Recommended reads: nonfiction for ages 8+

Insiders Alive! Earthquakes and Volcanoes Anita Ganeri (Templar) This is an amazing book that gives a fabulous pop-up introduction to the ever-present danger of volcanoes and earthquakes. There are masses of facts about the structure of the Earth and the unpredictable ways it behaves. Pulling taps, turning wheels and opening out the spectacular whoosh of a volcano, this book will make all readers aware of the fragility of the world we live in. Ages 8+ Pop-Up London Jennie Maizels (Walker) Explore London as you never have before in this beautiful and original introduction to the city. While iconic buildings such as the Albert Hall, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace pop up to provide a background, the foreground is packed full of information under flaps, in little books to open and in interactive pictures. The final spread of Tower Bridge, which opens too, is a special delight. Ages 8+ Horrible Histories: The Terrible Tudors Terry Deary, illustrated by Martin Brown (Scholastic) Across the centuries and over many years, Terry Deary has been dusting down history and making it come alive. Without skimping on facts, his stories of kings and queens, battles and the rest are background to his prime endeavour – which is to show how ordinary people lived their lives. In this Tudor volume, the lives of the poor look especially bleak. The details may be different, but Deary's entertaining stories make the past no longer seem so very far away. Ages 9+ The Incredible Pop-Up Body Book Richard Walker (Dorling Kindersley) Recent discoveries about the body and brain are simply reproduced here clinically and neatly, in both pictures and words. Full of facts, the book finishes with a full-height body outline that unfolds gracefully from the book, extensively annotated with information about bones, blood, tissue and more. Ages 10+ The Way We Work David Macaulay (Walker) Explaining the inner workings of the human body – the most intricate machine of all – in an accessible and fun way is not an easy task, but David Macaulay, master of the cross section, has pulled this off with his familiar ability to combine incredible knowledge with outstanding illustration. The major systems of the body and their components – bones, cells, blood, vital organs – and how they interact, are explored in depth. This is a book with immediate impact. Ages 11+ Written in Blood: a Brief History of Civilisation ... Beverley MacDonald and Andrew Weldon (Allen & Unwin) What sort of society do we want to live in, and where did we come from anyway? That's the central question in this colourfully illustrated journey through history. The cartoons provide the humour and the no-nonsense text tells the story with clarity and purpose. Topics include cannibalism, genetics and J Edgar Hoover. Clever and offbeat. Ages 10+ What You Need to Know Now Isabel Thomas (Dorling Kindersley) Lively and up-to-date facts about life on planet Earth, mixing genuinely useful reference data with fun facts, figures and trivia. Each section is grouped logically with clear and colourful illustrations and diagrams under headings such as Earth, People and Power and contains loads of simple comparative figures: for example, 1.5 billion bananas are eaten across the world every day! An encyclopaedia for the online generation. Ages 11+ Real Food, Real Fast Sam Stern (Walker) Twenty-one-year-old star chef Sam Stern's recipe book for the time-pressed teen is crammed full of ideas for whipping up good food double-quick. This collection of recipes is organised according to prep time, so you could make yourself a tasty snack in five minutes, or a full-on feast in 30. Mouthwateringly delicious, and nutritious too. Ages 12+