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School and Library nonfiction books
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From: Heather Montgomery <sipsey21_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:12:38 +0000
I am so glad that Lionel brought up the school and library informational no nfiction books. I agree with his statement that children should be exposed to all kids of nonfiction and that these types of books are often the choic e of many kids who are labeled as "non-readers."
I write for this market and am amazed time and time again that after I cond uct an author visit, teachers and librarians comment on how excited they are that their "non-readers" are now asking to go to the library to check o ut my books. I don't mean for this to sound self-congratulatory - rather t o be an observation about how appealing this type of book is to some reader s.
Since this is the "diet" of many readers, I'd love some discussion on Lio nel's question, "How can they be improved and better used alongside trade books?" Many are great; many leave something to be desired. What do you see as common weaknesses in those books? What do you see as strengths? One of the weaknesses I see is that there is sometimes a mis-match between the text and the illustrations. As a writer of science text, it is very chall enging to write the text before I know what illustrations will be supportin g it. When handling complex concepts, good, accurate illustrations can explain so much. Another area that I feel could be improved is voice. A lit tle more voice in some of those texts could go a long way towards engaging readers.
One strength of these books is that they usually provide the reader with a known text features and tend to be well organized. When I am teaching inqui ry science, I often use a trade book to engage the students in a topic an d then provide other informational books for further exploration because th ey allow the student to target and find more specific information that they are seeking.
Other ideas?
Heather
Heather L. Montgomery Science and Nature Writing for Kids www.HeatherLMontgomery.com 256-426-5871
New! The Case of the Missing Arctic Fox and Other True Animal Mysteries for You To Solve
Received on Wed 28 Mar 2012 12:12:38 AM CDT
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:12:38 +0000
I am so glad that Lionel brought up the school and library informational no nfiction books. I agree with his statement that children should be exposed to all kids of nonfiction and that these types of books are often the choic e of many kids who are labeled as "non-readers."
I write for this market and am amazed time and time again that after I cond uct an author visit, teachers and librarians comment on how excited they are that their "non-readers" are now asking to go to the library to check o ut my books. I don't mean for this to sound self-congratulatory - rather t o be an observation about how appealing this type of book is to some reader s.
Since this is the "diet" of many readers, I'd love some discussion on Lio nel's question, "How can they be improved and better used alongside trade books?" Many are great; many leave something to be desired. What do you see as common weaknesses in those books? What do you see as strengths? One of the weaknesses I see is that there is sometimes a mis-match between the text and the illustrations. As a writer of science text, it is very chall enging to write the text before I know what illustrations will be supportin g it. When handling complex concepts, good, accurate illustrations can explain so much. Another area that I feel could be improved is voice. A lit tle more voice in some of those texts could go a long way towards engaging readers.
One strength of these books is that they usually provide the reader with a known text features and tend to be well organized. When I am teaching inqui ry science, I often use a trade book to engage the students in a topic an d then provide other informational books for further exploration because th ey allow the student to target and find more specific information that they are seeking.
Other ideas?
Heather
Heather L. Montgomery Science and Nature Writing for Kids www.HeatherLMontgomery.com 256-426-5871
New! The Case of the Missing Arctic Fox and Other True Animal Mysteries for You To Solve
Received on Wed 28 Mar 2012 12:12:38 AM CDT
