What’s the secret to creating riveting nonfiction for young readers? It begins with passion, says kids’ book author Candace Fleming, one of the participants in SLJ‘s annual Day of Dialog, on June 4, at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. “If I’m going to spend five years working on a book, it has to be something I’m interested in.”
The best nonfiction books also aren’t afraid to show a strong point of view, says author-editor Marc Aronson, another member of the panel on “Dynamic Nonfiction for Kids and Teens: Exploring informational books that spark curiosity and stimulate inquiry.” In fact, “the key to the Common Core is the idea that all nonfiction inherently has a point of view,” says Aronson, referring to our nation’s new education standards, which will require young learners to read 55 percent informational texts by the time they reach eighth grade and 70 percent nonfiction texts as high school seniors.
So do kids’ book authors ever write nonfiction that’s aimed at plugging holes in K-12 schools’ curriculums? asked panel moderator, Susan Marston, editorial director of Junior Library Guild, a collection development service that’s owned by SLJ‘s parent company, Media Source. “I don’t worry about the curriculum,” says Fleming. Instead, she concentrates on finding stories that kids will find genuinely interesting.
That’s also Sue Macy’s approach. “If it’s a good story, it’s a good story,” says Macy, a panelist and the author of Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (National Geographic, 2011). “I write about topics that aren’t in history books, aren’t in the textbooks, topics that I wish were in them,” says Macy, who drew the biggest laugh of the session when she explained how people once worried that the shape of a bicycle seat might cause a woman to have an orgasm.
As for those conventional textbooks, Aronson would love to get rid of the ones that target state histories: “It’s the worst idea ever,” he explains. As nonfiction writers, “our goal is to create an immersive experience” for young readers and offer them stories that that they will truly care about.
One way of doing that is by giving students both print and digital content, says Brenda Murray, Scholastic’s senior editor for nonfiction and Discover More, a series that pairs traditional books with specially developed digital titles. “Nonfiction, and especially, digital materials are important for kids,” says Murray, and “help motivate readers, especially reluctant readers.”
That’s a message that Aronson can get behind. “This is a revival tent, and I want you to be my apostles,” he told the crowd of hundreds of librarians, publishers, and other children’s book lovers. “Please put nonfiction books into digital form. If we want kids to have the best in nonfiction with a point of view, those books must be available in either paper or digital. Amen!”
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