Children’s nonfiction, genre and cross-curricular books

Genre books - topic books for EYFS, KS1 and KS3

Children’s genre, nonfiction and cross-curricular books

Curated children’s book lists selected by genre and nonfiction subject for cross-curricular teaching. Are you looking for great books to support your primary KS1 or KS2 teaching areas?

Below are our recommended collections for cross-curricular projects. These book list suggestions aim to cover all curriculum subjects and themes and include a variety of genres, including poetry, reading for pleasure, fiction and narrative nonfiction. We’re adding new genres and nonfiction subjects every week, and we hope these lists of quality texts will help teachers and librarians to find useful books for classrooms and school libraries.

Genre and nonfiction books are a great way to encourage children to read for pleasure, delve into a subject on their own terms, investigate areas they are interested in for deeper home learning, and develop a personal attachment to a curriculum area. Books for cross-curricular teaching also allow pupils to appreciate how cultures, civilisations, movements and philosophies span disciplines in real life and are not limited to discrete areas of learning.

Not only that, but when a child reads a book about something they are enthusiastic about, suddenly it no longer seems like schoolwork. Using classroom displays of genre-books, and highlighting non-fiction corners of the library can help to motivate students to read independently and develop preferred literary interests.

The lists are updated and revised regularly to make sure books are up-to-date and relevant to the UK National Curriculum. Each recommended book includes a description and suggestions for classroom use. For each genre, there’s also a hand-picked selection of useful resources, links and free downloadables.

Our genre and cross-curricular booklists are created for UK teachers and school librarians who need reliable texts for topics, themes and classroom libraries, with contributions from subject specialists on our booklist curation panel. We add and refresh lists regularly to help schools find strong fiction, nonfiction, poetry and narrative nonfiction for teaching and reading for pleasure. For age-specific recommendations, start with KS2 reading lists or KS3 reading lists.

For more nonfiction and ideas, see our list of magazines for children and teens.

By Tom Tolkien. This page was last updated on August 4th, 2025.

About Tom Tolkien

Tom Tolkien is a highly qualified (BA Hons, PGCE, QTS) children's literature expert and teacher with over 25 years of experience. He has led inset courses, developed curriculum materials, spoken at conferences, advised on longlisting for several international children's literature literature awards and written for educational publishers including contributing to a BETT award-nominated app. Social profiles: X | Linkedin

Genre and nonfiction books – our reading lists

Subject-based book list collections

History

History books for children and teens tailored for KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4 teaching and learning and school libraries.

Geography

Geography topic books for children in UK primary schools. Exciting nonfiction and fiction titles to enliven geography teaching.

PSHE

PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education) topic books for children in UK primary and secondary schools.

All About Me topic books for EYFS

Last updated on August 4, 2025 by Tom Tolkien

All about me topic books for EYFS including picture books by Mem Fox, The School of Life, Esther Pia Cordova, Lupita Nyong’o, Hervé Tullet, Sophy Henn, David McKee, and more.

Nuclear war and survival books for children and teens

Last updated on July 30, 2025 by Tom Tolkien

Nuclear war and survival books for children and teens with titles by David McKee, Emma Carroll, David Almond, Kerry Drewery, Robert Swindells, Todd Strasser, Judith Loske, Raymond Briggs, Nevil Shute and Annie Jacobsen.

Refugees and migration books for children and teens

Last updated on July 9, 2025 by Tom Tolkien

Refugees and migration books for children and teens, featuring books by Erika Meza, Na’ima B. Robert, Brian Bilston, Eoin Colfer, Onjali Q. Raúf, Sita Brahmachari, Armin Greder, Michael Rosen, Ele Fountain and Malcolm Duffy.

Biographies and autobiographies for children and teens

Last updated on June 10, 2025 by Tom Tolkien

Biographies and autobiographies for children with titles by Mick Manning, Brita Granström, Michael Rosen, Vashti Harrison, Floella Benjamin, John Agard, Jacqueline Wilson, Alastair Humphreys, Malala Yousafzai, David Long, William Grill and Linda Sue Park.

Graphic novel versions of GCSE English texts

Last updated on May 4, 2025 by Tom Tolkien

Graphic novel versions of GCSE English novels and playscript set texts for young adults in KS4 to appeal to both reluctant and able readers and make challenging exam texts more accessible.

Gardening topic books

Last updated on May 2, 2025 by Jan Tolkien

Gardening topic books – our list includes nonfiction practical guides, picture books, garden-related stories and illustrated reference books with titles by authors including Melanie Brown, Lizzy Stewart, Abigail Wheatley, A.M. Howell, Gilles Clement and Émilie Vast.

Chess books for children and teens

Last updated on May 2, 2025 by Tom Tolkien

Chess themed books for children & teens, including titles by Daniel King, Tanitoluwa Adewumi, Murray Chandler, Jennifer Shahade, Graham Burgess, Sabrina Chevanne, Stefan Zweig and Vladimir Nabokov.

Art topic books for children and teens

Last updated on May 2, 2025 by Jan Tolkien

Art topic books for 4-16-year-olds – our recommendations. This list includes how to art guides and real-life stories about children and adults inspired by art. Writers include Julia Donaldson, Allan Ahlberg, Andrea Beaty, Kari Herbert, David Hockney, Akwaeke Emezi and Tracy Chevalier.