Into the Stacks

A blog about libraries, librarianship, and other library-related things for any and all library lovers out there.

[intothestacks]

Nonfiction Comics For Kids: Recommendations By a School Librarian

Lower Readers

Disgusting Critters series by Elise Gravel – A comic book series for early readers about critters society considers “disgusting,” such as slugs, rats, worms, and head lice.

Little Habitats series by Jana Curll – Comic books for younger readers that teach about different habitats. Perfect for fans of Narwhal & Jelly. There are currently two books in the series: Barnacle Bay & Fiddlehead Forest.

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series by Various Authors – Comics on the nonfiction topics related to the Magic Tree House early chapter series books. As of the writing of this blog post, there are three books in the series: Dinosaurs, Space, and Titanic. Note: There's an early chapter nonfiction book series by the same name.

Higher Readers

Science Comics series by Various Authors – Comics on various scientific topics, from biology to architecture, to space, to robotics, and more. There are some 20 books in the series thus far.

Maker Comics series by Various Authors – Nonfiction how-to guides for kids in a comic book format.

Be Smart About series by Rachel Brian – Guides on how to deal with different topics. There are currently four books in the series: Consent, Anxiety, ADHD, and Screen Time.

The Mushroom Fan Club by Elise Gravel – A graphic novel all about mushrooms. She also has similar guides about microbes and bugs.

Older Than Dirt: A Wild but True History of Earth by Don Brown – A book for history fans about our little blue planet, from its humble beginnings to how life started on it, and more.

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani – A book about the history of how Jane Goodall and other like-minded scientists pioneered a new way to study wildlife.

Nutshimit: In the Woods by Melissa Mollen Dupuis – A book about Inuit culture and history, with art by Elise Gravel.

[intothestacks]

One of the Grade 6s made a sign for the library for their favourite series:

[intothestacks]

A list of recommended nonfiction books for kids on the Titanic by an elementary school librarian

Inspired by the fact that the Grade 3s at my work have all simultaneously become obsessed with all things Titanic.

Early Readers

Three simple accounts of the sinking of the Titanic and the discovery of its remains many years later.

Titanic by Caryn Jenner

Titanic by Melissa Stewart

The Titanic: Lost… and Found by Judy Donnelly

Short Nonfiction

These books have more text than an early reader, but still have relatively simple and short text and lots of images.

Aboard the Titanic by John Son – A book about the passengers aboard the Titanic. The book also includes features on the non-white passengers which are usually overlooked in retellings of the fateful voyage.

Rediscovering the Titanic by Michael Burgan – A book about how the Titanic was found and what we have learned about it from revisiting the ship.

Four Days on the Titanic by Laura McClure Anastasia – Information about what it was like to be a passenger aboard the Titanic before things went wrong.

You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Titanic! by David Stewart – A short, highly illustrated book looking at the many reasons why being a passenger on the Titanic would suck.

Titanic by Sean Callery – Similar to DK’s Eyewitness series, but written with simpler text for a younger audience. The book is image heavy with shorter text, making it perfect for reluctant readers or beginning readers wanting to challenge themselves.

Titanic by Meika Hashimoto – A graphic novel for younger readers all about the Titanic. It will be published on June 23, 2026.

Middle Grade Books

Books for reading with younger readers or for older readers to explore on their own. 

Rescuing Titanic by Flora Delargy – A look at the Titanic disaster from the point of view of how the survivors were rescued.

882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic by Hugh Brewster – A highly illustrated book answering various common questions kids have about the doomed ship and its untimely end.

Titanic by Simon Adams – A book in the beloved Eyewitness nonfiction series. It’s image-heavy, and though it has lots of text, it’s often broken down into smaller chunks, so this is a particularly good book for reluctant readers.

The Titanic by Kate Messner – A book in the History Smashers series that focuses on “smashing” the myths and misconceptions regarding the famous ship and its sinking. It’s more text-heavy but with plenty of images throughout.

[novapsa23]

Just as a addition to your middle grade readers suggestions, I would recommend Exploring the Titanic, Robert Ballard’s book about how he discovered the Titanic for younger readers.

