Today's nonfiction is more creative than ever before. Discover
how understanding and experimenting with nonfiction categories, writing styles,
and text structures can help authors of all ages make their writing more
engaging.
Nonfiction CategoriesLife Story
The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman
Brave Girl by Michelle Markle
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Coyote Moon by Maria Gianferrari
El Deafo by Cece Bell
The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
Lives of the Presidents (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull
A Mother’s Journey by Sandra Markle
Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatium
Some Writer! by Melissa Sweet
Survey Book
Eyewitness Books
The Horrible, Miserable Middle Ages by Kathy Allen
Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown
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
Drowned City by Don Brown
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
Zoo
Scientists to the Rescue by Patricia Newman
Concept Book
Can an Aardvark Bark? by Melissa Stewart
Hidden
Dangers: Seek and Find 13 of the World's Deadliest Animals by Lola M. Schaefer
Just a Second by Steve Jenkins
Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart
Pink Is for Blobfish by Jess Keating
Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy
A Star in My Orange by Dana Meachan Rau
Trout Are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre
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Writing Styles
Expository
Facts Plus
Animals by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
Bone by Bone by Sara Levine
Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks
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
Ada's Violin by Susan Hood
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
I Dissent by Debbie Levy
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
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Common Text Structures
Description
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
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
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
Some Writer by Melissa Sweet
What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley
Episodic narrative
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Brave Girl by Michelle Markel
Fearless Flyer by Heather Lang
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
The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery
Cycle narrative
Coyote Moon by Maria Gianferrari
A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
A Seed Is the Start by Melissa Stewart
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
Chronological expository
Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee
Poison 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
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
Problem—Solution
The Great Monkey Rescue by Sandra Markle
A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart
Mesmerized by Mara Rockliff
Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs by Michaela Muntean
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
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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
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