Over the past few weeks, we’ve been compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.

Children’s non-fiction books have never been more fascinating and more stunning. Here are our recommendations for books that will thrill young and curious minds this festive season.

The Big Book of Blooms by Yuval Zommer, Elisa Biondi, Scott Taylor & Barbara Taylor

This big and beautiful book answers every question you’ve ever had had about colourful, carnivorous, weird and wonderful flowering plants from around the world, and showcases them in gorgeous illustrations. It covers flower recognition, plant life-cycles, flower anatomy, pollination and also shows specific varieties of plants, including the carnivorous venus flytrap, the giant water lily and the weird and wonderful corpse flower. Readers will enjoy learning about different edible flowers and why flowers are fragrant or colourful – not to mention grisly details about carnivorous and poisonous flowers. For the really keen, there’s also a companion sticker book.

For ages 6 and up.

Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed The World by Elena Favilli

The third book in the bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series, this volume holds bedtime stories about the lives of 100 extraordinary immigrant women from the past and the present. There are stories of well-known immigrants such as Anna Wintour, Rihanna and Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, as well as lesser-known women including Xiye Bastida Patrick, an Indigenous Mexican–Chilean who moved to New York and became a leader of the youth climate movement. All of the stories are accompanied by full-page, full-colour portraits, illustrated by female artists from all over the globe.

For ages 7 and up.

Eddie Woo’s Magical Maths 2 by Eddie Woo

First he wowed everyone with his Youtube channel, then two bestselling books: Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths and Eddie Woo’s Magical Maths. Now Eddie Woo is back, with even more maths and fun things to draw, puzzle, invent, order, unscramble, code and decode. This is a bumper activity book for any kid who loves numbers, patterns, shapes, problem-solving, puzzles and searches. An excellent pick to keep hands and minds occupied while you take a post-lunch rest.

For ages 7 and up.

Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia

A chunky encyclopedia is a truly enticing thing for a curious child, and it’s a gift that can be lovingly pored over for years to come. This thrilling volume from trusted publisher Encyclopedia Britannica, explores a wide range topics, using text, illustrations, infographics, and photography. Chapter subjects include Universe, Earth, Material World, Living World, Being Human, Ancient Civilizations, Medieval to Modern, and Today’s World and Beyond. There are also special features highlighting some of the most intriguing unsolved puzzles in science, archaeology, history, and engineering. We promise the grown-ups will learn something new too.

For ages 7 and up.

Exploring the Elements: A Complete Guide to the Periodic Table by Sara Gillingham & Isabel Thomas

This well-designed and colourful guide to the periodic table names all 118 chemical elements and helps young readers understand the remarkable ways we have learned to use them. Stunning layouts feature each element’s letter symbol and atomic number, exploring its attributes, characteristics, uses, and interesting stories behind its discovery. This book makes for an extremely fascinating and creative introduction to chemistry.

For ages 8 and up.

Australian Mammals by Matt Chun

Artist and writer Matt Chun has already won many fans at Readings with his earlier illustrated books: Australian Birds and Australian Sea Life. Now he has turned his mind to Australia’s beloved mammals – from the remarkable platypus to the endangered bilby. Each double spread features a mammal illustrated close-up in Chun’s trademark soft style, and a paragraph of informative text. This is a wonderful keepsake for young animal lovers.

For ages 8 and up.

Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather by Stephanie Owen Reeder & Tania Mccartney

Future meteorologists or keen environmentalists rejoice! This is your definitive illustrated guide to Australia’s weather. From strange phenomena to reading weather maps, exploring the climate of the past and preparing for the climate of the future, this book gently introduces young readers to the challenges of a warming planet. Bite-sized pieces of fascinating information about dust storms, glaciers, bushfires, snow and much more sit alongside fantastic illustrations. There’s also a resource section and glossary of weather words at the back of the book, for those keen to study up more.

For ages 8 and up.

Still stumped? We also sell gift vouchers which can be used in-store and online.