At the end of 2022, Publisher’s
Weekly re-printed this article, which
first came out in the summer. When celebrated UK nonfiction author Nicola
Davies tweeted her support, I asked if she’d like to share her own thoughts on this
topic, and I’m so grateful that she agreed.
Thank you, Nicola, for this
honest and heartfelt essay.
I remember the first books I
owned so clearly—Winnie the Pooh and an abridged version of Hiawatha. I adored
them with a passion, but my favorite childhood reading was a fact-filled series
of short magazine-style articles called “Marvels and Mysteries of Our Animal
World.” I also loved the pages of the Encyclopedia Britannica that
featured illustrations of the human body. They took me, layer by acetate layer,
from the skin, through muscle and internal organs, down to the bone. Oh the
thrill of the seemingly secret information about the inside of things!
Like most young children, I was a
sponge. I was hungry for information about the world, and I absorbed facts with
the same pleasure as consuming a chocolate bar.
Today, when I share my knowledge
of and passion for zoology with children, I see that same delight in their eyes.
Teachers and parents see it too. And yet, they don’t seem to understand or
appreciate the valuable role nonfiction books can play in children’s lives.
So many times, I’ve watched
families at the library with dismay as children enthusiastically select a nonfiction
book, only to be told by their parents: “Go choose a real book.” As a result, nonfiction
remains the Cinderella of the publishing world.
Go into any bookstore and you’ll
find entire bookcases of adult books on natural history, travel, cooking,
physics, astronomy, and more. The list of nonfiction categories for adults is
limited only by space. But in the children’s section, there is often just a shelf
or two of poorly curated nonfiction books. Why is this?
The short answer is, “I wish
I knew.” But I can make a few guesses.
The first consideration is the
attitude toward children’s books in general. I’m often asked, “When are you
going to write a proper book?”—meaning, of course, one for grown-ups. People
assume that writing for children is easy, and that writing something that “you don’t
even have to make up” is the easiest option of all. Authors who
write for adults are especially guilty of this kind of ignorant snobbery.
Another reason has to do with parental
mythologizing of childhood. One of the deepest joys of being a parent is reading
to your children. But parents want to curl up on the sofa with pirates and
fairies, not explorations of the inside of a millipede or the history of the
Spitfire.
Editors, agents, and book reviewers
are also guilty of proliferating the low status of children’s nonfiction. As
primarily English and humanities graduates, they lost touch with the delight of
facts after passing through their dinosaur obsession at age 7. They just don’t
get it, and they certainly don’t get that if they haven’t heard of a topic,
that’s a great reason to publish a book about it.
As you can probably tell, I could
rant for quite some time about the reasons for the snake’s-belly status of my
chosen genre. For me and my fellow nonfiction authors, the situation is
incredibly depressing. We know how much children love nonfiction, and we worry that
their lack of access to books they crave will cause fact-devouring kids to
starve.
What can we do?
First, we can stand up tall for nonfiction.
We can demand space for reviews in major publications and bestseller lists that
focus on nonfiction.
Second, we can encourage parents
and teachers to share nonfiction texts as much as they share fiction. Reading
nonfiction aloud requires a different approach. Instead of acting as a
performer who must come up with different voices for each character, adults
become co-discoverers. What a lovely thing—to explore together. It’s so empowering
for children to realize that adults don’t know everything and that learning is a
lifelong endeavor.
Third and most important of all,
we should listen to children and let them choose what they want to read. There
is a great deal of talk about giving children access to a diversity of texts
that reflect their lives and experiences. But there is less talk about access to
texts that reflect and explain the diversity of the world and what it contains.
Nonfiction authors should be
allowed to write about everything and anything, in all manner of different
ways, for all sorts of different children. Only then will children find their way
to the passion and purpose that can light up their lives as biology has lit up mine
since turning those acetate pages of the encyclopedia so long ago.
Nicola Davies is the author of more than 80 books for young people,
including poetry, picture books, and novels. In the U.S., she is primarily known
for her many nonfiction titles. Nicola’s work has been published in more than
10 different languages and won many awards in the UK and the U.S., including
the Green Book Award and the AAAS/Subaru Prize for Best Science Book for Children.
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7 Responses
Nonfiction books are important for kids who want to learn about the world around them.
Thank you. Yes Nonfiction books are vital to children learning about the world around them.
This is an inspiring and fabulous article! Thank you for sharing.
I, too, was fascinated by those acetate overlay pages in my Encyclopedia! Wonderful post.
Thank you Melissa and Nicola for this insightful look into children's NF! As a child, I also treasured my "fact-based" books and encyclopedias, as well as CBs on art & design. Unfortunately, I think as we get older we forget how excited children can be to learn something new, and to discover an aspect of the world around them for the first time. Those discoveries as a child can have a lasting effect and can create sparks that shape you in very significant ways as you grow and get older. Kudos!
I wonder if parents think it might be hard to read nonfiction books aloud. They might not realize how readable today's nonfiction books are, and how beautifully and brilliantly put together. Educators now have so many wonderful nonfiction books to choose from, and in the school system where I was a library teacher, they eagerly shared them with their students.
I particularly love this: What a lovely thing—to explore together. It’s so empowering for children to realize that adults don't know everything and that learning is a lifelong endeavor.