I wrote a couple of nonfiction articles for magazines, but now I am interested in writing nonfiction for picture books. Nonfiction picture books must have three components:
Nonfiction picture books are written to attract the interest of young readers and get them excited about nonfiction. Sharon Ruth Gill of Reading Rockets explores this genre that is making waves in the publishing industry in her article, What Teachers Need to Know About the "New" Nonfiction.
Like picture books, nonfiction books for the younger reader must stand out in today's market. How do you do that?
- Visually appealing with attractive design and layout in a 32-page book
- Accurate information
- Engaging writing
Nonfiction picture books are written to attract the interest of young readers and get them excited about nonfiction. Sharon Ruth Gill of Reading Rockets explores this genre that is making waves in the publishing industry in her article, What Teachers Need to Know About the "New" Nonfiction.
Like picture books, nonfiction books for the younger reader must stand out in today's market. How do you do that?
GET CREATIVE!
But how much creativeness can you add to a nonfiction? This is where it gets sticky.
Myth: For my nonfiction to stand out, I should embellish it
with interesting and fun details by weaving in a creative, made-up story.
*Truth: Once you add fiction, your story is fiction. Lee
Gutkind of creativenonfiction.org says it best. Creative nonfiction is
“accurate prose about real people and events written in a compelling, vivid,
dramatic manner- true stories well told.”
Myth: If I write a story with a good plot, realistic
characters and interesting facts, then I would have a great creative
nonfiction.
*Truth: This all depends on what your realistic characters are saying and doing. Jan Fields of the Institute of Children’s literature
writes, “Creative nonfiction happens when an author uses totally well
researched facts to create a story-like narrative with no made up parts.” What you may have written is faction- blending of fact and fiction.
Myth: If I write a story about a father on an adventure
through the woods with his daughter and informing her of facts about redwood
trees along the way, that would make a great Creative nonfiction.
*Truth: When you have a made-up story with characters spewing
out facts, or a blending of fiction with facts, then you have informational
fiction- Facts in a fictional framework.
What about historical fiction?
Many historical fiction are
realistic. Characters may be fictitious, but the events and scenes are based on
facts. Historical fiction is also described as a fictional account of real
events or real people. Sherry Garland, children's author, talks about this and
was surprised when some of her historical picture books won nonfiction awards. 
Historical fiction: Informational fiction, creative nonfiction, or faction? You will find the answer to this question on Sherry's blog, Into the Woods We Go.
What is faction?
According to Gotham teacher, Brandi
Reissenweber, faction is a blending of fact and fiction. Author Sandra Markle defines it as "a
fictional story in which all of the characters and the details are based on
real facts."
Is faction creative nonfiction or informational fiction? Based on the definition above, faction sounds like information fiction to me.
Sandra Markle, author of What if I Had Animal Teeth, classifies her books as faction. When I looked them up (What If I Had Animal Teeth, Animal Scavengers: Wolverines, and Hip-Pocket Papa) at my library, they were shelved in the nonfiction section. So faction, in this example, is creative nonfiction.
There were a few books on the 2012 Cybills nominee list for NONFICTION picture books that were categorized as FICTION at libraries: A Leaf Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas and Just Ducks by Nicola Davies, just to name a few.
There were a few books on the 2012 Cybills nominee list for NONFICTION picture books that were categorized as FICTION at libraries: A Leaf Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas and Just Ducks by Nicola Davies, just to name a few.
This just proves how difficult it can be to distinguish creative nonfiction from informational fiction or faction. Are you as confused as I am? This topic is enough to make my head spin!
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Here are some examples of creative nonfiction books given by:
I.N.K. Creative Nonfiction for Kids
Sandra Markle's Nonfiction Books
NOTE: Some of the picture books listed on the blog, I.N.K. are listed as creative nonfiction, but when I looked them up at my library, there were a few that were categorized as fiction such as Move! By Steve Jenkins, Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, and Over and Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart.
TIP: If you can't decide whether a picture book is creative nonfiction or fiction, check out the library and search for the title. If it is listed as a PB** then it is fiction. If it is listed as J###### then it is nonfiction. Study them and see if you can figure out for yourself why it is classified the way it is.
I.N.K. Creative Nonfiction for Kids
Sandra Markle's Nonfiction Books
NOTE: Some of the picture books listed on the blog, I.N.K. are listed as creative nonfiction, but when I looked them up at my library, there were a few that were categorized as fiction such as Move! By Steve Jenkins, Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, and Over and Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart.
TIP: If you can't decide whether a picture book is creative nonfiction or fiction, check out the library and search for the title. If it is listed as a PB** then it is fiction. If it is listed as J###### then it is nonfiction. Study them and see if you can figure out for yourself why it is classified the way it is.
