At my house, we have a 3rd grader who loves to know things.
This is not an uncommon variety of 8-year-old, as the popularity of the Weird But True books by National Geographic Kids will attest. These books, packed with page after page of surprising (but true!) facts and illustrated with bright and busy photographs, exist to feed the curiosity of kids (like mine) who love to know things.
Did you know that hamsters’ teeth never stop growing?
That gorillas burp when they are happy?
That if you traveled at the speed of light, you could reach Pluto in about four hours?
Now you do. And if you find that kind of information endlessly compelling and you want more of it…congratulations, you are in tune with your inner 8-year-old.
But truly, the delightful thing about those types of books is that they understand what kids like. They exist at the nexus of curiosity, instant gratification, and humor that is a sweet spot for certain elementary schoolers.
Sometimes it feels like a random, magpie collection of bits and pieces of knowledge. But even kids who are, at first, very satisfied to just know facts (and tell you all the many facts they know) eventually start asking follow-up questions. And the children’s nonfiction section at the library is a fantastic place to have fun while learning, whether you want to take a deep dive or just wade in the tidepools of the ocean of information.
Used to be, children’s nonfiction was mostly there to help with school assignments. Every library made sure to have a set of books covering each of the 50 states, books on countries of the world, the periodic table, encyclopedias, and books of animal facts. Don’t worry, libraries still have those, though the nature of school research projects has changed over time, but the nonfiction section has diversified into a much livelier collection that cultivates and celebrates children’s impulse for self-motivated learning.
Modern children’s nonfiction is bright, chock-full of pictures, and is written in a way that invites you to turn the page and learn more. Some are books of facts; others tell the stories that put those facts in context. There are beautiful books about science and nature, books that help children understand complex social issues in age-appropriate ways, children’s cookbooks, books about sports and games, fascinating biographies in picture-book form, and every type of atlas you could dream of, helping children travel the world and broaden their perspectives and sense of possibility.
In addition to all those wonders, my information-loving child has discovered nonfiction graphic novels. Last year, he read a book about elephants from a series of Science Comics and got so excited about them he chose the topic for a school report. We ended up borrowing several other books about elephants from the library, and he created an information-rich display to teach other children in his class about elephant social structures, what they eat, where they live, why they are endangered, and how to get involved in elephant conservation. Any book that inspires that level of passion for a topic and desire to teach others about it is a winner, and the rest of the series is just as good.
There are more and more of these books that use creative approaches to teach STEM concepts. A recent standout in my household is The Way of the Hive by Jay Hosler, a graphic novel which follows the life of a honeybee with humor and excellent storytelling inextricably wound together with solid information about bees. My 3rd grader has learned about the structure of the hive, the different roles played by drones, workers, and queen bees, the ways that bees communicate, and much more. He and his dad read it together, then he read it again, and yesterday he brought a copy home from his school library. Guess I can return the JCLS copy so one of you can read it next.
Now here’s the thing: I know that 3rd graders are not the primary audience for the JCLS Connect Blog. Maybe some of you have 3rd graders or other kids in your lives that you can turn loose on the library’s children’s nonfiction shelves, but there is no rule that says these books are just for children. Why not browse those shelves for yourself?
Each of us has deep curiosity within us, along with the capacity to learn joyfully, and there are such great learning springboards in the children’s section! Maybe you’ll dabble in several different topics, or maybe you’ll start asking the sorts of questions that you’ll need to take to the Reference Desk to explore further. Either way, I think you’ll have a good time.
As one of the books my husband brought home for our always-curious eight-year-old says, There Are No Silly Questions.