Most narrative
nonfiction books have a chronological sequence text structure and most traditional
nonfiction and browsable nonfiction titles have a
description text structure, but expository
literature has a broad range of text structures. That’s one of the
reasons they make great mentor texts for informational writing.
Mega-Predators of the
Past
is a blended nonfiction book that includes some elements of browsable
nonfiction (such as a rich array of text features) and some elements of
expository literature, including a compare and contrast text structure. It’s
also what publishers call a “list book.”
A list book has a lot in common with a sandwich. The beginning and ending are
like slices of bread. They give the book its shape and hold everything
together. And all the examples in the middle give the book its flavor, like the
bacon, lettuce, and tomato in a BLT.
In many schools, teachers also use a
sandwich analogy to describe the structure of a 5-paragraph essay, and that’s
no coincidence. When you think about it, a list book is basically a 10-ish paragraph essay (depending on how the book is
designed and how many double-page spreads are devoted to backmatter).
When students
create a spread-by-spread book map of a list book, its similarity to a 5-paragraph essay quickly
becomes clear, demonstrating that this kind of writing is authentic. It’s more
than just a classroom assignment or a test-prep activity. It’s a kind of writing
that some professional writers use to create award-winning nonfiction picture
books.
In Mega-Predators of the Past, the main
idea—presented on the opening spread—is that many prehistoric predators had a
lot in common with animals that are still alive today.
Each subsequent spread describes
a sample animal, allowing readers to compare ancient creatures as varied as the
10-foot-tall terror bird, the 26-foot-long giant ripper lizard, and a 40-foot-long
snake called Titanoboa.
Some
readers may not notice, but the book also has an additional structural element.
The animals aren’t presented in a random order. Instead, they appear in ascending
size, from the 28-inch-long giant scorpion to the 110-foot-long blue whale. This
additional organizational layer helps to make the presentation more satisfying for
info-loving kids.
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One Response
Oo, I love the size order structure idea! I used a rainbow structure for my debut PB (Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures), so it presents animals by color. For instance, a red poison dart frog, an orange newt, etc.