What is Research, Really?
From an ELA point of view, “research” is something you do to gather information for a report or project. But if you’re a scientist, research has a whole different meaning. It’s a way of developing a new understanding of the world and how it works. Every once in a while, my husband and I have […]
Aging Down, Aging Up
Back when my kids were little, I started work on a nonfiction SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) series called the “Best Behavior” series. More than a decade later, these board books and paperbacks are still going strong, I’m happy to say. Titles in the series include Teeth Are Not for Biting, Voices Are Not for […]
Pairing Verse with Nonfiction
Why write nonfiction in verse? If you do, is it still nonfiction? Good questions in a time when genres are expanding. I’ve used verse in two nonfiction stories: a picture book, Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph, and a book for ages ten and up, Siege: How Washington Kicked the British out of […]
Five Things I Learned
Writing My First Picture Book Biography
You would think that being friends with Tanya Lee Stone would mean I wrote lots of nonfiction. But the truth is, until I decided to try and write a biography of Rube Goldberg, I stayed far away from this genre. As a reader, I loved it. As a friend, I learned so much reading Tanya’s […]
The Writing Process as a Living Story
In some ways, it’s too bad that the curriculum in most schools calls for writing personal narratives at the beginning of the school year because I think students could learn a lot by crafting a personal narrative about the process of researching, writing, and revising an informational writing assignment. What do I mean by that? […]
Putting Emotion into Nonfiction Books
Many people think writing nonfiction is just stringing together a bunch of random facts. Nothing could be further from the truth. While writing nonfiction, I use every single fiction technique a novelist uses. I feel strongly that I need to write my text in a way that will lead my readers to invest emotionally with […]
Pairing Nonfiction and Fiction
Nonfiction and fiction are like peanut butter and chocolate. Each excellent on its own, but when combined…so sublime. INVITE A DISCUSSION My nonfiction account Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune (2016, grade 6 and up) describes the dramatic rise and fall of a 12th-century samurai. One of the joys of researching the life […]
Connecting Kids to Nonfiction:
Personal Experience Matters
Personal preferences and experiences guide our life choices. They impact what we wear, eat, do, even the people we spend time with. It should come as no surprise, then, that personal preferences also affect what we read— maybe even whether we read. Studies show that young readers who feel a personal connection to what they […]
Nonfiction Setting and My Comfy Chair
I’m fussy when it comes to choosing where to sit. The comfy chair or the well-worn red sofa? Lights on high or nicely dimmed? Soft throw blanket? Sometimes even in a restaurant, I ask to sit at a different table than the one the host chooses because it doesn’t feel right. My husband rolls his […]
Elements of a Nonfiction Booktalk
Not long ago, I saw this list of recommended components for a booktalk: Title Author Genre Main character Plot bit And boy, did it frost my britches. Why? Because the person who wrote it assumed the booktalker was recommending a fiction title. What about nonfiction? It’s important to booktalk these titles too because many kids […]
Swimming in a Sea of Ideas
Where do successful nonfiction writers get their ideas? So many places! The topics a nonfiction writer can write about are limitless. Sure, some ideas have been written about before, but nonfiction writers take that as a challenge. They ask what unusual angle they might take or if there is a different (or better) format in […]
You Write Books with … Messages?
Yes. Yes I do. Sure, I know there’s a whole school of thought that says “sharing a message” in a children’s book is something to avoid. That children will learn more, feel more, by reading books—stories—that evoke an emotional response and increase empathy through strong characterization and vivid language. Yes. Yes that’s true. But.… Sometimes […]
Summery
A well-known journalist in a local bagel joint, after not seeing me for a few weeks, would always greet me with, “Welcome back, Pete.” It wasn’t because he knew where I’d been, but he knew I traveled a lot to write my children’s adventure books. Since I’d seen him last, I’d probably been out climbing […]
The Coolest Fact
Reports about animals are boring, and they usually go like this: Honeybees are insects. Honeybees eat nectar. Honeybees live in a hive. See? BORING!
Sorry—I Mean Structure—Seems To Be the Hardest Word
There’s an old Elton John song titled, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word. Well, I wonder if he’d mind if I changed the title to, Structure Seems to be the Hardest Word. Structure is a lot like voice; it needs to be present, yet it must be invisible and unforced. Without it, the writing […]