Forgive me for sounding a bit like a broken record, but: my goodness, the world of children’s lit just keeps broadening and upping itself! Within the larger realm of children’s non-fiction, I have recently read some incredible biographies, as well the more traditional kind of non-fiction. Looking at the biographical books, the recent highlights include: Patricia Hruby Powell’s Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, amazingly illustrated by Christian Robinson; a condensed look at the life of literary great Jane Austen called Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen thoughtfully written by Deborah Hopkinson and beautifully illustrated by the prolific Canadian artist Qin Leng; Fiona Robinson’s Ada’s Ideas: The Story of Ada Lovelace, the World’s First Computer Programmer is a memorable, enlightening and wonderfully drawn done work; the stunningly told and drawn Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois by Amy Novesky and Canadian award-winning artist Isabelle Arsenault; the utterly intriguing Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez with standout art by Felicita Sala; and last but not least, the brilliantly told and illustrated Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Canadian author Helaine Becker, illustrated by Dow Phumiruk.

On the more traditional side of non-fiction we have: The Mushroom Fan Club by Canadian favourite Elise Gravel, a totally fun and informative look at kinds of mushrooms; Canadian Jan Thornill, who authored and illustrated the award-winning The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk (which is superb!) returns with fascinating and eye-opening The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow; the very cool and captivating What Makes a Monster?: Discovering the World’s Scariest Creatures by author and zoologist Jess Keating, with illustrations by David DeGrand; the delightful Other-Wordly: Words Both Strange and Lovely from Around the World by Yee-Lum Mak, with fantastic art by Kelsey Garrity-Riley*; a fun look at animal feet called I’ve Got Feet!: Fantastical Feet of the Animal World by Julie Murphy, with art by Hannah Tolson; and How Tall Was a T.rex?, a simple, bold, visually striking and awesome look at tyrannosaurus by Alison Limentani.

Happy reading!

*I received a copy of Other-Wordly: Words Both Lovely and Strange from Around the World courtesy of Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own.