Kids’ non-fiction has changed.
In elementary school when we wrote a research paper we first went to the library. We found the 2-3 nonfiction books that existed for this precise purpose. They presented facts on the topic that were so terribly straightforward and boring that the book was never picked up for any other reason. In fact, it was lucky these info-containers often had an index, or at least a table of contents, to keep you from having to read more of it than was absolutely necessary.
I now have a son who read non-fiction almost exclusively, now that we know there are different kinds of non-fiction.
This week we picked up two nonfiction books that not just he, but even I found incredibly funny— FUNNY! The hunched over boring pages me of yesteryear could never have imagined writing that sentence!
Some change is a great thing!
First up THE DRAGONS OF AGUA CALIENTE, by Shannon Bliss and Illustrated by Haley Grunloh. This picture book about California newts (also known as orange-bellied newts) was written by a biologist, but she given it a hilarious twist— the book is told as if these two tiny territorial newts were mighty dragons locked in and epic battle. The big language contrasting with the illustrations of these tiny creatures makes the little guys feel like toddlers who take themselves too seriously and makes the whole story quite silly.
The information about the actual “dragons” is in hidden text throughout the book, making finding the actually information like a treasure hunt.
We were also surprised by OUTSIDE IN: X-Rays of Nature’s Hidden World by Jan Paul Schutten with photographs by Arie van ‘t Riet . The illustrations are colored x-rays of animals and plants which are super cool to look at. The author could have just described the pictures, but Jan Paul made went above and beyond, picking only the most interesting facts and finding new ways to think about the animal pictured. The descriptions are hilarious! For example, from the description of Rays:
“Let’s try a little experiment. Throw a rubber band onto the ground as hard as you can. Now do the same with one of your parents’ best vases. What happens? The rubber band will never break—and you can wave goodbye to your allowace for the next few months.”
Here are some of my other favorite pages:
If you were like me and had a sour taste in your mouth from the old nonfiction books, you should go pick up these two to have your opinion changed!
Kimberly Horch 