National Non-Fiction November (7th November National Non-Fiction Day) Part 1 Authors and Illustrators

National Non-Fiction November was set up by the Federation of Children's Book Groups in the UK as a way to highlight the importance of information books and to promote reading non-fiction for pleasure. 

National Literacy Trust research (2022), said more than half (56%) of children and young people told us that they read non-fiction. We also found that children and young people who read non-fiction are more engaged with environmental issues.

Overall, this report found that more children and young people who read non-fiction were motivated to read for educational purposes, to satisfy curiosities, to foster social connections and to support their mental wellbeing.

Each year, National Non-Fiction November has a different theme. The theme for 2024 is Why Don’t You…? and is designed to stimulate discussion around hobbies and leisure activities and to encourage young people to try something new. (More about this in Part 2)

Non-Fiction books for young children have definitely changed from the traditional non-fiction books used for research which had short tiles, photographs, a contents page, an index, a glossary and other features ideal for researching. Now some of the most exquisitely illustrated books in the library are in the non-fiction section of the library. Another difference is the amount of narrative nonfiction that now exists and it is not only biography.

Author/illustrators such as these excel at non-fiction and while the list is not exhaustive, these will make a great beginning reading-wise and display-wise.

• Jason Chin

• Nicola Davies 

• Jenni Desmond

• Candace Fleming

• Meredith Hooper

• Martin Jenkins

• Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

• Claire Saxby

• Melissa Stewart

• Yuval Zommer

3rd November National Non-fiction Day

It is National Non-Fiction Day in Britain. This is not a day we celebrate in Australia, but perhaps we should. As more and more information is being sought via the internet and online sources, teachers and librarians are spending less time using non-fiction books for research purposes.

I still use books to teach my under eights the parts of a good-for- research non-fiction book. The Usborne Beginners series of books is perfect for teaching  Year 1 about headings, contents, glossaries and indexes. I have enough of these for each child to have their own book to look at. The photographs are good, the contents page well set out, there are fact boxes, labels, large font and just the right amount of information for them to read. Pebble Plus is another series of non-fiction books that you could also use to do the same sort of activities with young students.

In the library we always have Non-fiction Monday. This means that if you come to the library for your take-home readers, that on Monday you must take a non-fiction text. Some of the most popular 'readers' are the National Geographic titles and any of those  authored by Seymour Simon.

The other thing that has happened to non-fiction books is that many of them have become 'works of art' and just like fiction picture books they are hard to resist. Illustrators like Steve Jenkins and Ed Young have shown readers that illustrations can certainly enhance the factual text.

31st March Steve Jenkins (1952)

I hang out for the next Steve Jenkins' book. I am addicted to his illustrations. His animals seem so real yet the intricate collage is amazing. I watched him making illustrations in the making books section of his website. The papers he uses are textured and patterned and his cutting and paper placement is meticulous. He makes non-fiction books inspiring, to a reader like me who much prefers to read fiction. I can glean information while poring over exquisite art. I'd love to own an original! Mem Fox was so lucky to have him illustrate one of her books. If Australia can claim Hello Baby! then can we claim Steve Jenkins too?