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Non-Fiction Qualities
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:27:05 -0500
In response to the commentary about boys often gravitating toward non-fiction....I'm always a uncomfortable genderizing readers' interests and, by extension, books. Maybe an interest in non-fiction is something seen more often in boys than girls, but I think we need to be careful with such generalizations and the expectations and habits they may set up in us as adults charged with providing kids with access to a wide range of books.
I'm interested in hearing about the qualities and elements of non-fiction that attract kids--regardless of gender--who seem to be drawn to informational books, which loops back around to Marc's initial question yesterday, and also his coment about kids who are "selective" readers--what draws them in. I'm also interested in what qualities we as adults who evaluate non-fiction look for.
I was talking with my CCBC colleague Emily Townsend yesterday about the Scientists in the Field books published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I have great admiration for this series overall, as do many people. I think some titles in it are more successful than others, and I realized two things stand out for me in the books that are my favorites. One is the design, including visual elements, not the least of which is wonderful photographs. There books always have a primary narrative about the scientist or scientists profiled, and sidebar information that, in the best of the titles, does not disrupt the flow of the primary narrative--I always know where I am when I'm reading. But the other essential hook for me personally is the narrative style. And among the books in the series that are absoluate standouts for me (and there are quite a few), the quality that they share is the authors' enthusiasm for the topics about which they are writing. Yes, they also write clearly and engagingly, but their investment in what they are writing about is a powerful current I can feel as I read.
Megan
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:27:05 -0500
In response to the commentary about boys often gravitating toward non-fiction....I'm always a uncomfortable genderizing readers' interests and, by extension, books. Maybe an interest in non-fiction is something seen more often in boys than girls, but I think we need to be careful with such generalizations and the expectations and habits they may set up in us as adults charged with providing kids with access to a wide range of books.
I'm interested in hearing about the qualities and elements of non-fiction that attract kids--regardless of gender--who seem to be drawn to informational books, which loops back around to Marc's initial question yesterday, and also his coment about kids who are "selective" readers--what draws them in. I'm also interested in what qualities we as adults who evaluate non-fiction look for.
I was talking with my CCBC colleague Emily Townsend yesterday about the Scientists in the Field books published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I have great admiration for this series overall, as do many people. I think some titles in it are more successful than others, and I realized two things stand out for me in the books that are my favorites. One is the design, including visual elements, not the least of which is wonderful photographs. There books always have a primary narrative about the scientist or scientists profiled, and sidebar information that, in the best of the titles, does not disrupt the flow of the primary narrative--I always know where I am when I'm reading. But the other essential hook for me personally is the narrative style. And among the books in the series that are absoluate standouts for me (and there are quite a few), the quality that they share is the authors' enthusiasm for the topics about which they are writing. Yes, they also write clearly and engagingly, but their investment in what they are writing about is a powerful current I can feel as I read.
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
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Received on Thu 05 Jun 2014 09:27:29 AM CDT
