Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Nonfiction Reading

With so much emphasis on reading for information, the nonfiction section must be filled with exciting and interesting books.  Everything from ghosts to religions of the world, art to government, cats and dogs to glaciers is covered in the nonficition section.  There are so many subjects, it is hard to find a place for each one in an elementary library.  So, like all librarians, I must be selective.  What interests students today? Drawing books are always a big hit.  So are current biographies.  Animals, whether wild or domestic are always sought after for fun and interesting reading.  But there are more serious subjects.  When 6th graders are studying World War II, they cannot avoid all the history that is contained in that short period of time.  Both the terrible and the exciting stories must be available for them to read.  9/11 has a place as do books about world religions and global economy.
Nonfiction is far reaching.  It is enlightening, delightful, thought-provoking and readable.  Nonfiction is more than just facts.  It is an opening to the world around the reader. Once opened, like a genie, the facts in a book are not easy to ignore.  Open a book with the knowledge that you will never look on the world quite the same way.

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