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CREATIVE NONFICTION- accurate prose about real people and events written in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner
INFORMATIONAL FICTION- facts in a fictional framework
FACTION- blending of fact and fiction
FACTION- blending of fact and fiction
Below are some great resources that go into detail:
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Do you have a great resource to share that will demystify what faction is, please share!
Do you have a great resource to share that will demystify what faction is, please share!
Romelle, this is a great description of the different types of books that present some aspect of nonfiction! Since you asked about "faction," I'll share with you that at the SCBWI conference I went to last year (it was a large Mid West one which included about 4 different states), I asked a couple of editors (I managed to get behind them at the snack table) about the term "faction." They looked at me like I was insane and both of them said they'd never heard of the term before.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would like a different term for the concept since "faction" is already a real word describing opposing groups.
I'd be curious as to know what others think or have to say about this. :)
That's interesting, Teresa! I even had difficulty finding any solid information on the definition of "faction" on the web. I think it's better to stick with calling it either creative fiction or informative fiction, unless we can all agree on the definition of faction.
DeleteHi Romelle! What a great post you have written here. I would also like to second Teresa's sentiments above. I included the term "faction" on a few queries last year and from each agent I sent it -they send back a note telling me NOT to use the term when querying. I then asked a few editors and got the same response. Faction is more of a business/political term, and although I see that Gotham uses it, it is not widely used within the industry. The term that is preferred is "Creative NF." Thanks again for the great post!
ReplyDeleteI'll remember not to say the F word in my queries. LOL! I think I'll need to write a follow-up post on "faction" alone. Very interesting, Elaine.
DeleteLOL! I just wanted to make sure you didn't learn the hard way, like I did! Great post, I'd love to see a follow up! :)
DeleteYes, I have been given the same advice as Elaine from chatting with a few editors and agents.
DeleteThanks for the untangling, Romelle. I've found our library to be inconsistent in their shelving of creative nonfiction, and I wonder if a book sees a better circulation being housed in the picture books instead of the J stacks...
ReplyDeleteThat's what I mean, Patricia! Librarians have difficulty with this new genre of NF PB. They sometimes don't know where to shelve it. I asked my librarian about NF PB and she looked at me like I'm the one who is confused. She told me,"It's either a picture book or a nonfiction."
DeleteRomelle - Great job pulling together links and definitions. I appreciate Teresa and Elaine's first hand experiences with the terminology, too. I imagine librarians really struggle with the best ways to categorize these books and get them into the hands of young readers. Whatever works!
ReplyDeleteCathy, you may be on to something. "Whatever works." We all want children to get excited about NF and what better way than making it look like a PB, which may mean shelving it in the PB section. There it gets better exposure!
DeleteThanks for the great post. I have been in search of great narrative NF for a while and have found that the librarians are not sure where to shelve it (as mentioned above). It may be different in different libraries. The librarian made it sound like it was more about the "picture" part of the telling that the actual facts. It's definitely a challenge to sort this out. Agents that I have looked at seem to use the term narrative NF rather than creative NF (and I have never seen faction referenced at all.) In libraries, I think the JP seem to be more "accessible" for young kids.
ReplyDeleteAh yes. You bring up another term "narrative NF" that I've seen used a few times, but didn't really know what that meant. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Beth. And yes, JP is more accessible to young kids!
DeleteThanks for this post, Romelle. It clearly is an area of confusion for many (including me). :) It would be nice if the industry has some more clearly defined terms and guidelines. I appreciate your insight as I am beginning a project now that fits in here somewhere. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree, Cindy! That's why I wrote this post. I was trying to figure it out myself and had to share.
DeleteGreat information and links on a tough topic. It does make my head spin. Well, I just finished writing a nf pb biography which I'd classify as creative nf. And if u wanna learn more about writing this, check out Kristen Fulton's nonfiction pb class!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tina! I have been contemplating taking Kristen's class. I plan to make it my goal this year. Congratulations of finishing your NFPB!
DeleteThanks for the great info, Romelle! I also loved the cheat at the end by using the classification system.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Jennifer. Glad you found it helpful! And thanks again for the Tweet!
DeleteNonfiction picture books generally get MUCH better usage when placed in the picture book section. Our "rule" is if a book has three or more facts it's put in the nonfiction. We recently created an easy reader nonfiction section and have seen the circulation increase dramatically on those items.
ReplyDeleteThanks for chimimg in, Kathryn. That is good to know. Very interesting bit of information. Children do browse more in the PB section so it makes sense. It would be nice to sneak a few NF In the PB section for them to discover!
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