Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

Expository Literature Mentor Texts

Yesterday’s post defined a new term that I
think we all should begin using: Expository
literature is “nonfiction writing that explains, informs, or describes and is of superior or lasting
artistic merit.”

Besides being
meticulously researched and fully faithful to the facts, expository literature
features captivating art and dynamic design as well
as a creative and well-executed mix of five key text characteristics.

Today I’m sharing three books that are
outstanding examples of each of those five text characteristics.

Strong Voice

Lightship by Brian Floca
(Atheneum, 2007)

Pink Is for Blobfish:
Discovering the World’s Perfectly Pink Animals by Jess Keating (Knopf,
2016)

A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts
Aston (Chronicle, 2007)

 

 

Carefully-chosen Point of View

The
Most Amazing Creature in the Sea by Brenda Z. Guiberson (Holt, 2015)

A Black Hole Is NOT a
Hole
by Carolyn DeCristofano
(Charlesbridge, 2012)

Bone by Bone by
Sara Levine (Millbrook Press, 2013)

Innovative Text Structure

Neo Leo: The Ageless
Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci by Gene Barretta (Holt, 2009)

Swirl by Swirl:
Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2011)

What Do You Do with a
Tail Like This?
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003)

Purposeful Text Format

Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks
(First Second, 2015)

An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Hutts
Aston (Chronicle, 2006)

When the Wolves
Returned: Restoring Nature’s Balance in Yellowstone by
Dorothy Patent Hinshaw (Walker, 2008)

 

Rich, Engaging Language

If You Hopped Like a
Frog by David M. Schwartz (Scholastic, 1999)

Bugged: How Insects
Changed History
by Sarah Albee (Bloomsbury, 2014)

Frog Song by Brenda Z.
Guiberson (Holt, 2013)

Stay tuned throughout the spring for detailed discussions
of these key text characteristics as well as classroom activities to introduce
and reinforce them.

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