Here Are the Best Kids Nonfiction Books Writing Tips
Nonfiction writing and children’s literature might be two different worlds to most people because when we think about kids’ books or when we think about fiction and stories.
However, nonfiction is also a reality when it comes to children’s books and we are here to help you understand how nonfiction is actually a very popular genre when it comes to children’s literature.
We will get to know all the types of nonfiction subgenres suitable for kids and we will also understand the best writing tips that will allow you to write the perfect nonfiction book for children.
This is a fascinating topic and will help you expand your understanding of what the children’s literature market is like and how you can tap into that market and become a popular author.
So, let us start this blog by understanding the children’s book market a little bit better because it is not all about fiction.
The Children’s Book Market – Nonfiction Is Just as Popular
The non-fiction children’s book market is a little bit better than we anticipated because the kid’s book market is actually huge and one of the largest chunks of books sold in the world are children’s books with millions of copies sold every year.
We now have to understand the fact that a huge part of children’s book sales includes nonfiction books and that equates to nearly 67 million copies.
While people have the notion that these books are not popular, however, the one surprising fact is that nonfiction children’s book sales are only growing if you look at the numbers.
While the data presented above is not a reflection of the global book market for children, it is of the UK book market which is a good representation of the global book market because of its size.
The data indicates that while book sales were already growing in the year 2019, they did not show signs of a slowdown even after two years of the pandemic and rose to even higher levels in 2022.
The children’s book market and especially the nonfiction segment is showing no signs of stopping and that is why this is the perfect time to write a nonfiction children’s book.
But what is a nonfiction children’s book you might ask. Let’s find out.
What Are Non-Fiction Kids Books?
When we think about nonfiction books for adults, we think about books on topics that are not imagined such as books on real-world events and books on research about different things. It can also be books on important information and much more.
Similarly, when we talk about nonfiction books for kids, these can be anything that does not contain any fiction in it.
This means nonfiction books for children can be anything like arts and crafts books and picture books that will help the child in drawing and it can even be quiz books.
They can even be maths and science books and other types of books like textbooks that will help the child study different concepts.
That is exactly why we are always going to encourage you to write nonfiction books for children because the choices are endless when it comes to nonfiction books for children.
Not every book out there that is fiction because some do not contain any stories are considered non-fiction books and this will provide you the opportunity to explore so many topics when it comes to this genre.
Speaking of which, let us look at some of the types of nonfiction subgenres that are suitable for children.
Types Of Nonfiction Books Suitable for Children
Arts and Crafts books
These types of books are self-explanatory because the most popular type of non-fiction kids’ books are definitely arts and crafts books.
These are the books that you can get in any stationery shop with outlines and guides and these are most commonly known as colouring books.
This is one of the best kinds of books to choose if you already have experience in illustrations and you can create outlines for kids to fill up.
How-to Books
These helpful instruction books are there to guide children with multiple things and it can be about creating a sandwich or it can be about tying a shoelace.
How-to books are simple to create as they are just about basic functions that might be difficult for children to master and these books focus on the motor skills of the children and also help them gain valuable life lessons.
Concept Books
Whether it is maths, the alphabet or even the rainbow and its colours, children need to learn important concepts that they are going to utilise throughout their lives.
These are fundamental concepts of numbers and time as well as shapes and everything else that they might need to learn before they go to school.
That is exactly what concept books do as they help the child learn important basic principles and concepts and even rudimentary maths.
Browsable Nonfiction
This is one of the most unique categories of nonfiction books for children and this category includes things like the encyclopaedia and Guinness Book of World Records.
These books mostly consist of facts that are divided into different categories for the child to learn new things.
Sometimes these books are also about history and can be very interesting for children for them to at least get a sense of the macro aspect of human history.
Expository Literature
Expository literature is all about information-dense content and that is also a kind of children’s book where you might have a lot of information about concepts.
Since this is a children’s book category we are talking about, there may be more pictures and more fun facts in the expository literature books but with a lot of factual information.
Academic books
And finally, we have academic books and this is also self-explanatory because academic books for children are exactly that, they are textbooks that children can study in school or at home.
Academic books are actually rising in demand when it comes to children’s books especially because parents are opting for home schooling rather than a formal school education.
Here Are A Few Important Tips to Write a Non-Fiction Kids Book
Subject
The first thing you need to do when it comes to writing a nonfiction children’s book is to find a subject to write about and you are not going to have a problem with that because there are a lot of subjects when it comes to nonfiction books.
