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Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure...

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Recommended Books by Text Structure When it comes to text structure, there are limitless possibilities. Currently, most educators are focusing on six main text structures. I’ve provided examples of each below. Description Text Structure An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
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Page 1: Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure ... chronological, ... the term “list book” to describe picture books in which

Recommended Books by Text Structure When it comes to text structure, there are limitless possibilities. Currently, most educators are focusing on

six main text structures. I’ve provided examples of each below.

Description Text Structure

An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston

The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

Page 2: Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure ... chronological, ... the term “list book” to describe picture books in which

Creep and Flutter by Jim Arnosky

Dolphins! by Melissa Stewart

An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston Hutts

Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Frogs by Seymour Simon

Lightship by Brian Floca

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies

Right now narrative nonfiction is king in the kidlit world. It wins most of the awards, so editors are eager to

publish more. Who can blame them? They work for companies with owners or stockholders who want to

make money, and for the most part, award-winning books sell more copies.

So we have lots and lots and lots of narrative nonfiction, especially picture book biographies. Nearly all

narrative nonfiction has a sequence text structure. Some expository nonfiction titles also have sequence text

structure. In fact, narrative nonfiction is so plentiful and diverse that I divide it into five subcategories—

chronological, episodic, braided (several storylines woven together), cycle, and journey. And all of these

books present information as a sequence of events.

Sequence Text Structure with Narrative Writing Style

Chronological narrative

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans by Don Brown

Grace Hopper: Queen of Code by Laurie Wallmark

Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Episodic narrative

Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

Page 3: Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure ... chronological, ... the term “list book” to describe picture books in which

Brave Girl by Michelle Markel

Coyote Moon by Maria Gainferrari

When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan

Braided narrative

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin

The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson

Cycle narrative

A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison

Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley

The Long, Long Journey by Sandra Markle

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre

Journey narrative

If Stones Could Speak by Marc Aronson

Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by Sy Montgomery

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy Montgomery

Sequence Text Structure with Expository Writing Style Chronological expository

Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee

Poop Happened!: A History of the World from the Bottom Up by Sarah Albee

Why'd They Wear That?: Fashion as the Mirror of History by Sarah Albee

Cumulative expository

Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest by Madeleine Dunphy

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox

How-to expository

Dessert Designers: Creations You Can Make and Eat by Dana Meachen Rau

How to Swallow a Pig by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes by Doug Stillinger

Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes by Josie Fison and Felicity Dahl

Try This! 50 Fun Experiments for the Mad Scientist in You by Karen Romano Young

Page 4: Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure ... chronological, ... the term “list book” to describe picture books in which

There are two main kinds of compare and contrast books being published for children today. Publishers use

the term “list book” to describe picture books in which the main idea is presented on the first spread and each

subsequent spread offers an example. As kids work their way through these books, they are comparing the

various examples.

Other compare and contrast titles have what I call “dueling spreads.” The right-hand and left-hand pages

offer ideas that are different but related in some key way, and readers are expected to compare the

information.

Compare & Contrast Text Structure, List Books Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge

Daylight Starlight Wildlife by Wendell Minor

Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart

Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown

The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea by Brenda Z. Guiberson

Move by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Pink Is for Blobfish by Jess Keating

Compare & Contrast Text Structure, Dueling Spreads

Frog or Toad? How Do You Know? by Melissa Stewart

Neo Leo by Gene Barretta

Those Rebels, Tom & John by Barbara Kerley

Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy

Page 5: Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure ... chronological, ... the term “list book” to describe picture books in which

I can see why it’s worthwhile for students to practice writing texts that exemplify cause and effect, but

examples are few and far between in children’s literature. My six A Place for . . . books fall into this category

because as I was writing them, I heard teachers discussing how hard it was to teach this skill and I crafted my

structure with them in mind. I can only think of a few other books that clearly fit into this category.

Sample Books Earth: Feeling the Heat by Brenda Z. Guiberson

Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman

If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams

A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart

When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart

Page 6: Recommended Books by Text Structure - Melissa Stewart€¦ · Recommended Books by Text Structure ... chronological, ... the term “list book” to describe picture books in which

A growing number of nonfiction titles are also employing a problem-solution text structure. It’s interesting to

note that the books in my A Place for series have both a cause and effect structure and a problem-solution

structure.

Sample Books

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs by Kathleen Kudlinksi

The Great Monkey Rescue by Sandra Markle

A Place for Bats by Melissa Stewart

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Mesmerized by Mara Rockliff

Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs by Michaela Muntean

Several publishers offer large series of survey books that feature a Q & A structure. There are also a handful

of concept books in which the questions and answers are seamlessly integrated into the text and authentically

enhance the presentation.

Sample Books Can an Aardvark Bark? by Melissa Stewart

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine

Creature Features by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Sterling’s Good Question! series

Scholastic’s Question-and-Answer series

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Copyright © 2017, Melissa Stewart’s Science Clubhouse. May be copied for educational use but may not be reprinted or resold for commercial purposes. www.melissa-stewart.com


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