Trends in children’s non-fiction and picture books for 2024 and beyond

Deciding on new titles is both exciting and challenging for children’s publishers. To help busy in-house editors, and potential authors, we’ve compiled a list of trends that we expect to see over the coming months.

Photo by Taylor Heery on Unsplash

Diverse books that explore a wide range of life experiences and that celebrate different cultures around the world. More books will accurately represent neurodiversity, disability, illness, gender, family structures, body shapes, appearances and more. One title we are particularly looking forward to is the beautifully titled We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America (Scholastic, July 2024). 

Books that help children develop emotional literacy as well as stories of empathy, compassion and kindness. As adult non-fiction expands further in this area, it is natural that children’s books follow. Changes in attitudes towards wellbeing, emotional expression, health and healing will naturally filter down to younger books. Magic Cat Publishing’s new title Little Dinosaurs, Big Feelings helps children explore a range of emotions and provides mindfulness exercises, too.

Books with nature themes including lifecycles, wildlife, seasons, gardening, plants, trees, food and farming. We can’t wait to see A Story of the Seasons (Nosy Crow, Oct 2024), and Claire is particularly interested in Do You Know: Farm Animals, Work & Life (Twirl, April 2024). It includes a spread on permaculture farming, something she thinks we should all know a lot more about!

Books that explore environmentalism. We’ll write a whole blog on the enormous topic of climate change and eco-anxiety soon. In the meantime, visit Nasa’s Climate Kids web page if you are looking for ways to talk to kids about the changing environment. You could also try Little Tiger’s uplifting Climate Action, which is now available in paperback.

Lots of STEM and the arts titles for all ages and formats, especially those that focus on trailblazers or inspirational jobs. Take a look at This Book Will Make You an Artist by Nosy Crow. We love the cover!

Biographies – either collections of amazing people and icons or on individual people with inspiring stories. Little, Brown Young Readers recently published Remembering Rosalind Franklin. Franklin was a chemist who helped discover the structure of DNA. 

Books that are either closely aligned with or that complement Key Stage One and Two curriculums, especially relating to literacy, history, mathematics and science. Take a look at Magic Cat Publishing’s upcoming Mathematicians are Counting the Stars. What a clever book title.

Books on core reference and topics that never lose appeal. For example space, dinosaurs, vehicles and animals as well as the alphabet, counting, opposites, colours and shapes. Publishers continue to reinvent the wheel on these subjects as parents want to give their kids a head start. Magic Cat Publishing’s new Lift the Flap: Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs looks expertly designed and packed with brilliant information – exactly the kind of non-fiction we love.

Non-fiction with intriguing titles. For example, Lost Species instead of Endangered Animals, The Forest at Night instead of Nocturnal Animals. Curious Features of Extraordinary Animals (Macmillan Children’s Books, April 2024) by Camilla de la Bedoyere looks like a fab new animal title.

Very specific non-fiction. By this we mean books that zoom in on smaller topics within a wider theme. A good example is Measuring Me (Little Tiger, Feb 2024). We love its approach to the specific concept of – you guessed it – measuring. The artwork is so nice!

Poetry or lyrical text and stories mixed in with non-fiction. There are lots of examples of these types of books, and we look forward to learning what mushrooms can teach us in Mushrooms Know by Kallie George (Greystone Books, May 2024).

Fiction and non-fiction stories with the following themes: funny, silly, gross, bedtime, nature, family, friendship, love, pets, witches, fairies, mermaids, unicorns, monsters, robots and dragons. Claire has written a series of silly story picture books for Miles Kelly Publishing, due for publication in July 2024, she hopes readers will like her sense of humour!

Books on hobbies and activities such as gaming and sport. Take a look at the new titles in Magic Cat Publishing’s new series, The Life-Changing Magic of. Titles include chess, baking, basketball and drumming. We bet these do really well.

Books on puberty, periods, body acceptance, social media, screen time, and making a difference in the world. These kinds of topics are important to kids today, and were less-talked about a few years ago. Quarto has The Body Confidence Book coming out in June and Claire has been planning a new title for the series. We’re sure that development books for younger children will continue to be extremely popular. 

Books that encourage healthy relationships and that empower children, for example setting boundaries or building a solid understanding of money. We also predict more titles exploring topics of cooperation, conflict, communication, critical thinking, social justice and activism. Terrible Horses: A Story of Sibling Conflict and Companionship (Walker, April 2024) is a good fit for this category.

Outdoor learning and adventures. This trend has huge potential due to the rise in popularity of forest schools and home learning. Many parents want practical and imaginative alternatives to screen time. Templar is adding a second title to its Mrs Owl’s Forest School series this May. The Moonlit Campout looks lovely and there are two more titles coming in 2025.

Craft and art books. Think sewing, making jams, baking, pickling, learning to draw, papercraft, scribbling and so on. We’ll definitely be getting a copy of Nosy Crow’s new craft-poetry title, Blossom Origami. It looks beautiful.

Brands brands brands! When a publisher gets their brands and licensing list right, they are onto a winner! Nosy Crow’s Pip and Posey’s Big Book of Words looks so sweet – it's a definite addition for Claire’s toddler’s bookshelf.

High quality books by celebrities, experts or influencers with professional credentials and large social media followings. A good example of this is Pet Selector! by comedian Russell Kane (Quarto, April 2024).

Collaborations or partnerships with organisations, charities, community interest companies (CICs), museums and galleries. These add credibility and focus for sales. Nosy Crow have teamed up with Cambridge University and have a number of titles coming out this year. We are excited by Beasts from the Deep, due for publication in June. 

Books based on special days and events throughout the year, such as Father’s Day or Halloween, as well as calendar-event days, weeks or months. Penguin RH has Elmore the Christmas Moose coming out in October. It looks very funny and is perfect for reading in the run-up to Christmas.

More books with interactive elements. Animation is taking off in a big way in promotional and marketing material – will we start to see books with links to animation integrated into the pages? We love the animator and illustrator Sandhya Prabhat. She has recently illustrated It’s Time to Hush and Say Goodnight, published by Walker Books. Check her out on Instagram @sandhyaprahbat.

Gift books with clever papercraft integrated into the design. Many paper engineers and artists have social accounts with huge followings, and we’ve noticed some prominent publishers following these profiles. 

We get so excited about new ideas and love planning new titles and series for publishers. If you are an author wanting to write a children’s non-fiction title or a publisher in need of editorial or writing support, drop us an email at hello@gingergreadmooncreative.co.uk.

We’re happy to help.