Kid’s Books Found in the 500s

With a new month, it’s time to start a new series of blog posts! This time we’re going to take a closer look at the Dewey Decimal System. For each class of numbers, I’ll share twelve specific titles for kids that you might find in that class. Before we get started, let me share a little information about the Dewey Decimal System and then we can dig in!

The Dewey Decimal System, created by Melvil Dewey in 1876 was created to organize books based on discipline and subject. The system is broken down into ten classes, each divided into ten divisions, and each of those divided into ten sections. Each subject matter has a three-digit that explains where it belongs with the option to include decimal places to further divide the section. For example, a cookbook is found in:

• 600 – Technology
  • 640 – Home economics and family management
    • 641 – Food and drink
      • 641.5 – Cooking and cookbooks

While the system has been updated through the years, criticism remains as the Dewey Decimal System is extremely Eurocentric and treatment of women, people of color, and other minorities continues to need updates (which can take years). Some public libraries have even abandoned the Dewey Decimal System in favor of other systems that either make more sense for their communities or systems that are better balanced.

The 500s are one of the most popular nonfiction sections in our library for a couple of reasons – (most of the) animals, dinosaurs, and astronomy! Kids love these topics and there are a TON of books in these categories. You’ll also find other interesting topics in this category including physics, rocks and minerals, natural disasters, mathematics, and botany. It’s one of the most robust parts of the Dewey Decimal System, especially for children.

The next time you stop at your local public library, swing by the nonfiction section and take a look at what you might find in the 500s! And at home, you can check out LibraryThing’s MDS – you can click on each class and see how things are organized at each level.

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Kid’s Books Found in the 500s

The Beak Book by Robin Page

Birds around the world have so many amazing kinds of beaks! There are short beaks and long beaks, straight beaks and curved beaks, flat beaks and even spoon-shaped beaks. But what do all of these beaks do?

Discover how beaks of different shapes and sizes are adapted to help birds sip nectar, make nests, battle for mates, and more!

Dinosaurs: Exploring Prehistoric Life and Geological Time by Rachel Ignotofsky

With an exciting blend of vivid artwork and astonishing scientific facts, Dinosaurs journeys through Earth’s inhospitable origins, when the only life-forms were single-celled organisms—to the beginnings of life as we know it during the Paleozoic Era: plants covering whole continents with forests, winged insects taking to the sky, and seafaring vertebrates evolving to survive on land. Traveling forward in time, you’ll explore the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs like the gargantuan Tyrannosaurus rex, the long-necked Brontosaurus, and the lumbering Stegosaurus walked the Earth. Then you’ll venture into the Cenozoic Era’s ice age, where you’ll meet mammals like the Woolly Mammoth and early humans.

Experience earth history like you’ve never seen it before with infographics, maps, and illustrations that bring dinosaurs and other fascinating extinct animals to life. With Dinosaurs, Rachel Ignotofsky makes paleontology accessible and entertaining for readers of all ages through a stunningly illustrated journey across more than 4.5 billion years.

The Dirt!: Wild Life Under the Soil’s Surface by Lindsey Leigh

Did you know there is an entire ecosystem right beneath our feet? Have you ever heard of the “poop loop”? This graphic nonfiction title will both educate and excite young readers about the wonders (and creepiness!) of animals that live underground, including worms, beetles, armadillos, badgers, and even the tiniest of protozoa.

Author and illustrator Lindsey Leigh continues her popular and humorous trilogy by introducing critters of all sizes in this fact-filled book about the dirt-dwelling creatures that contribute to the soil food web and are crucial to the health of the world. Join her on this graphic and grimy deep dive into The Dirt!

Disasters: Seriously Deadly Facts About Natural Disasters

Kids can experience many of the natural disasters that wreak havoc across our planet in this comprehensive, full-color book that’s packed with infographics and eye-popping photography. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tsunamis, and more ―it’s all inside this nonfiction infographic classic. Includes step-by-step illustrations of cause and effect, timelines, and terrifying eyewitness accounts.

Freaky, Funky Fish: Odd Facts about Fascinating Fish by Debra Kempf Shumaker, illustrated by Claire Powell

Fish have fins and gills and tails. All fish swim and most have scales. But not all fish act or look the same. From zapping, stinging, even singing, Freaky, Funky Fish: Odd Facts about Fascinating Fish is an adorable picture book with a scientific—and child-friendly—underpinning. With examples of different fish for each description, as well as extensive backmatter explaining the fascinating science behind these variety of fish, this funky book captures the wonder of our ecosystem.

Innovative Octopuses, Half-Brained Birds, and More Animals with Magnificent Minds by Christina Couch, illustrated by Daniel Duncan

Real-life animal brainiacs and the scientists who study them come to life in this detailed look at how animal—and human—brains work and the incredible things they can do. Meet goldfish who drive their own special car in search of treats; brilliant octopus problem-solvers who can probe, taste, and even make decisions with their arms; and squirrels who use mnemonic devices to remember where they’ve hidden their nuts! Readers will explore brains large and small, smooth and wrinkly, through fascinating sidebars, plenty of real science vocabulary, and full-color illustrations and photos. They can even put their own brains to the test through DIY neuroscience activities, from honing memory skills to getting focused through meditation. This engaging book delivers lots of fascinating science and the opportunity to learn more through a “further exploration” section, source notes, and a bibliography.

A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky: Simple Ways to Explore the Universe by John A. Read

This easy-to-use stargazing guide for kids explores the popular night sky constellations, visits the brightest stars, and tours our solar system. As they learn step-by-step how to find the most fascinating sights in the night sky, readers will learn how the sky changes with each season, when to look for meteor showers, how to see the milky way, and much more!

A Rock is Born: An Epic Journey Through Time by Richard Ho, illustrated by Lily Williams

Over one hundred million years ago, on the side of a volcano….a rock is born.

As time passes and the world changes, the rock changes, too. Mud erodes it. Lava melts it. And water compresses it.

Eventually, the rock will be reshaped. And a new rock is born.

When Cloud Became a Cloud by Rob Hodgson

The life cycle of our protagonist, Cloud, is delightfully and sparsely narrated in nine short chapters that follow the stages of the water cycle. Young readers will immediately fall for this wide-eyed puff, and welcome facts along with humor and personality as they bask in the accomplishment of breezing through each chapter.

Why Space Will Freak You Out: The Scariest, Strangest Parts of the Universe by Kimberly K. Arcand and Megan Watzke, illustrated by Robert Ball

In this photo-illustrated outer space book by two NASA scientists, readers will have a blast exploring the scary, creepy, horrific parts of the universe. From rotten-egg moons to zombie planets to spaghettification to real-life death stars, they’ll find out just how bonkers space truly is. Open this book if you want to be freaked out just a tad . . . and make sure to read with the lights on!

Windsongs: Poems About the Weather by Douglas Florian

Weather describes our atmosphere. Like whether it’s cloudy, or whether it’s clear. Whether it’s freezing, or frosty, or cool. Whether it’s snowing—today there’s no school!

Learn about all sorts of weather all over the world, from a regular rainy day to a hurricane, from fog to frost, from droughts to dewy mornings. With clever poems perfect for reading aloud and fact-filled backmatter, young readers can explore both everyday and once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomena.

Zero! The Number That Almost Wasn’t by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Chris Hsu

From place value to being created and destroyed before being created again, zero has had quite a journey. Respected children’s author and consummate researcher Sarah Albee lays out the history of zero alongside the complications that initially hampered its development, including Western imperialism.