Fans pick 100 books like Nature Anatomy

I first read this extraordinary, heartwarming story of self-reliance and survival when my own children were growing up, and I’ve returned to reading Island of the Blue Dolphins often throughout my adult years, typically at times when I find myself struggling to regain my footing as I face personal problems and challenges.

Published in 1960, this book tells the story of a young girl named Karana who spends nearly two decades abandoned and alone on the desert island her tribe evacuates after a deadly conflict with Aleutian otter hunters. I’ve often recommended this slight but powerful tale to women friends suffering from feelings of desolation and helplessness, and Karana’s courage, resilience, and creativity have succeeded in lifting their spirits and inspiring hope.

Great books reveal new worlds. I am crazy about books that wake up curiosity. These books are fabulous. They make exploration and observation accessible to anyone.

I love the illustrations and the information that introduces readers to the notion that a lot is going on beneath the surface in nature. There always is! It may be hushed and white up top, but beneath is a secret world where animals have different strategies to survive the cold, dark winter. It makes me wonder about all the other things that are happening that we don’t always see.

As I stated earlier, I simply love nonfiction children’s picture books, and this one is no exception. Dive into the life of one of the most beloved and indispensable creatures on earth—the hardworking honeybee. From birth to death to new life, Fleming takes us on a poetic journey through every important moment in the life of this incredible creature.

Rohmann's meticulous oil paintings bring us so close to the action that we feel like we're one of the actors in this epic tale. This is exactly the sort of book I would have been obsessed with as a child, and I truly believe if every human read this, they’d have a whole new outlook on these stunning creatures. 

The title is pretty clear, and of course, I immediately wondered—what is it like to be a bird? Why the foot shape? How do woodpeckers NOT get concussions? You wonder that, admit it!

The illustrations are so clear and accessible and the essays about wings and other marvels of “birdness” are so compelling and leave me looking at birds in an entirely new light. 

I know I’m not the only one who fell in love with Selena the first time I heard her music.

The story of a young girl chasing her dreams despite the obstacles is universal and warms my heart. That’s what this book is: heartwarming. It’s often hard to talk about the end of Selena’s life, especially with children, but López focuses on the joy and accomplishments in Selena’s life, with just a brief mention of her untimely death.

López is inspiring musicians, fashion designers, performers, and so many more by showing them that it doesn’t matter where you come from-just as long as you put in the work.

This quiet yet thought-provoking picture book invites readers to explore the world all around them as a young child embarks on a kayaking trip with their mother and father in Monterey Bay, California. From seabirds soaring above them, to sea lions barking from nearby rocks to leopard sharks prowling the sea floor, this book is a comforting read-aloud kids will want to return to again and again.

The mixed-media illustrations have an enchanting simplicity that captures the ocean environment and its wonder. The illustrated backmatter reflects on each unique creature and what makes them important to their ecosystem. I highly recommend all the books in the Over and Under series by Messner and Neal, but if you love the ocean, you won’t want to miss this one!

This is a classic. The enchanting illustrations and delightful humor mesmerized my 3-year-old, who kept asking to read it over and over throughout his childhood and insisted on buying the rest of the books in the series.

The interactive lift-the-flap elements really capture young readers' attention, and the character, Spot, is simply irresistible.

As we dive into the difficult work of enemy love and peacemaking, we quickly discover that loving someone often begins with forgiving them. And further, once you forgive someone, this opens the door to authentic friendship.

I have some comical memories of saying “bless you” to a particular bully in school as though this were a magic trick that would completely change the situation. While it may have been a good start, I now realize that forgiveness is more about an ongoing posture of the heart than it is about using “magic words” to fix everything.

This book doesn’t just show us how Jesus forgives us (through the story of Peter’s restoration), it also gives kids a roadmap to understand the deeper realities of forgiveness.

Stereotypes aren’t just for people. As a science teacher, I want my students to look beyond their initial perceptions of animals and plants, and this book helps young readers do just that.

Kate Gardner and illustrator Heidi Smith cleverly and effectively use the book’s layout (a single stereotypical word and a black-and-white illustration of an animal followed by a colorful illustration paired with facts that surprise and challenge) to encourage readers to think again.

I am a kid at heart, and like most kids, I can’t get enough of the planets and space in general. This wildly entertaining picture book introduces the reader to the solar system via a crazy spaceship ride with a small girl and her dog. The story has brilliantly paced rhyming text and zippy neon and black cartoon illustrations that anthropomorphize the planets in a way that cleverly matches their characteristics.

Everything plays its part in this book—I love the way that even the curved typography echoes the movement and excitement of the content. We learn many facts about the planets as the spaceship zooms; by the time we return to Earth with our astronaut guides, we are much wiser and better informed. Stellar!