A Brief History of Informational Series

Essential Elements in Information Books

The Importance of Uning Information Books in the Primary Grades

Examples and Comparisons of Primary Information Series Books

Planets

Animals

Pioneer Studies

Conclusion

A Brief History of the Use of Information Series Books at the Primary Level

The rise in the use of information series books has been quite sharp in the past ten to fifteen years. Until recently, very little had been written for the primary grades.(Palmer and Stewart 2003). Both in the school library and in the classrooms, teachers were unable to find age-appropriate materials and were forced to share parts of informational books that worked for particular units but had little to offer students. “As youngsters, baby boomers had a limited selection of reference works at their disposal and relied on reference sources such as World Book Encyclopedia.”(Lodge 1996) These tomes of books offered needed information but were not written at an age-appropriate level for young children and were not particularly engaging.

Machines Tools by Herbert S. Zim and James Skelly is an example of an information book written in 1969. It was part of the How Things Work series and published by Quality books. Large text is use in this book, however, a look at a page demonstrates that there is much text per page. Vocabulary is appropriate for upper elementary but the explanations in the book are somewhat confusing. Drawings are in black and white, labeled and frequent and meant to aid the reader. They appear at the top or bottom of the page.

An example of an attempt to make a more interesting information book for this period is The First Book of Trees by M. B. Cormack. Published in1951 by Franklin Watts. This book possesses much of the same characteristics mentioned above about Machine Tools. When drawings occur in this book, however, an entire page or two is often used and a color, green, is found in the drawings. This was an early attempt to bring color to the information books. Again, this book is text heavy and was not written for young children. It is an example of what was available before the 80's. As stated in the Palmer article(Palmer and Stewart 2003), until the 1970’s the call to use nonfiction in the primary grades was very low because the belief was that young children comprehended narrative text more readily than expository. Teachers believed that nonfiction should not be introduced until the middle grades.

In the 1980’s a shift began to occur when publishers began introducing a new type of informational book for young children. In the late 80’s Dorling Kindersley introduced the Eyewitness series. Here the child could find “copious, sharply focused photos dramatically popping out from crisp white backgrounds.”(Lodge 1996) Much of the information in the books was found in the lengthy captions. This visually oriented format proved to be very successful with young children and became an immediate success. It spurred many changes in the industry that occur today.

In the 90’s the emphasis continued on the use of vivid visuals in children’s information books. “Text is a slow medium of gaining information; picture is a quick way. Kids absorb a lot more information quickly.(Lodge 1996) “ This trend continues today as many of the new nonfiction series for young children include beautiful pictures with a limited amount of text and information chunked in small amounts making it easier for the young children to comprehend.

In recent years there has been a virtual explosion in the information book trade. Children have become excited about information books. “For some young readers, the truth is better than fiction.” (Bartz 2003) As a result more and more information books can be seen both on school library shelves and in the classroom. This has occurred not only because of the better quality of books but also because these books are now recognized as important by professional associations. "Nonfiction or information books have emerged as a very attractive, exciting and popular genre. The National Council of Teachers of English has established an annual award for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children."(National, 2003). In 1990, the National Council of Teachers of English established the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. In 2001, the Association for Library Services for Children began the annual Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award.(Bartz 2003). It states, "Information books are defined as those written and illustrated to present, organize and interpret documentable factual material for children. There are no limitations as to the character of the book, although poetry and traditional literature are not eligible. Honor books may be named; they shall be books that are truly distinguished"(Association, 2003).

The change in technology used in the publishing industry has also contributed to the success of the information books for young children. Photography is much improved and provides visual punch to the information books. “Candlewick Press, well known as a picture book publisher, wanted to build on what they knew about making good picture books so they created nonfiction read-alouds to be read to young children."(Lodge 1993) The books are written in an interesting manner by authors who had a passion for what they were writing about. The goal was for these authors to pass on their enthusiasm.

Another major change in information books was the much larger range of interesting subjects that were being introduced. Today some very popular topics include cannibal animals, mummies, dinosaurs, war planes, fire trucks, gladiators and American history.(Bartz 2003) The belief is that “books based on bona fide facts don’t have to be stodgy or somber, yet they can offer serious benefits to young readers. Nonfiction is a source of knowledge”(Bartz 2003)

The change in information books for young children has been dramatic allowing them to take their place alongside the narrative books in the classroom and in the school library. Young children can now have a wider variety of appropriate books to choose from when selecting what they would like to read.

Bibliography

Association for Library Service for Children(2003). "ALSC Robert F. Sibert Information Book Medal". Retrieved November 26,2003 from http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ALSC/Awards_and_Scholarships1/ Literary_and_Related_Awards/Sibert_Medal/ Sibert_Medal_Current_Winner4/ Sibert_Medal_Current_Winner.htm.

Bartz, A. (2003). "True Story: Today's nonfiction boasts eye-popping visuals and a broader array of kid friendly topics." MPLS-St Paul Magazine 31(5): 56.

Lodge, S. (1993). "Candlewick Series Bring Nonfiction to the very Young." Publishers Weekly 240(14): 23.

Lodge, S. (1996). "Giving kids' effervesce a fresh look." Publishers Weekly 243(18): 42-45.

National Council of Teachers of English (2003). "NCTE Orbis Pictus Nonfiction Award." Retrieved November 26, 2003 from http://www.ncte.org/elem/awards/orbispictus/106877.htm

Palmer, R. G. and R. Stewart (2003). "Nonfiction trade book use in the primary grades." The Reading Teacher 57(1): 38-48.