[intothestacks]

Oooh, good to know! Thanks for the addition!

[intothestacks]

Flashback to 2021

I was working as a year-long temp at a school in Devon during the start of the pandemic, and kids couldn't go to the library, so I'd drop by their classes to read to them at library time.

Since 4B's library time fell on Library Shelfie Day and the kids couldn't go to the library, I brought the library to them! While I read from Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, the kids designed their own covers for the book, which I then digitized and put up on the library blog.

I emailed the author of the book about the art project, and he liked it so much that he talked about it on his social media accounts!

[bookcoversaroundtheworld]

Charlotte's New Moccasins - Canada

Charlotte has outgrown her moccasins! Still, there's nothing a trip to Grandma's can't fix in this heartwarming intergenerational story.

A sweet, celebratory picture book about family and culture by two debut Métis creators centered around Indigenous peoples' tradition of making moccasins, perfect for 3-7-year-olds.

[bookcoversaroundtheworld]

Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging - Canada

In this timely, thought-provoking, funny and heartbreaking collection, ten acclaimed BIPOC authors from across Canada explore the theme and concept of home.

From awkward family dinners, to life on the rez, to moving to a new town, each of these stories provides a unique perspective on the theme of belonging through characters tasked with navigating and finding their place in this world.

Brought together by curator (and story contributor), Jael Richardson, Today I Am will make readers laugh and cry while opening their hearts and minds to the world around them, validating how it feels to be young and alive today.

[intothestacks]

For Indigenous History Month (June) my work (an elementary school) will be having an author visit by a local Indigenous author, who will be reading from her book to the Kindergarteners to Grade 3s (what we call Division 1 students).

It'll be at the library, so that should be fun. :-)

There's also gonna be activities for the older students, just not the storytelling at the library.

The Grades 4-6 are gonna have the mom of two of our students come in to share about her people's culture.

And everyone is going to get to participate in powwow dancing at the gym.

We're also gonna have O Canada sung in different Indigenous languages every Monday this month. I'm most excited for hearing it in Inuktitut, as I think it's a beautiful language. ^_^

[intothestacks]

Me: So, today I'll need your teacher to pick out someone who's been really well-behaved to help me with this story.

Grade 1s: *gasp excitedly*

Teacher: Ooooh! Let's see... [Grade 1] why don't you go up?

Me: *reads from The Book That Can Read Your Mind by Susannah Lloyd until the prompt where the person needs to pick a character*

Grade 1: *answers 2 questions about the character they picked*

Me: *correctly guesses the character*

Grade 1s: Whaaaat!!

Other Grade 1: How did you do that?!

[aichu-dechu]

[s-n-arly]

Apparently my favorite picture books as a child were written by queer authors.  This brings me joy.

[damndorothea]

i saw this somewhere else but reply / tag what you did today so everyone can see that we all did something different today

[intothestacks]

I'm an elementary school librarian and it's near the end of the school year where I live, so I mostly put books away and checked which students still need to return their books. I also gave students who'd returned everything their library cards (they ask all year if they can have them, so I give them their cards at the end, since they'll get new ones next year).

And I started giving some of the Grade 6s who have volunteered in the library in the past little pins I got for them based on their personalities and interests, and personalized cards congratulating them on graduating to jr high.

One of the Grade 6s made a card for me:

Another said "You're the best!". another said "Ha ha! And it's a dragon [pin]! You know me so well!" and another said he'd always wear the pin and would come to visit after he graduated. :-)

[intothestacks]

A list of recommended nonfiction books for kids on the Titanic by an elementary school librarian

Inspired by the fact that the Grade 3s at my work have all simultaneously become obsessed with all things Titanic.

Early Readers

Three simple accounts of the sinking of the Titanic and the discovery of its remains many years later.

Titanic by Caryn Jenner

Titanic by Melissa Stewart

The Titanic: Lost… and Found by Judy Donnelly

Short Nonfiction

These books have more text than an early reader, but still have relatively simple and short text and lots of images.

