The Emotional Appeal of Children's Literature
The Need to Satisfy Curiosity
Children are innately curious about other people and about the world around them. They learn a good deal through TV. We want them to see how they can satisfy their thirst for information through books, as well. Studies of children's reading show an increased interest in informational books, perhaps because publishers are producing more good books of this genre each year. Recent titles include:
| *A Day at Greenhill Farm (Nicholson) | Pre-K-1 |
| *Bats (Gibbons) | Grades K-2 |
| *The Gorilla Walk (Lewin and Lewin) | Grades 1-4 |
| * If You Hopped Like a Frog (Schwartz) | Grades 1-3 |
| In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Survivor (Opdyke) | Grades 5-8 |
| The Mystery of Mars (Ride and O'Shaughnessy) | Grades 5-8 |
| *Outside and Inside Kangaroos (Markle) | Grades 1-4 |
| *Puffins (Quinlan) | Grades K-3 |
| Rosa Parks (Summer) | Grades 4-7 |
| Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina (Tallchief) | Grades 4-7 |
| Through My Eyes (Bridges) | Grades 4-6 |
In order to foster curiosity and exploration in your classroom, you may want to organize a Curiosity Corner around a collection of non-fiction books.
Near this book collection, hang either a small bulletin board or a sheet of posterboard with Question and Answer sections. Then have students post intriguing challenge questions, based on Curiosity Corner books they have read. Others can post answers to the queries on the board's corresponding Answer section.
Sample question: "What is a goose bump, anyway?"
Sample answer: "It's the same as chicken skin!"
*Picture books or easy readers.
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