Read Nonfiction!

10 Reasons to Choose Nonfiction Books

1. They encourage browsing.

Sometimes you don’t have time to read a whole book. Sometimes you don’t want to, either.

Great readers like to browse. They pick up a nonfiction book and read part of it. They might not finish it but they remember what they read.  How?  They recite: silently to themselves or aloud to friends. They talk about the facts they learned and the ideas they encountered. 

Great readers know that reading is worthless if what you read doesn’t make sense.  And if you only have a few minutes, a novel won’t make sense.  You won’t read enough to get into the story, so why bother? 

Pick up illustrated nonfiction books and browse through them. Learn something!

2. They encourage reading whenever you have a spare moment.

Short nonfiction books are portable. They are easy to carry around in your pack or purse.  They can easily sit on a corner of your desk in school.

Whenever you get a bit of time – while waiting for your classmates to finish cleaning up or while waiting in the car  – you can pick up a book and entertain yourself.  You can build up your store of general knowledge in small tasty doses.

3.  They help focus your mind.

Nonfiction books help you ignore all the thoughts rushing around in your head and focus on what is right in front of you.

They let you explore topics without the distraction of links and advertisements.

In fact, they can encourage you to calmly and deeply explore topics, which will help you calmly think in all sorts of situations.

4. They are easy to use.

Books feel good. It’s easy to hold them. Easy to turn the pages back and forth.

You don’t have to use a scroll bar. You don’t even have to plug them in or recharge their batteries.

They’re durable. You don’t have to worry if you drop them. They won’t break.

The more tattered they get, the less you have to take care of them.

And if you own them, you can even write in them.  

5. They help you increase your background knowledge.

Books are designed to attract your attention.

So, browsing through nonfiction shelves in a library encourages you to learn about new topics that you would not look up online. 

And all the new knowledge you gain from nonfiction books will help you make connections when you study new topics in school.

6. They encourage you to appreciate real life.

They tell you about what happened long ago and what might happen in the future.

They tell you about amazing places all over the world.

They tell you about people who have made a difference all over the world.

7. They encourage you to be creative. 

They show you how to paint a picture and build a campfire.

They tell you how to write a poem and cook a meal. 

They give you ideas for projects and directions for experiments.

8. They help build your reading skills.

You learn how books are organized with a page of contents, glossary and index. You learn to read the captions below pictures and the information on diagrams.

You learn how written information is organized with main ideas, details, and transition words.

You can learn new words and increase your vocabulary.

And if you start to read longer nonfiction books, you will learn to read slowly, carefully understanding one idea before going on to another idea. That slow reading will help you become better at understanding complex ideas.  And then you will be able to make deeper connections between ideas and events in real life. 

(Skimming and scanning on the internet, in contrast, does not encourage deep understanding of concepts.)

9. They encourage you to share knowledge.

Teachers notice that when students work on computers, they tend to become very quiet. They get lost in the world of the screen.  But if they find something they want to share with the people beside them, they soon start talking about other topics.

When students look at nonfiction books, they still tend to lean over to their neighbours. They start sharing what they are discovering. They smile and quietly talk about their books.  And then, they turn back to their own books and start reading again.  

 10. They are fun!

You can always find something new and interesting in the nonfiction section of a library.

Browse around. Read a little. Or read a lot.

Have fun expanding your mind!

….

Some books and sites for adults who want to learn more:

  • Greenfield, Susan. Mind Change: How Digital Technologies are Leaving their Marks on our Brains. New York: Random House, 2015.
  • Ulin, David L. The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time. Seattle, Wash.: Sasquatch Books, 2010.
  • http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec12/vol70/num04/Nonfiction-Reading-Promotes-Student-Success.aspx
  • http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/non-fiction-why-its-important/
  • http://www.education.com/reference/article/reasons-teaching-nonfiction/
  • http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/03/ua-matters-the-importance-of-reading-nonfiction-with-children/
  • http://firststepskent.org/non-fiction-texts-develop-important-skills-and-interests-in-young-children/
  • http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=reading_horizons

Stories of Refugees

BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Immigrants and Refugees

Senker, Cath. Immigrants and Refugees. Mankato, Minn.: Smart Apple Media, 2012.

Tasting the Sky

PALESTINE 

Barakat, Ibtisam. Tasting the Sky: a Palestinian Childhood. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

The Journey that Saved

FRANCE

Borden, Louise. The Journey that Saved Curious George : the True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

Diamonds in the Shadow

AFRICA

Cooney, Caroline B. Diamonds in the Shadow. New York: Delacorte Press, c2007.

Children of War

IRAQ

Ellis, Deborah. Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees. Berkeley, CA : Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2009.

No Safe Place

IRAQ

Ellis, Deobrah. No Safe Place. Berkeley, CA: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2010.

Fish

Mathews, L.S. Fish. New York : Yearling Book, [2006], c2004.

Day of the Pelican

KOSOVO

Paterson, Katherine. The Day of the Pelican. Boston : Clarion Books, 2009. 

Bamboo People

BURMA

Perkins, Mitali. Bamboo People. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2010.

The Red Pencill

SUDAN

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. The Red Pencil. New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2014.

Trouble

CAMBODIA

Schmidt, Gary D. Trouble. New York: Clarion Books, 2008.

Walking Home

KENYA

Walters, Eric. Walking Home. Toronto, ON : Doubleday Canada, 2014.

Now is the Time

ZIMBABWE

Williams, Michael. Now Is the Time for Running. New York: Little, Brown, 2013, c2009.  

Read more stories about refugees: HERE and HERE