves into burrito-like hideaways, the leaf-tailed gecko whose body mimics the leaves and bark of a tree, and many more!
Righting Canada's Wrongs
- Andrew Bomberry , Teresa Edwards
Children's hardcover
$34.95
Reader Reward Price: $31.46
Starting in 1951, Indigenous children in Canada were taken by social welfare agencies from their families and placed in the care of non-Indigenous families. These children grew up without their birth families, cultural roots, and language. Many tried to run away and some died in the attempt. The taking of the children is known as the Sixties Scoop, though the policies and practices started before the 1960s and lasted long after. Today, Indigenous children are shockingly over-represented in the child welfare system across Canada.
Indigenous communities organized and fought back for their children. In 1985, an official government report condemned the practice.
In the 1990s, lawsuits were filed against the governments who had supported taking the children. In 2018 and 2019, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba apologized for their roles. In 2020, the Canadian government agreed to a settlement for survivors of the Scoop.
Through hundreds of photos and primary documents, readers meet many survivors of the Scoop. They learn how Indigenous communities fought back to save their children and won, and how Indigenous communities across Canada are working towards healing today.
Alone Together
- Petti Fong , Jonathan Dyck
Children's hardcover
$26.95
Reader Reward Price: $24.26
The world is facing an epidemic of loneliness.
The COVID-19 pandemic taught us new words, like isolation, quarantine and social distancing. In places like the UK and Japan, governments have appointed ministers of loneliness to examine the problem and find ways to help their citizens. What does it mean to be lonely, and what can we do about it?
Alone Together explores what superheroes can teach us about being alone, the ways kids have survived on their own and how activists in the civil rights movement took a stand against loneliness. Discover what comfort foods, sweatpants and being kind to each other have to do with loneliness.
Based on the podcast of the same name. Readers will learn about loneliness and how being alone can ultimately bring us closer together.
The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
Be a Nature Explorer!
- , , Belle Wuthrich
Children's paperback
$17.95
Reader Reward Price: $16.16
For kids ages 6 to 10, this hands-on nature activity book is the perfect companion for every child's next outdoor adventure!
An excellent resource for parents, teachers, and curriculums ranging from outdoor education to homeschool and forest school.
Whether you are in the forest, in your own backyard, or in the city, there are so many exciting ways to engage with nature--and forester Peter Wohlleben has the best ideas for doing so. With Be A Nature Explorer!, kids will learn how to press flowers, harvest algae, skip stones, observe spiders, and even how to build their own tiny sailboat.
This ultimate kids' nature book features:
52 short, fun, and hands-on activities to help kids explore and discover the outdoors--one for each week of the year.Portable format: This lightweight paperback is designed to easily throw in a backpack and refer to on adventures.STEM learning and outdoor skill development: Kids will learn how to decode nature's messages, identify plants and animal tracks, record and preserve their finds, and more.
The HISTORY Channel This Day in History For Kids
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Children's hardcover
$34.00
Reader Reward Price: $30.60
An exciting, visual adventure through world history with day-by-day accounts of extraordinary events, notable people, and incredible inventions for kids ages 8-12.
History comes alive in this beautifully illustrated book with bite-size facts (along with a touch of humor) that will engage and entertain young curious minds.
Jam-packed with important events, inspiring accomplishments by remarkable people, and groundbreaking inventions, this super-fun fact-filled book, the first kids book from History Channel, includes the most interesting historical facts--from early civilization up to the 21st century all around the world for every day of the year.
Each day's entry includes multiple events that occurred on that day in history along with charming original illustrations and photography. Plus, readers are prompted to recall their own remarkable milestones, helping them to consider their place in history. Inside, kids will discover:
Historic events that happened on their birthdayMajor moments in sportsGroundbreaking events and famous military battlesFearless explorers, inventors and freedom fightersRecord-breaking stuntsWeird and wacky holidaysIncredible dinosaur discoveries, and much more!
Unstoppable Us, Volume 2
- ,
Children's hardcover
$29.99
Reader Reward Price: $26.99
A New York Times Bestseller o From world-renowned historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, the author of Sapiens, comes the second volume in the bestselling Unstoppable Us middle-grade series that traces human development from hunter-gatherer societies to cities and empires.
Humans may have taken over the world, but what happened next? How did our hunter-gatherer ancestors become village farmers? Why were kingdoms and laws established? How did we go from being the rulers of Earth to the rulers of each other?
And why isn't the world fair?
The answer to all of that is one of the strangest tales you'll ever hear. And it's a true story.
From cultivating land and sharing resources to building pyramids and paying taxes, prepare to discover how humans created civilization -- and suffered the consequences for it.
Acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harari is back with another expertly crafted story of how humans became "unstoppable," complete with maps, a timeline, and full-color illustrations that bring his dynamic unputdownable writing to life.
This is a selection of our current Facts & Wonders titles. To find other titles or authors, or just to browse, please use the search box.
