Non-Fiction Books for 5th Graders

Children really love and get inspired by stories that happen in real time involving real people and the world around them. One of the keys to academic success of students depend on how much knowledge they acquire through reading books, other than their academic subjects. Even though fantasy and science fiction stories can really get the kids hooked to the books, non-fiction can also turn a reluctant reader into a more enthusiastic one, if it has all the ingredients to entertain and enthuse the reader. Here we’ve listed some of the best non-fiction books for 5th graders:

5th Grade Nonfiction Books


Girls Think of Everything:
Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women

Age Range: 10 – 12 years
Grade Level: 5 – 7

authors: Catherine Thimmesh, Melissa Sweet
4_5 stars

If you think all inventions are made by only men, then you are probably wrong. There are a lot of things that you deal with in your daily life at home and office have been invented by these ingenious women that had made our lives simple and better. You can find a lot of items in your kitchen, basement, living room and bathroom that you can find inventions made by women. This non-fiction book revolves around women who went on to invent things like the windshield wiper, without which no car can drive by during the rainy season or the delicious chocolate chip cookie. This is a must read book for girls.

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

by Donn Fendler
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 4 – 7

4_5 stars

Sometimes it only takes a minute to get lost in the wilderness and that’s what happens exactly to 12 year old Donn Fendler, when he decides to venture out into the open from his Boy Scout troop. Donn’s journey to find his way back to his troop is filled with lots of adventures with black bears, fear of being lost and thunderous storms.

“Lost on a Mountain in Maine” is based on a true story of the adventures of a boy, who gets lost in the harrowing Katahdin mountains and how he survives the wilderness. This book is really a treat for all fans of a gripping survival story.


Smile

by Raina Telgemeier
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7

5 stars

Smile is an autobiography written by Raina Telgemeier about her ordeals she faced during her childhood days. During her sixth grade, while she was on a Girl Scouts Camp, she trips and falls down and breaking two of her front teeth in the process.

The story moves on to focus on how she went through torturous dental procedures to get braces on and off her teeth and also how it affected her school days. She was often booed by classmates for her embarrassing headgear and fake teeth. The story is pretty much straightforward and is sure to please the readers.

Who Was Marie Curie?
From Who Was Series

by Megan Stine
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7

5 stars

“Who was Marie Curie” by Megan Stine is a biography on the life of Nobel Prize Laureate Marie Skłodowska Curie. This is one of the best 5th grade nonfiction books that every student to read about the life of this famous Physicist, Chemist and two tie Nobel Prize winner.

Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland and was not allowed to attend the University in Warsaw, as it was a male-only University. Undeterred, she went to Paris and enrolled in the Sorbonne University to study Physics and Maths. With the help of Professor Pierre Curie, who later became her husband, discovered two elements, which won them the Nobel Prize for Physics in the year 1903.


Boy

by Roald Dahl
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7

4_5 stars

“Boy” is a classic autobiography from Roald Dahl, which tells about all the amazing, fascinating and funny things that happened during his childhood days. Roald Dahl is a master storyteller and author of a lot of popular books and you can get a glimpse of sorts into his life and get to know how he got some ideas for some of his works. If you don’t know that Dahl is the Candy tester for Cadbury, then you definitely need to read this fast-paced, witty and humorous novel of Dahl and his childhood days. This a book that is certain to entertain people of all ages.

My Life in Dog Years

by Gary Paulsen
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7

4_5 stars

“My Life in Dog Lovers” by Gary Paulsen is a certainly a treat for dog lovers. In this book, Gary Paulsen lives through his years with the dogs that he owned, admired and loved. He goes on describing about a special dog on each chapter. In one chapter about Cookie, a dog that saved his life and Snowball, that he played with during his childhood days in the Philippines.

The book gets interesting when he describes about his hunting partner Dirk and also one of his true friends Josh, a brilliant border collie. All dog lovers will really love the way in which Gary Paulsen describes each and every dog and the love and affection he has got for each of his dogs.


The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Young Readers Edition

by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Age Range: 10 and up years
Grade Level: 5 and up

5 stars

This is a brilliant story about William Kamkwamba and how he saves his village during a severe drought. It was one of those drought days that the village of William Kamkwamba lost everything and no one has nothing eat. This made William explore the library books to find a solution, when finally he found one, to build a windmill.

William started his project of building a windmill using only scrap metals and old bicycle parts. But when he finally finished the windmill that changed the lives of everyone in the village forever. This is a perfect and one of the best 5th grade nonfiction books.

Riding Freedom

by Pam Munoz Ryan
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7

4_5 stars

“Riding Freedom” by author Pam Munoz Ryan is a book dedicated to all horse lovers and about the grit and determination of a woman, Charlotte Parkhurst.

From the childhood days growing up in the orphanage, Charlotte loved horses and yearned to have a ranch of her own one day. But after she was banned from the stables, she ran from the orphanage, disguised as a man and becomes a skilled stagecoach driver. She also became the first woman to cast a vote in the presidential election. Horse lovers will definitely love the way in which how Pam Munoz Ryan brings to you in real life in front of your eyes of all the activities that happens in a stable.


What Color Is My World?:
The Lost History of African-American Inventors

Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7

authors: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld
4_5 stars

This book from Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld is a tribute to all Black American inventors that rocked the world and one of the best 5th grade nonfiction books. Do you know who invented the microphone in your mobile phone, or who synthesized cortisone from soy or the person who invented the refrigerated trucks that is a must-have thing in any supermarket and the persons behind the invention of ice-cream scoops, gamma electric cells? Yes, all these were invented by black inventors to simplify people’s lives with their innovation, hard work and dedication against great odds and make this world a better place to live in.