great non-fiction for primary school children

I've recently discovered the wonderful Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series (Honey in a Hive; The International Space Station; Switch On, Switch Off; What Makes a Magnet?; Ant Cities etc.) and am keen to hear more exciting non-fiction suggestions. Many of the 40 or more books in this series have won multiple awards yet are not available in UK bookshops as far as I know. I found mine on Amazon.co.uk.. I also discovered the Sir Cumference maths series on Amazon (similarly not widely available in UK - such a shame) and the fabulous books of Robert E. Wells which include Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Things There Is?; How Do You Know What Time It Is?; Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water?; Is There Anything Smaller than a Pygmy Shrew? amongst others.

Narelle Oliver, an Australian, writes and illustrates great non-fiction for kids. These are just some of her books (with Scholastic): http://www.scholastic.com.au/common/books/contributor_profile.asp?ContributorID=...

Some US nonfiction writers blog at INK, where you can get some great ideas for books: http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/

My son loved the Magic School Bus books but maybe they are a bit dated now?

I love anything written by Gail Gibbons or Loreen Leedy. For math, try Stuart Murphy

Try On the Dog by J.C. Greenburg and Debbie Palen (sorry touchstones not bringing up the right book).

The whole series is about Andrew Lost and his science adventures. The books go in groups of four, each with a different topic (microbiology, dinosaurs, etc). They are alot of fun.

Magic School Bus has a whole new group of chapter books for kids that my son enjoyed reading on his own.

Hope this helps!

Any kind of Magic School Bus book is still hugely popular with the 6-8 year olds at my school.

Since the Magic Tree House books are also very popular (historical fiction) the research guides that go with some of the books also go over pretty well.

Seymour Simon has a number of books with really terrific photos that are also popular with the kids. Titles like Big Cats.

There is a series of books called "The Cat in hat Learning Library." It is a set of books written in Dr. Seuss rhyming verse, but is all non-fiction.

Mary Pope Osborne also has some non-fiction companion books for her Magic Treehouse series. Short, lots of pictures, well done.

For great ecological nonfiction, check out When the Wolves Returned by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent. It has beautiful photographs and explains what happened to the ecology of Yellowstone Park after the wolves were removed and how it is healing now that they are back.

Dorling Kindersley consistently publish excellent non-fiction at all levels. My favourite is Children just like me which gives the reader an insight into the lives of children all around the world.