I agree with cricket3, not just boys, and I'll also put in that I don't think it's gifted-related either - many children seem to prefer non-fiction at many stages. Learning true things is interesting to everyone, why not :-)

DS also adores Theodore Gray's The Elements - I got both the book and the set of cards, wondering whether that was redundant, but not a bit of it; they get used in different ways. Somewhat relatedly, one of the best things about a school we went to visit recently was that they have one of those giant periodic tables that has a sample of each (well, almost :-) element alongside the symbol in the box. We've as a family always been fascinated by those. You can get coffee tables made like it, but they are way outside our price range. Maybe if we win the lottery!

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