Tag: nonfiction

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Nonfiction for Kids

Nonfiction: Real books that tell, inform, teach and explain.

More than ever before, kids are choosing to read nonfiction.* This often under-appreciated genre of kidlit has broken away from the straightforward, “textbook” styles of the past, and exploded with compelling structures and engaging tones. I mean, who can resist Melissa Stewart’s book titled Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs, or Steve Sheinkin’s Lincoln’s Grave Robbers that follows the thrilling true story of how counterfeiters tried to steal Lincoln’s coffin in 1875. Another gripping narrative can be found in Christina Soontornvat’s All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys Soccer Team. The biggest draw to these books is that they’re filled with things that are real. Kids like that more than adults realize,** especially given what we’ve all been through. Some people turn to fiction to escape during hard times; others seek refuge in facts and truth. Kids often try to get a better understanding of the world around them.

It’s been just over a year since a writing conference opened my eyes to this dynamic area of kidlit, and I’m still learning so much. In February I participated in Nonfiction Fest. Each day had challenges to develop my research skills, inspire new ideas, and engage with the nonfiction writing community. I loved it, and it gave me some great ideas for future projects! I also won Jennifer Swanson’s Astronaut/Aquanaut: How Space Science and Sea Science Interact–another fabulous MG nonfiction book from an author I’ve come to go a little bit fangirl on. 🙂

It was a lucky month for me as I also won Leslie Bulion’s Spi-Ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs through a Twitter contest. My boys and I have had so much fun reading her lyrical spider poems that are chuck full of cool arachnoid facts. Whether your interest lies in reading or writing, I urge you to invite more nonfiction books into your life. They just might surprise you!

*See this Washington Post article for more on this.

**See this Publisher’s Weekly article for stats that show how juvenile nonfiction experienced 3X the growth in sales in 2020 than juvenile fiction.

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New Year, Same Goals!

I am a goal person. A list person. A write it on the list just so I can check it off person. It keeps me focused and motivated. Without them I ride high on ambition and bottom out on follow-through.

Since I last posted I’ve been busy writing children’s nonfiction. It has been so much fun! I really love the middle grade age group, and it is super handy to have a few kids in that range to give my manuscripts a test run.

My goal from last year was to write and submit, and it’s still the same. That doesn’t dishearten me in the least. The more I write, the better I get. I know it’s a process. In fact, I enjoy the process. I’m like a kid digging in the dirt just for the fun of it. In the end, if I end up with a few mud pies to my name, all the better.

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SCBWI Mentorship Winner

I mentioned in a previous post how I attended my first SCBWI conference right before COVID-19 shut everything down. It happened to be a Nonfiction Children’s Book conference. I’d just joined SCBWI, I didn’t know anyone going, and I knew next to nothing about the nonfiction children’s market, but I came home from that one-day conference on fire with ideas.

As the people who know me know, there’s really no stopping me once I get an idea. I dove in and drafted 2 nonfiction children’s manuscripts during the next two months. I love research and writing and kids, so it’s really a perfect match for me!

Last month I submitted a book proposal for one of my manuscripts to the SCBWI Michigan Nonfiction Mentorship Contest. It’s called Becoming an Inventor: Train Your Brain to Invent & Explore Your Creativity.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am to announce that I was just announced as the Winner for the Middle Grade (ages 8-12) Mentorship! Suzanne Lipshaw, who I happened to have lunch with at that conference, won the Nonfiction Picture Book Mentorship. I am so thrilled for her as well!

For the next year I will be under the mentorship of Stephanie Bearce, whose awesome children’s books are right up my alley with her Twisted True Tales from Science series, and her Top Secret Files series about real spies, secrets, and covert missions. If your kids haven’t read any of her books, give them a try!

I would like to extend a huge thank you to the contest coordinator, Ann Finkelstein, all the judges, and to Stephanie for choosing to work with me!