Marvelous Minibeasts
A nonfiction list dedicated to learning about the most numerous animals on our planet - the tiny and mighty minibeasts!
"Minibeasts" is an informal term used to describe small invertebrates - this includes, but is absolutely not limited to, insects, arachnids, snails, slugs, and worms! Would you call it a creepy crawly or a bug? Then it's probably a minibeast!
P.S. Please no comments about "killing it with fire". We're promoting education and appreciation, not fear 💚
created by The_BookishBug
last updated January, 2026
Comments
omg I love a good microhistory and I love learning about nature and this list is both! Thank you for putting this list together, it's always difficult to find some good minibeast book recs.
💚💚💚 I recently read Insectopolis and it's an amazing graphic novel, can't recommend it enough if you weren't sure what book to go with from this list!
Oooh I didn't realize you have a graphic novel on here! I'll definitely look for that one as I'm an artist myself and have loved drawing insects.
what a lovely list! may i suggest The Mind of a Bee by Lars Chittka and Empire of Ants by Susanne Foitzik
Ooh, perfect!!
minibeast is such a lovely term 🥺 i love this list
Right!? I thought about calling them mini fauna (compared to mega or micro fauna) but minibeast is so much cuter!
This is awesome! I recommend Buzz by Thor Hanson for sure and if you want to include one that’s a shorter, sillier, but still really informative read, OMFG BEES! by Matt Kracht is a delight and sparked my interest in books like these by being (or bee-ing lol) an easy entry point!
Haha, I might have to give OMFG BEES! a go, it seems like a fun time!!
Ahhhh I saw this list and KNEW it was you that created it! Silent Earth is one of my favourite nonfiction books ever! Can't wait to dig into the books on this list! Do you have any facourites you's recommend?
Insectopolis for sure! It's so lovingly drawn, the artist put a lot of work into keeping the insects scientifically accurate while also making them so expressive! Our Native Bees is also great, it made me cry bc I was thinking about orchard bees wrapped up in their little leaf houses.
Those sound amazing! I'll see if I can get my hands on those books ^^
This is absolutely amazing! Thank you for putting up this list!