Aboard the Titanic by John Son – A book about the passengers aboard the Titanic. The book also includes features on the non-white passengers which are usually overlooked in retellings of the fateful voyage.

Rediscovering the Titanic by Michael Burgan – A book about how the Titanic was found and what we have learned about it from revisiting the ship.

Four Days on the Titanic by Laura McClure Anastasia – Information about what it was like to be a passenger aboard the Titanic before things went wrong.

You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Titanic! by David Stewart – A short, highly illustrated book looking at the many reasons why being a passenger on the Titanic would suck.

Titanic by Sean Callery – Similar to DK’s Eyewitness series, but written with simpler text for a younger audience. The book is image heavy with shorter text, making it perfect for reluctant readers or beginning readers wanting to challenge themselves.

Titanic by Meika Hashimoto – A graphic novel for younger readers all about the Titanic. It will be published on June 23, 2026.

Middle Grade Books

Books for reading with younger readers or for older readers to explore on their own. 

Rescuing Titanic by Flora Delargy – A look at the Titanic disaster from the point of view of how the survivors were rescued.

882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic by Hugh Brewster – A highly illustrated book answering various common questions kids have about the doomed ship and its untimely end.

Titanic by Simon Adams – A book in the beloved Eyewitness nonfiction series. It’s image-heavy, and though it has lots of text, it’s often broken down into smaller chunks, so this is a particularly good book for reluctant readers.

The Titanic by Kate Messner – A book in the History Smashers series that focuses on “smashing” the myths and misconceptions regarding the famous ship and its sinking. It’s more text-heavy but with plenty of images throughout.

[intothestacks]

If you're planning on working with kids, I highly recommend you take an improv class or two.

Being able to bs an answer* out of nowhere and/or to "yes and" a kid suggestion is critical when working with tiny humans.

And taking drama classes also helps to teach you how to project your voice with maximum effect without hurting your throat, which is a VERY useful skill when you have 25 little kids bouncing off the walls.

* I don't mean lie to them if you don't know the answer to their question, but rather how to improvise an answer related to magic lore like Santa or the Tooth Fairy when someone questions the magic.

[intothestacks]

Today, some of the Grade 6s asked if they could hang out in the library instead of going out to recess (fair enough; it's soggy and miserable out there today).

One of them sat in a corner and did some coding on his laptop, while another decided she was gonna help me organize one of the drawers in my desk. Another two helped to put up some posters that had fallen down.

[intothestacks]

Adventures in Librarian-ing

Me: I've been looking up books to get for the library.

Grade 5: What kind are you looking at?

Me: I'm looking to get some more scary ones, since I think most of the fans of the scary books have read everything we have. It's not a big collection.

Grade 5: Yeah...

Other Grade 5: Yeeeah!!! Scary boooks!!! :D

Me: I also found some scary books that are like, those books where you decide what happens.

Grade 5: *gasps* I love those books!

Me: If you're looking for those kinds of books online to get, the term to use is "interactive books" or "interactive adventures".

Grade 5: Oooh, good to know!

[academic-vampire]

𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔟𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔰

[intothestacks]

My #1 tip as a children's librarian on how to entice a reluctant reader to read

Connect the reluctant reader to books on the topics they're interested in (and, preferably, at their reading level or close to it).

Are they into video games? Get them manuals on their games or books set in the universe of their games.

Are they into horses? There's lots of fiction and nonfiction books on horses that they can read!

Do they like making crafts? Craft books are amazing!

Bonus tip: Comic books or books that have lots of illustrations tend to be the biggest hits with reouctant readers. They also tend to really like choose-your-own-adventure type books.

If you'd like, I'm happy to give recommendations based on your kids' interests, just send me an ask!

[intothestacks]

A few months ago, I got a Toothless stuffie for my book character library collection that I let my students play with, after a kiddo in Grade 3 said I needed a How to Train Your Dragon stuffie for the collection.

So this month, one of the Grade 5s gave me a Lightfury stuffie for the library to keep Toothless company.

The stuffie collection continues to grow, lol.