Nonfiction Instruction

Kidlit Social #65: Melissa Stewart on Creating Nonfiction for the Classroom

On this episode of The Kidlit Social, meet Melissa Stewart, author of “5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books”, along with dozens of kidlit nonfiction titles currently in use by school districts as part of their curricula.

Melissa discussed creating nonfiction for kids while keeping educators’ needs in mind – a vital skill as schools and libraries are the biggest market for children’s nonfiction.

 

Kidlit Social #63: Writing Books w/ STEM Tie-Ins & Crafting Realistic Animals

Meet illustrator, explorer and children’s book author Katy Tanis. Katy’s work bursts with color, and a true love for every creature on land, in air and under sea. In this episode of The Social, Katy talks about her writing/illustration process, and gives her advice for aspiring illustrators. She also touches on the necessity for authors and illustrators to do their research and accurately reflect the behaviors of animals in children’s book texts (fiction and nonfiction) and illustrations, as well as the environment.

Katy gives some examples of how to do that research, and why this accuracy is important since so many publishers are looking for books with STEM tie-ins (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

 

Writing Nonfiction for Children – Where the Opportunities Are Right Now

In this meaty excerpt from “The Children’s Nonfiction Market: How To Break In & How to Succeed”, Lionel Bender breaks down the major kidlit nonfiction markets and niches, the categories of children’s nonfiction and where writers can find paying work in the nonfiction market. Lionel is the author of over 70 books for children, and the editorial partner of Bender Richardson White, an editorial, design, and production team serving major book and magazine publishers in North America and Europe. He is also a regular speaker on children’s book publishing and self-publishing. He was the co-director of the 21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference from 2013-2016.  

Kidlit Distancing Social #40 Replay: Jennifer Swanson, Melissa Stewart & Cynthia Levinson on Why Kids Love Nonfiction a *Lot* More Than You Probably Think

Three top children’s nonfiction authors talk about the growing significance of nonfiction and why “the nonfiction books of today are not the textbooks of yesteryear”.

 

Grand Slam Debut for Picture Book Author Nancy Churnin

From theater critic to debut picture book author may seem a bit of a stretch, but Nancy Churnin hit one out of the park with her biography of a celebrated athlete whose passion and persistence kept him going in the face of resistance and rejection.

 

Four Foolproof Ways to Hook Children’s Nonfiction Readers

If you write children’s nonfiction, you have only moments to grab your reader’s attention. Here’s how….