week 11-12 Flashcards
give factual information about or explain any aspect of the biological, social, or physical world, including what is known of outer space. They can be further defined in terms of emphasis: The content emphasis of children’s informational literature is documented fact about the natural or social world. Its primary purpose is to inform.
Informational books
Writing in informational books is often referred to as
expository writing
or writing that explains, whereas fiction writing is called
or writing that tells a story
narrative writing
Some countries now recognize a type of literature that has elements of both fiction and nonfiction, called
faction
The author gives the characteristics of the topic (e.g., Spiders by Nic Bishop).
description
presents accurate factual information on an entertaining ribbon of fiction. The popular, science-based Magic School Bus books by Joanna Cole are excellent examples of faction. In North America, faction is treated as a part of informational literature.
faction
The author lists items in order, usually chronologically or numerically (e.g., All Stations! Distress! April 15, 1912: The Day the Titanic Sank by Don Brown).
sequence
The author juxtaposes two or more entities and lists their similarities and differences (e.g., Wild Tracks! A Guide to Nature’s Footprints by Jim Arnosky).
comparison
The author states an action and then shows the effect, or result, of this action (e.g., Blizzard! The Storm That Changed America by Jim Murphy).
cause and effect
(also referred to as Question and Answer). The author states a problem and its solution or solutions (e.g., What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page).
Some informational books will employ a single text structure; others, particularly longer works, will employ several.
problem and solution
in informational literature is the main point made in the work. Although an informational book may communicate hundreds of facts about a topic, the theme of the work will answer the question “What’s the point?” (Colman, 1999, p. 221).
theme
is how authors and illustrators, with their readers in mind, express themselves in their respective media. Sentence length and complexity, word choice, and formal versus conversational tone are part of the expository style, as are use of technical vocabulary, captions, and graphic elements such as tables, charts, illustrations, photographs, diagrams, maps, and indexes.
style
This format features a large amount of text that is organized into chapters. Graphics and illustrations are common in the more recent nonfiction chapter books but are still less important than the text. Examples include Blizzard! The Storm That Changed America by Jim Murphy and Life on Earth—and Beyond by Pamela Turner.
informational chapter book
Presentation of information in the photo essay is equally balanced between text and illustration. Excellent, information-bearing photographs and crisp, condensed writing style are hallmarks of this format. Photo essays are generally written for children in the intermediate grades and up. A good example is Sneeze! by Alexandra Siy, with photographs by Dennis Kunkel.
photo essay
This format features large, uncomplicated illustrations and brief text. The illustrations help to convey the information as discussed in Chapter 5. Examples include Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet by Don Robb, illustrated by Anne Smith, and The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky, illustrated by S. D. Schindler
informational picture book
Originally conceived for 4- to 8-year-olds, this type of book presents one or two scientific or social concepts via brief, uncomplicated text accompanied by numerous, large illustrations. It also encourages participation by including an experiment or hands-on
science and social science concept picture book
Presentation of information in these books is mainly through lists, charts, and tables. Examples include almanacs, books of world records, and sports trivia and statistics books. For example, see The Guinness Book of World Records.
fact books
These consist of a number of titles that all share a general topic (e.g., world cultures), format, writing style, and reading level. A few series, such as the Eye witness Books published by Dorling Kindersley, take an omnibus approach and include a wide range of topics. A series can have a sole author–illustrator team, as is the case with Scholastic’s wellknown Magic Schoolbus series by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen; or each book in the series can be created by a different author–illustrator team, as in Houghton Mifflin’s Scientists in the Field series. Informational series are published for all age groups and on topics tailored to school curricula. See the Informational Book Series section at the end of the Recommended Informational Books list for some of the best entries in this essential category
informational book sderies
The history of children’s informational literature begins in
1657
