Nonfiction
Categories
Life Story
The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman
Brave Girl by Michelle Markle
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
El Deafo by Cece Bell
The
Family Romanov
by Candace Fleming
Lives of the Presidents (and
What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull
Separate Is Never
Equal by Duncan Tonatium
The Right Word by Jen
Bryant
Survey Book
Eyewitness Books
The Horrible, Miserable Middle Ages by Kathy
Allen
Lightning by Seymour Simon
National Geographic
Readers
Spiders by Nic Bishop
Why’d They Wear That? by Sarah Albee
Specialized Nonfiction
Chasing Cheetahs by Sy Montgomery
Handle with Care by Loree Griffin Burns
Feathers:
Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by
Tom Yezerski
Sniffer Dogs by Nancy Castaldo
Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
The Port Chicago 50 by Steve
Sheinkin
Concept Book
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Just a
Second by Steve Jenkins
Lifetime by Lola
Schaefer
Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in
Nature by Sarah C. Campbell
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
A Place
for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart
Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy
A Star in
My Orange by Dana Meachen Rau
Trout Are Made of Trees by April
Pulley Sayre
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Writing Styles
Expository
Facts
Plus
A Black Hole Is Not a Hole
by
Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
Born to
Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
Bugged:
How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee
Eye to Eye by Steve Jenkins
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by
Melissa Stewart
Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies
Fast
Facts
Animal Grossapedia by Melissa Stewart
Eyewitness Books
Guinness Book of World Records
Time for Kids Big Book of Why
Narrative
Plot
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
Buried Alive by Elaine Scott
The Day-Glo Brothers by
Chris Barton
The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
Cycle
Beneath the Sun by Melissa Stewart
A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
Redwoods by Jason Chin (due to the art)
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
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Common Text Structures
Description/Explanation
A Black Hole Is Not a Hole
by
Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins
Creep and Flutter by Jim Arnosky
Dolphins! by Melissa Stewart
Frogs by Nic Bishop
Lightship by Brian Floca
Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies
What to Expect When You’re Expecting Larvae:
A Guide for Insect Parents (and Curious Kids) by Bridget Heos
Sequence
Chronological narrative
Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman
Buried Alive by Elaine Scott
The Day-Glo Brothers by
Chris Barton
Marvelous Mattie by Emily Arnold McCully
Noah Webster & His Words by
Jeri Chase Ferris
Planting
the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by
Claire A. Nivola
Pop:
The Invention of Bubble Gum by Megan McCarthy
The Secret World of Walter
Anderson by Hester Bass
What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley
Episodic narrative
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Brave Girl by Michelle Markel
When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
Braided narrative
Amelia Lost by
Candace Fleming
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
Titanic: Voices from the
Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson
Journey narrative
If Stones Could Speak by Marc Aronson
Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by
Sy Montgomery
Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by
Sy Montgomery
Cycle narrative
A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
Redwoods by Jason Chin (due to the art)
Beneath the Sun by Melissa Stewart
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
Chronological expository
Bugged:
How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee
Poop
Happened!: A History of the World from the Bottom Up by Sarah Albee
Why'd
They Wear That?: Fashion as the Mirror of History by Sarah Albee
Cumulative expository
Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest by
Madeleine Dunphy
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox
How-to expository
Dessert
Designers: Creations You Can Make and Eat by Dana Meachen Rau
How
to Swallow a Pig by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
The
Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes by Doug Stillinger
Roald
Dahl's Revolting Recipes by Josie Fison and Felicity Dahl
Try
This! 50 Fun Experiments for the Mad Scientist in You by
Karen Romano Young
Compare & Contrast
Dueling spreads
Frog or Toad? How Do You Know? by
Melissa Stewart
Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy
Neo Leo by Gene Barretta
Those Rebels, Tom & John by
Barbara Kerley
List book
Born in
the Wild by
Lita Judge
Born to
Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
Eye to Eye by Steve Jenkins
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by
Melissa Stewart
Move by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
My First Day by Steve Jenkins & Robin
Page
Just One Bite by Lola Schaefer
Q & A Books
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine
Good Question series (Sterling)
Creature Features by Steve Jenkins
& Robin Page
Hatch! by Roxie Munro
Hello Bumblebee Bat by Darrin Lunde
Scholastic Question &
Answer series
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by
Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Cause & Effect
Earth: Feeling the Heat by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart
When Rain Falls by
Melissa Stewart
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Mixing & Matching
If
you’re writing a Life Story . . .
- Probably sequence (chronological)
structure
- Narrative writing style
If
you’re writing a Survey Book . . .
- Description/explanation,
sequence, Q & A
- Expository writing style
If
you’re writing Specialized Nonfiction . . .
- Probably sequence, compare &
contrast
- Narrative or expository writing
style
If you’re writing a Concept
Book . . .
- Sequence,
compare & contrast, Q & A, cause & effect, problem—solution,
or invent your own
- Probably
expository writing style