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stories and nonfiction
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From: Robin Smith <smithr>
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 13:57:36 -0600
Christine, Funny you should mention this. We are in the middle of researching information about animals for a class presentation and I am up to my ears in books about animals. One of my students is learning about loons. One of their tasks is to come up with five "interesting and unusual facts" about their chosen animal. Jocelyn could find nothing, she said. I passed her the wonderful Washing the Willow Tree Loon by Jackie Martin and Loon Lake by Hirschi. Jocelyn turned up her little nose and proclaimed, "That is a story book. There are no facts there."
I then realized that we all have trouble with the fine line between nonfiction and a "story."
SO, I read the books to the whole class and had them generate "facts" from the books. We had a fine discussion about the challenges of writing a good story which is also factual. We also read some poetry which has its roots in facts. Here are some other books I have recently read aloud to my second graders that fall on the edge of story and nonfiction and handle the balancing act beautifully:
Wolf Island by Celia Godkin Welcome to the Sea of Sand and Welcome to the Greenhouse by Jane Yolen and Laura Regan Growing Frogs by Vivian French and Alison Bartlett Gentle Giant Octopus by Karen Wallace and Mike Bostock Chipmunk Song Joanne Ryder and Lynne Cherry Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson and Megan Lloyd
Robin Smith Nashville, TN
-----Original Message---- From: Christine Hill
[SMTP:chill at willingboro.org]
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 8:51 AM
To: ccbc-net at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu
Subject: [CCBC-Net] animal books
April has raised some fascinating questions and I thank her.
However, I must disagree with her on the issue of giving animals
names and making them characters in non-fiction books.
Reviewers often state that this technique will interest young
readers, but in almost thirty years of librarianship I have
never seen this happen. Instead, I have seen two categories of
animal book readers.
The pleasure readers want facts, the more and the quirkier the
better. Sometimes they memorize them just for the pleasure of
knowing them.
The report readers also want facts so they can cite them for
their assignments. They want these facts to be easily
recognizable, not embedded in a story. In fact if they flip
through a book I give them and see animals given names or made
characters in any way, they will hand the book back and say,
"This is a story. I want a true book."
This has happened to me more times than I can count and I can
never convince them otherwise. I can't be the only one with this
experience. What do others say?
Christine M. Hill
Willingboro Public Library
One Salem Road
Willingboro, NJ08046
chill at willingboro.org
My new book! Ten Terrific Authors for Teens, Enslow, 2000
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Received on Wed 29 Nov 2000 01:57:36 PM CST
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 13:57:36 -0600
Christine, Funny you should mention this. We are in the middle of researching information about animals for a class presentation and I am up to my ears in books about animals. One of my students is learning about loons. One of their tasks is to come up with five "interesting and unusual facts" about their chosen animal. Jocelyn could find nothing, she said. I passed her the wonderful Washing the Willow Tree Loon by Jackie Martin and Loon Lake by Hirschi. Jocelyn turned up her little nose and proclaimed, "That is a story book. There are no facts there."
I then realized that we all have trouble with the fine line between nonfiction and a "story."
SO, I read the books to the whole class and had them generate "facts" from the books. We had a fine discussion about the challenges of writing a good story which is also factual. We also read some poetry which has its roots in facts. Here are some other books I have recently read aloud to my second graders that fall on the edge of story and nonfiction and handle the balancing act beautifully:
Wolf Island by Celia Godkin Welcome to the Sea of Sand and Welcome to the Greenhouse by Jane Yolen and Laura Regan Growing Frogs by Vivian French and Alison Bartlett Gentle Giant Octopus by Karen Wallace and Mike Bostock Chipmunk Song Joanne Ryder and Lynne Cherry Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson and Megan Lloyd
Robin Smith Nashville, TN
-----Original Message---- From: Christine Hill
[SMTP:chill at willingboro.org]
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 8:51 AM
To: ccbc-net at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu
Subject: [CCBC-Net] animal books
April has raised some fascinating questions and I thank her.
However, I must disagree with her on the issue of giving animals
names and making them characters in non-fiction books.
Reviewers often state that this technique will interest young
readers, but in almost thirty years of librarianship I have
never seen this happen. Instead, I have seen two categories of
animal book readers.
The pleasure readers want facts, the more and the quirkier the
better. Sometimes they memorize them just for the pleasure of
knowing them.
The report readers also want facts so they can cite them for
their assignments. They want these facts to be easily
recognizable, not embedded in a story. In fact if they flip
through a book I give them and see animals given names or made
characters in any way, they will hand the book back and say,
"This is a story. I want a true book."
This has happened to me more times than I can count and I can
never convince them otherwise. I can't be the only one with this
experience. What do others say?
Christine M. Hill
Willingboro Public Library
One Salem Road
Willingboro, NJ08046
chill at willingboro.org
My new book! Ten Terrific Authors for Teens, Enslow, 2000
To remove your address from the mailing list, send a message with the header...
To: listserv at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
Subject: signoff ccbc-net
Received on Wed 29 Nov 2000 01:57:36 PM CST
