According to Rosemary Chance's book Young Adult Literature in Action, "The informational collection in the library relates directly to the school curriculum. Roughly half of the library book budget and half of the book shelves are devoted to informational books." Since informational books are such a large part of the library collection, it is important to understand the different types. There are 10 main classes organized by Melvil Dewey. These classes are:
000-Computer Science, Information, and General Works
100-Philosophy, Parapsychology and Occultism, Psychology
200- Religion
300- Social Sciences
400- Language
500- Natural Sciences and Mathematics
600- Technology (Applied Sciences)
700-The Arts, Fine and Decorative Arts
800- Literature (Belles Lettres) and Rhetoric
900- History, Geography, and Auxiliary Disciplines
According to Sylvia M. Vardell's book Children's Literature in Action, historical fiction may be the most difficult genres to promote. It is important for the teacher to show the students that historical fiction is fun and exciting to read. According to children's literature expert Charlotte Huck (2000), historical fiction "dramatizes and humanizes" the past for us. I love to use historical fiction books with my class. I teach history and I believe it does make the lessons more real and interesting to the students. The types of historical fiction are:
United States History
World History
Historical Fiction
Historical Picture Books
Chance believes that Historical Picture Books can be difficult for six or seven year olds to understand. I agree. I use Historical Picture Books often with 6th grade and they really enjoy them. I tell them that picture books aren't just for younger kids. Often, younger students will not understand them the way they will because they don't have the history knowledge yet. The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and the Jane Addams book award are awards given to outstanding historical fiction books.
Nonfiction books:
Today there is a good variety of nonfiction books for children to choose from. The purpose of nonfiction books is to inform, but nonfiction books can also be entertaining. There are several types of informational books. The types of informational books are:
Survey Books
Photo Essays
Concept Books
Social Histories
Informational Storybooks
Activity Books
Trivia Books
Series Books and Reference Tools
Biographies are also considered nonfiction books. There are several types of biographies. They types of biographies are:
Complete Biographies
Picture Book Biographies
Biography Series
Celebrity Biographies
Collective Biographies
Autobiographies
When evaluating informational books, we want to make sure they contain accurate information. We should look at reviewers who are knowledgeable on that subject. The book can be compared to other accurate books on the same subject. Look at the author's background to see if they have a reputation in the field. Make sure their are sources cited the the book.
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