The IT factor in Picture Books

By Joyce P. Uglow

It is well known that nonfiction picture books play a big role in supporting students’ development of scientific literacies and cultivates critical reading skills. NF PBs possess the IT Factor! Case in point, “Nonfiction Picturebook Reading in Early and Elementary Education: A PRISMA-P Systematic Review” in ILA’s December 9, 2025 Reading Research Quarterly, points out the importance of NF PBs. Diana Muela-Bermejo and Rosa Tabernero-Sala stated that children who have limited exposure to NF PB tend to exhibit lower reading comprehension skills. Furthermore, it has been said that nonfiction awakens curiosity, fosters a desire to learn, and inspires a sense of wonder. NCTE’s position statement on the role of NF for K-12 students states nonfiction is a “deeply enriching aesthetic experience.”  

The IT Factor in NF PB awakens curiosity and fosters a desire to learn. 

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Vault by Megan Clendenan, illustrated by Brittany Cicchese, published by Charlesbridge on October 14, 2025, received the 2026 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.

I love the engaging organization, rich language, and intrigue in Just in Case! This book is a wonderful example of how an author’s curiosity about a relatively unknown topic prompted further research. Megan Clendenan heard about the seed vault, went on to discover more, and found the right words, the IT Factor, to awaken curiosity on the topic for kids. Books like this inspire kids and foster a desire to learn more on their own. In addition to the gorgeous illustrations, I noticed how the ingenious fact box headings drew my attention to the not-to-be-missed information. Equally brilliant is the use of the engaging title in a refrain. 

The IT Factor in NF PB inspires a sense of wonder. 

There is real magic in Julie Winterbottom and Susan Reagan’s Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World About Water Pollution, published by Rocky Pond Books on March 25, 2025. It earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly! 

Julie’s fabulous first line delivers the IT factor right out of the gate. “When Ruth was five years old, she fell in love with pond scum.” What? Pond scum?! I was hooked immediately, engaged from the first to the last line. In Julie Winterbottom’s words on uGROnews Creative Point of View about Magic in a Drop of Water, she said, “I think it helped that I chose a subject that I felt very passionate about so that I could keep going when the research and writing was challenging.” 

 

The IT factor in NF PBs… not everything makes it into the book.  

As nonfiction writers do, I unearthed a plethora of facts during my research for STUCK! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits, published by Bushel and Peck Books, illustrated by Valerya Milovanova. I decided it best to focus and stick with a predator–prey fray to tell the origin story of La Brea. The handful of those featured extinct species allowed me to include info about the Ice Age ecosystem and lead kids to dig deeper into the topic. I left other tidbits to uncover in book talks, educational resources, and school visits. (BTW… Adults and kids are intrigued and utterly surprised that no dinosaurs got stuck at La Brea.)

 

Here is my 2026 IT Factor challenge for you and me:

• Focus on a first line that hooks the reader.
• Choose surprising research tidbits that spark imagination and inspire readers to ask questions. 
• Plant curiosity.
• Use intriguing text features.
• Follow up with amazing back matter. 
• Let your passion for the topic seep into the narrative.
• Enjoy finding the IT Factor for your next books!

 

 

About the Author: Joyce P. Uglow writes poetry and lyrical picture books about nature, science, and our planet. She is the NSTA / CBC 2026 Outstanding Science Trade Books award-winning author of STUCK! The Story of La Brea Tar Pits (2025 Bushel & Peck Books). Joyce currently serves as the Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Wisconsin and a Mighty Kidlit mentor. She loves family gatherings, gardening, and exploring National Parks, the world’s mountains, rocks and water with her husband, Larry. Visit Joyce’s website to learn more.

 

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

By Steve Swinburne

Some books take years and years to evolve, mature, unfold. And some books are born out of spontaneity. For example, the idea for one of my new books, BIG TRUCK SUPER WASH, came to me by pure serendipity. A few years ago, we visited our daughter and her husband living in New York City. As you do, we went out for coffee and bagels one morning and we happened to pass Brooklyn’s Famous Car Wash. Watching the cars go in and out, a thought popped into my head, “Where do trucks get washed?”

I think all stories are born from curiosity. What if a shark played the ukulele? What do sperm whales eat? How large were T Rex eggs? Where do trucks get washed?

While the idea for BIG TRUCK SUPER WASH came out of the blue, my other new book, GIRAFFE MATH, was another matter.

I’ve been trying to write a book about giraffes for over a decade because I think they are ridiculously cool and one of the most unique creatures on the planet. My Vermont buddy, Peter Lourie, and I first proposed The Giraffe Scientist for the Scientist in the Field series with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2009. Pete would take pictures and I would write. After HMH and others rejected our project, we tried a new hook, Tall Beauty-Desert Giraffes of Africa. This was to be an adult coffee-table-style book about giraffes living in the Namibian desert. After a year or so of submitting we realized it was not to be.

I couldn’t shake my obsession with giraffes so I tried writing a very simple and short nonfiction manuscript about giraffes. It flopped. About the time GIRAFFES CAN'T DANCE, I thought I’d try a funny book about giraffes. No go. Then I played around with a giraffe joke book. My manuscript was a joke! I even tried a young nonfiction book that I thought might work as a board book. My ingenious title for that one was Giraffes Are Tall. 

After over a decade of giraffe book trial and error, I hit the pause button. Shortly thereafter I was invited to Kenya for an author visit. After the school visit, my wife and I went on a 3-day safari. Seeing giraffes in the wild reignited my fascination for this creature.

When I got back home, I sat down with a blank yellow pad and began making a list of things I knew about giraffes. How tall they were. How long was their tongue. Their weight. How long they sleep. I looked at the page and realized it was all numbers. It was math! It wasn’t long before I connected Giraffe with Math and I had my title, GIRAFFE MATH.

Do you have a manuscript that seems to be stuck? Is it possible your younger nonfiction story is really mid-grade nonfiction? Would lyrical poems best suit your tale about baby dinosaurs? What if you told your examination of recycling practices from the first-person point of view? There’s no ironclad way to write your nonfiction manuscript.

Moral of the story: some ways to tell your story take a very, very long time to congeal, to crystallize. Be flexible. Be patient. Never give up. 

About the Author:

Steve Swinburne has worked as a national park ranger and is the author of more than 40 children’s books. His extensive travels to faraway lands such as Africa, Borneo, Bangladesh and Dubai along with treks through Yellowstone and the highlands of Scotland, have influenced his book projects. Steve researched sea turtles in the Caribbean Islands for Sea Turtle Scientist and Run, Sea Turtle, Run, and he went on safari in Kenya for his nominated STEM title, Giraffe Math. Steve visits nearly 70 schools a year across the United States as well as many international schools. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Heather. For more information, see www.steveswinburne.com. 
Steve blogs at https://stephenswinburne.wordpress.com/. 
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