Quality nonfiction a perfect fit for reading aloud to children

ORONO – Once upon a time, not so very long ago and not in some distant land, when parents sat down to read to their young children there were not too many books to choose from beyond fairy tales and fictional stories.

But parents no longer should feel confined to fiction when choosing something to read aloud.

Today, the landscape is filled with quality nonfiction books that make for perfect out-loud reading. Nonfiction works can be excellent for young children because they can play off a child’s interest about the world around them.

“Nonfiction permeates our daily lives,” said Zoanne Paradis, a primary school teacher and literacy coordinator in the Auburn school department. “Nonfiction capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity.”

There are now more nonfiction titles in a greater variety of subjects, according to Jane Morse, literacy coordinator and a primary school teacher in SAD 17 (Norway area). No longer are nonfiction books for young children restricted to science.

There is “a lot of quality nonfiction being written today by prolific authors,” added Ann Hanna, formerly a first-grade teacher and currently literacy coordinator in the Portland school system. She noted that, when she was a first-grade teacher, she amassed a collection of books that she read in class that eventually filled 16 milk crates, but nonfiction books filled less than one of them.

The three teachers delivered a presentation Thursday on “providing a rich read-aloud experience using nonfiction” aimed at kindergarten through second-grade pupils as part of a K-5 literacy conference for teachers hosted by the Center for Early Literacy at the University of Maine.

But all three said that much of what they recommend for teachers reading aloud to students could be translated to parents reading to children.

Hanna recommended that parents find quality nonfiction books in subjects that their children are curious about.

Then while reading the book, parents ought to have “natural conversations” with their children to help explain and clarify, Paradis said. Parents should also help their children figure out where they can find the answers to questions the book raises.

Because of the way nonfiction books are structured – often with tables, charts, maps, and sidebars, as well as text and illustrations – parents need to help their children navigate them, Paradis added.

Unlike fiction stories, Morse said that nonfiction books lend themselves to being read in chunks.

From a learning viewpoint, nonfiction is good for reading aloud, Morse said, for a number of reasons.

The connection to the real world gives the reading a purpose and motivates children to listen. It also expands children’s knowledge, she said, and one book can integrate a number of subject areas.

Additionally, nonfiction exposes children to expository writing, Morse said.

Hanna explained that there are about 10 broad categories of nonfiction books for young children.

There are concept books, identification or field-guide books, photographic essays, life-cycle books, survey books, reference books, specialty books, plus books on experiments, crafts, and activities, as well as books incorporating or mimicking documents, journals, diaries and albums.

There is also the hybrid of “information picture storybooks,” Hanna said, in which “factual material is carried within a fictional story.”

Parents, just like teachers, Hanna said, should bear in mind “The Five A’s” when selecting nonfiction books to read to their children: Appearance, authority, accuracy, artistry and appropriateness.

A book should have an attractive appearance that makes a child want to open it again and again and a layout that helps explain the material.

Parents should check the authority of the author and the book’s acknowledgments to see whether the writer has the background or has tapped the right sources to write the book.

Content should be accurate and current, Hanna said.

A book needs to have artistry that captures readers and ignites their interest.

And finally, the book’s language and illustrations need to be appropriate for the intended audience, she said.

Paradis added that books for reading aloud should also lend themselves to discussion.

Too often people think they must read a book all the way through once and then revisit it for discussion, Paradis said. “That’s not the way it should happen.”

The discussions should occur all the way through the reading, she said. And the adult readers should encourage the child listeners to connect what they are hearing to things they already know about.