STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING FOR YOUR NONFICTION: A FOCUS ON EXPOSITORY LITERATURE

by Laura Perdew        

In 2017, author Melissa Stewart created a classification system for children’s nonfiction: The Five Kinds of Nonfiction. Classifying books in this way allows teachers and librarians to help students understand and access nonfiction text. It is also a valuable tool for authors.

*NOTE: The information in this chart is adapted from Melissa Stewart’s nonfiction classification system.

 

You can also read Stewart’s 2021 NF Fest Post, “What Is Literary Nonfiction?” and her School Library Journal article from 2018, “Understanding – And Teaching – the Five Kinds of Nonfiction,” for more information.

What is Expository Literature?

Today I want to focus on just one of these categories of nonfiction, expository literature (you can learn more about the other kinds of nonfiction by clicking on the links above). I will admit that, before witnessing the evolution of children’s literature over the past ten or so years, I believed that the word “expository” translated into boring. Yet expository literature in today’s nonfiction kidlit is anything but!

Expository literature…

·       presents information in a creative way.

·       focuses on one aspect of a topic.

·       often reflects the author’s passion for that topic.

·       offers a unique voice & POV.

·       incorporates engaging language and literary devices to enrich the writing.

·       utilizes a carefully chosen text structure and innovative format.

·       may include layered text, sidebars, callouts, back matter, and more.

 

Here are a few picture book examples of expository literature that illustrate the innovative structures being used in children’s nonfiction today:

·       13 WAYS TO EAT A FLY by Sue Heavenrich

·       HOW TO BUILD AN INSECT by Roberta Gibson

·       ROUND by Jennifer Ward

·       BUGS DON’T HUG by Heather Montgomery

·       WHAT IS THIS TAIL SAYING? by Carolyn Combs

·       LEAFY LANDMARKS by Michelle Schaub

·       OVER AND UNDER THE POND by Kate Messner

·       ASTRONAUT/AQUANAUT by Jennifer Swanson

·       MOTH: An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas

·       WE ARE GRATEFUL: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell

 

Finding the Right Structure

For authors, the category of expository literature provides us with many text structures to choose from and play with! The trick is finding the text structure that best fits our manuscript’s topic and the big idea (the deeper meaning, heart, reader take-away…the manuscript’s connection to something bigger). And some manuscripts can utilize more than one text structure at a time!

Below is a chart that describes many expository literature text structure options. I also included the narrative structure here in the last box because the narrative structure can be combined with some of the expository literature structures.

Here’s the challenge for you: take your latest idea and consider which expository text structures might serve it best. Don’t limit yourself to just one. Pick three to five to experiment with and to try on for fit.

Next, spend some time free writing or brainstorming how you might craft your manuscript with each of these structures. Can you utilize more than one text structure at a time? Which one feels like the best fit? I also challenge you to write several different versions of the same manuscript using a different text structure, or combinations of text structures, for each.

As you play with different text structures, the goal is to help you see how to best engineer your manuscript. For more information, and mentor text examples of both expository literature and narrative mentor texts, click here.

 

About the Author

Laura is a writing coach, presenter, former middle school teacher, and the author of THE FORT (Page Street Kids, 2020), as well as dozens of nonfiction STEM books. Her most recent titles include KEYSTONE SPECIES: Meet the Animals Key to Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity for readers ages 9-12, and YOUR SUSTAINABLE WORLD: A Kid's Guide to Everyday Choices That Help the Planet! for readers ages 8-12. She lives in Boulder with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends as much time as possible outdoors, hiking, and watching the wildlife in her yard.