Why is it that, when you're teaching genres to children, you go through historical, fantasy, science fiction, adventure... and so on... and then... non-fiction. You go into detail about all the wonderful types of fiction, and then non-fiction gets lumped in together. Perhaps because there are too many genres of non-fiction to count. I can't even name them all. So, with that in mind, I will attempt to write a single blog post about non-fiction. What is the most challenging aspect of middle grade non-fiction? For me, personally, the most challenging part is making the facts fun and engaging for children. It's a different skill writing facts for children rather than adults. Think back to when you were a child. If you picked up a dry wall of text, it might have put you off non-fiction for life. So, what can we do to ensure our non-fiction books grip children's attention? Fun Language Think Horrible Histories. Some of the facts in those books might not interest some kids, bu...
What a weekend it has been! The 1st John o' Groats Book Festival has been in the pipeline for a long time, and it certainly lived up to expectations. It started with a bang on Friday. A cartographer was launching her new set of Northern Scotland maps. Sadly, I was at work during this event but I've heard great things about it from people who were there. The cartographer's name is Val Fry and the publisher is Nicolson. The first event I could attend was on the Friday evening when the authors were introduced, including 8 fabulous local authors who each had a 10 minute slot. It was great to see one of the organisers, Ian Leith , start the evening by showing his books. The next author was Virginia Crow, published by Crowvus, who started her talk by showing the Day's Dying Glory book trailer which had people sitting on the edge of their seats. Virginia Crow, author of Day's Dying Glory It was super to hear so many local authors talk about their books, an...