You can choose a subject for an academic book or a concept book or you can even choose a subject such as an arts and crafts book.
Research
After you choose the subject, you need to make sure that you do excellent research on that subject because without proper results it will be difficult to adapt that subject according to the comprehension level of children.
You might also need to do some market research in order to find out if this topic has been explored before because there is no point in writing a book that has already been written.
Angle Of Approach
Every subject has multiple angles of approach and it all depends on how you want to portray that subject.
For example, if you want to write a concept book about mathematics then you can choose a traditional angle of approach with the help of objects and apples or you can utilise stories in order to help the child understand maths.
Angle of approach is important because the subject does not really matter, what matters is how you deal with that subject and how you decide to present and communicate that subject with the child.
Primary Sources
If you are planning on writing a nonfiction book for children or rather any kind of nonfiction book then you must always try using primary sources of information.
This is not an article where you can lend out from secondary sources or primary sources because this is a book and it is your legacy.
That is why you must always try to be the first person to put down new concepts and information rather than copying them from someone else.
Illustrations
You must remember that you are writing a children’s book and a kid’s book does not take a lot of time to become boring without pictures and illustrations.
The reason why we mention illustrations is simply because having realistic pictures is not really fun for children but seeing hard-drawn cartoons and pictures does the job.
If you do not feel confident in creating the illustrations yourself then it is going to be worth your while hiring a professional illustrator to do all the work for you.
Information Organization
Information organisation is important for any kind of book but it is especially important for a children’s book because you are not going to have the luxury of the most focused audience.
That is why you must make sure to create a roadmap of the entire book as well as the objectives and goals of that book before you start the process of writing the content.
If the concepts are clear to you and organized then it is going to be easier to create a book that is organised.
Fascinating Facts
Whenever you plan on writing a children’s book, you must make sure that the book has multiple fascinating facts.
Children love facts and that is why if you are creating a book on maths for example then you can have a little speech bubble beside every math problem with a very interesting fact.
That way your small attention span audience will always be able to maintain their concentration when they are reading your book.
Examples Of the Top Bestselling Non-Fiction Children’s Books of All Time
“The Magic School Bus” series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
If we are talking about nonfiction children’s books then”The Magic School Bus” Series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen is definitely on the list.
This is a series of books that combines adventure and storytelling as well as educational content about different things like the ocean and space, the human body and much more.
This book has everything from amazing illustrations to complex scientific concepts that are going to keep children interested for hours.
“Who Was?” series – Various Authors
If you are looking for a very popular biography series of notable historical and contemporary figures then “Who Was?” Series is an amazing choice and it is a bestseller.
This book is about the achievements of important figures in history and talks about their contributions to science and culture and helps children understand how these figures shaped history.
“Guinness World Records”
This is a book that needs no introduction because we are talking about the Guinness Book of World Records and this is a bestseller when it comes to children’s nonfiction books.
The Guinness Book of World Records talks about world records created by humans along with interesting pictures and illustrations as well as fascinating facts.
“National Geographic Kids” series
The National Geographic Kids books are one of the most popular series of books globally for children that help them understand the world around them.
These books talk about everything from science to history and geography and help children understand animals and are an amazing source of information for young leaders.
“George’s Secret Key to the Universe” by Lucy Hawking
If you want to teach children about the universe then there is no better person other than Stephen Hawking and this book is actually co-authored by him and his daughter.
This is probably the best book out there to help children understand the fundamental concepts of physics and astronomy as well as the universe in a way that is not really complicated for children.
The narrative of this book is excellent and follows a young boy by the name of George who discovers the universe through an open portal.
“Castle” by David Macaulay
And finally, we have “Castle” by David Macaulay. This is one of the most unique non-fiction children’s books out there because it talks about the construction of medieval castles.
This is also one of the best books out there when it comes to illustrations about castles and can be excellent for children interested in history and also help them grasp complex concepts of architecture coil easily.
We hope this blog has helped you understand what are nonfiction children’s books and we also hope that the tips mentioned in this blog will help you pen down the best children’s nonfiction books out there.
And if you have already written down the book and you are planning on publishing it then we are here to help you because we are Orange Publishers.
We are one of the fastest-growing traditional children’s book publishers out there and we would love to publish your children’s non-fiction book. Along with that, we also publish nearly every other kind of genre and we would love to get in touch with you regarding your next bestseller.
