WHY BACKMATTER MATTERS

by Laurie Wallmark

One of the best parts about writing nonfiction is having an excuse to do research. Invariably, though, most of that research can’t fit into the main text of the book, either because of space or content. Luckily, a solution exists. You can still include some of the information you gathered doing research for your book. Where? In backmatter! 

There are so many different types of backmatter—sources used to timelines, glossaries to more information about a person or topic, child-directed information to author or illustrator notes, and so much more.

Showing your readers the sources you used can help them delve even more deeply into your book’s subject. A bibliography will give them resources they can use for further research (Bad News for Outlaws by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illus. by R. Gregory Christie). In addition, citations (The Stuff Between Stars by Sandra Nickel, illus. by Aimée Sicuro) and photo credits (A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano, illus. by Michael Carroll) will help them find more information about a specific quotation or picture.

Sources can range from websites (Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call by
Claudia Friddell, illus. by Elizabeth Baddeley) to videos (Pigskins to Paintbrushes by Don Tate),filmography (Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life by Laurie Wallmark, illus. by Katy Wu), and discography (Joni by Selina Alko). You can even include real world places (Manhattan by Jennifer Thermes) readers can visit that are related to your book.

Timelines in backmatter are common, especially in biographies. To put an individual’s life events in context, it’s useful to intersperse world events in the timeline (Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark, illus. by Katy Wu). For books that occur during a specific time period, a historical timeline (Gloria Takes a Stand by Jessica M. Rinker, illus. by Daria Peoples-Riley) can help readers orient themselves to the proper setting.

Glossaries can be extremely helpful for your readers. These might include unfamiliar specialty words such as scientific or historical terms (The Nest That Wren Built by Randi Sonenshine, illus. by Anne Hunter). If your text contains non-English words, you might want to include a pronunciation guide (Magic Ramen by Andrea Wang, illus. by Kana Urbanowicz) and translations (The Floating Field by Scott Riley, illus. by Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien) for these.

If you’re writing a biography, backmatter is a great place to include more information about a person’s life. This might be a narrative overview that covers life events not portrayed in the main text (Digging For Words by Angela Burke Kunkel, illus. by Paola Escobar). Since listing a person’s honors and achievements within the text can be boring, you can expand on these in the backmatter (Beyoncé by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl, illus. by Tammy Taylor).

You can also include more information (from all that great research you did) about your book’s topic. The possibilities are almost endless here. You can write more about cultures (Classified by Traci Sorrell, illus. by Natasha Donovan) described or holidays (A Queen to the Rescue by Nancy Churnin, illus. by Yevgenia Nayberg) related to those cultures. Depending upon the book’s topic, it may be appropriate to include backmatter about games (The Queen of Chess by Laurie Wallmark, illus. by Stevie Lewis), song lyrics (For Spacious Skies by Nancy Churnin, illus. by Olga Baumert), or even recipes (Gingerbread for Liberty by Mara Rockliff, illus. by Vincent X. Kirsch). Diagrams (How to Build an Insect by Roberta Gibson, illus. by Anne Lambelet) may be useful in helping your readers understand the text better.

Often pieces of backmatter are aimed directly at the child reader. Related activities (Code Breaker, Spy Hunter by Laurie Wallmark, illus. by Brooke Smart) or tips on writing craft (No Voice Too Small by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley) provide an interactive component to the book. Backmatter may consist of ideas for creating change (Run Sea Turtle, Run by Stephen R. Swinburne, photographs by Guillaume Feuillet). A list of books for additional reading (Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark, illus. by Katy Wu) is great for children who want to learn more about a person or topic.

Finally, author and/or illustrator notes commonly appear in the back matter. These might include personal narratives about a person’s reason for writing (Journey to The Stars by Laurie Wallmark and Raakhee Mirchandani, illus. by Maitreyi Ghosh) or illustrating (Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Floyd Cooper) the book. These notes are also a great way to explain the research methods you used (An Inconvenient Alphabet by Beth Anderson, illus. by Elizabeth Baddeley).

Backmatter will provide added value to your nonfiction book.

About the Author:

Award-winning author Laurie Wallmark writes picture book biographies of women in STEM as well as fiction. Her books have earned six starred trade reviews, been chosen as Junior Library Guild Selections, and received awards such as Outstanding Science Trade Book, Crystal Kite, Best STEM, and Parents’ Choice Gold Medal. Laurie’s books have been translated into seven foreign languages. Her titles include GRACE HOPPER: QUEEN OF COMPUTER CODE; RIVKA’S PRESENTS; and THE QUEEN OF CHESS. Laurie has an MFA in Writing from VCFA and is a former software engineer and computer science professor. Find Laurie online at www.lauriewallmark.com and @lauriewallmark.