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Essential
Elements in Good Information Series Books
Acceptable information books should include several elements to be
considered useful and appropriate for children. Timeliness is one of
those elements. “Information books should represent not only the
heritage and knowledge of the past but also the latest research and
contemporary experience as well.”(Sutherland 1997)
Books that are appealing in design and have targeted information are
most successful with young children. “They should be concise, lively
but not distracting and bear in mind the age of the reader.”(Lodge
1996). Children must have the background to be able to understand
expository writing and the author must keep this in mind when creating
the text for an informational book. Also the author must not talk down
to younger readers. Appropriate language and terms should be employed
and an overly cute or bounce approach should be avoided.(Lodge 1996)
The content must be accurate and current. A list of sources, a
bibliography, a glossary and index all add to the value of the book.
Organization is another important element. Simplification of the
material by the author to meet his audience’s needs is an important
element and putting the content into a logical sequence leading from
the familiar to the unfamiliar is also essential to the creation of
good information books.(Sutherland 1997)
Finally the style of the author is another important element. These
books should be clearly and interestingly written which is why many
publishing companies are looking for experts in various fields to write
information books. The belief is that someone who is passionate about
the subject may be able to convey that passion in his or her writing.
Another area to consider is what teachers want in informational series
books for primary children. Several interviews were conducted at an
elementary school recently and the results indicated that teachers
wanted much of what is stated above. They mentioned good photos or
illustrations, short succinct chapters with clear titles, controlled
vocabulary, an index, glossary and recommendations of other sources.
Most of these teachers were looking for information books that would
assist children in the initial attempts at research. It is interesting
to note that books that may have been well written but were not broken
down into small content areas less impressed teachers. A distinction
had to be made between read-aloud information books and books that
would be used for small research projects.
Bibliography
Lodge, S. (1996). "Giving kids' reference a fresh look." Publishers
Weekly 243(18): 42-45.
Sutherland, Z. (1997). Children and Books ninth edition. New York,
Longman.
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