I recently encountered three fascinating nonfiction books in translation from the Czech Republic: two for middle grade readers and the third for slightly younger readers ages 6-9. These fun volumes are virtually guaranteed entice readers into cracking open the cover and immersing themselves in a world filled with blurbs and facts. There isn’t too much, nor is it too overwhelming. Rather, there’s just enough to be age appropriate and supremely interesting.

First, there’s The Awesome Physics in Your City for readers ages 9-12. Illustrated with a sense of humor and written with an eye towards safety precautions, The Awesome Physics… is, frankly, awesome. The book’s authors (an entertainment and educational group) cleverly organize their information by kid-friendly location rather than by topic; they even present the table of contents as a map of sites, one per location, with ten chapters that range from “In the Street,” to “At a Concert,” and from “At the Pool,” to “At the Doctor’s.” Readers learn basic concepts, such as how swings work and what inertia is, of course, But they also find out about the fizzy drinks, neon lights, bumper cars, and so much more. Good back matter rounds out the excellent presentation, so that readers painlessly find themselves understanding physics long before they might otherwise learn to be afraid of it.

Up, Up, and Away: The History of Aviation is also for readers in 4th-6th grades. Grandpa Edwards, introduced in the table of contents, pops in periodically to lead readers on a journey into the land of airborne vehicles and the history of flight, beginning with Icarus and the Greeks. From hot air balloons, airships, and biplanes to hang-gliders, helicopters, and the Concorde, the book covers an amazing variety of vehicles and packs an eye-popping amount of information into its oversized pages. To finish up, Grandpa Edward punnily thanks readers, “for soaring through this adventure in flight with such enthusiasm,” telling them, “Keep your curiosity flying high.” Up, Up, and Away… has good front and back matter, and even the end pages are illustrated with snippets of data about air vehicles’ size and speed. If you have a budding aeronautics maven or two in your neighborhood, this book is tailored for them.

The third of this fabulous trio, Encyclopedia of Undersea Life for Young Readers, is huge. Geared towards younger readers than the other two, it’s nonetheless equally filled with colorful illustrations and fun facts about its topic, in this case, a vast array of marine creatures. Via short blurbs, readers learn about the habitats, appearance, and habits of animals such as the berried anemone, which “during the day looks like a harmless mound of tiny berries, the yeti crab–called so “because of its hairy claws and legs”–and the angular roughshark, which “has a flat snout like a pig’s,” among many others.

Up, Up, and Away…, The Awesome Physics in Your Town, and the Encyclopedia of Undersea Life… are each part of a different STEM series and I highly recommend all three. They are superbly geared towards the many young readers who hunger for facts and information–and fact-jam-packed they definitely are. Yet each book is still engaging enough to attract more casual readers as well. Check out all three when they are released this summer: along the way, you’re bound to learn something new, too!

The Awesome Physics in Your Town
Written by The Amazing Theatre of Physics
Illustrated by Tomáš Kopecký
Translated from the Czech by Karen LLagas
ISBN: 9788000074399
June 24, 2025, Albatros

Up, Up, and Away: The History of Aviation
Written and illustrated by  Tomáš Smot Svoboda
Translated from the Czech by Andrew Oakland
ISBN: 9788000074603
July 8, 2025, Albatros

Encyclopedia of Undersea Life for Young People
Written by Bohdana Jarošová
Illustrated by  Tomáš Tůma
Translated from the Czech by Mark Worthingon
ISBN: 9788000074474
June 3, 2025, Albatros

You can buy a copy here,* here, and here or find a copy of the first one at a library.

*Book purchases made via our affiliate link may earn GLLI a small commission at no cost to you. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Award-winning opera singer Nanette McGuinness is the translator of over 120 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, German and Spanish into English, including the much-loved Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels, as well as Tiki: A Very Ruff Year (nominated for the 2023 Eisner and Harvey Awards) and Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War (2023 GLLI YA Translated Book Prize Honor Book, 2023 Mosaic Prize winner, 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Finalist and 2023 Harvey Award nominee). Accolades have also gone to her translations of Ellie in First Position (2024 ALA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Children), Magical History Tour: Vikings and Magical History Tour: Gandhi (both 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Finalists), Luisa: Now and Then (2019 Stonewall Honor Book; 2020 GLLI YA Translated Honor Book; YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2019) and California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas (2018 Harvey Award; YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2018).