Nonfiction Features Gr 4-5

By Mrs. Paula McMullen
Library Teacher
Norwood Public Schools

Nonfiction books have external and internal features
that organize, highlight, show and explain information
for the reader.
Good readers understand and use these features to
help them to better understand the subjects in
nonfiction books.
The following slides will show examples of external and
internal features. Please note that internal features
include: text organizers, graphics, illustrations, print
features and other special features.
Mrs. Paula McMullen, Library Teacher,
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Readers examine the following external features
before reading nonfiction books:

•Book Covers
•Book Flaps
•Spine Labels (on library books)

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This is the front cover
of a book.
Good readers read
the title and examine
the illustration. Then,
they make predictions
about what the book
will be about.

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The front book flap
presents information
about the subject of
the book.
Readers can often
decide if they want
to read the book
based on the
contents of the front
book flap.

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The rear book flap
contains information
about the author.

The rear book flap also
contains information
about the illustrator.

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This back cover
provides information
on the book’s subject.
It provides examples of
other books in the
series.
It also provides
information about the
two reading levels in
this series.

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This is the back cover of the
book called Baby Apes.
The back cover of this book
tells the reader that this is
one book in a series called
Baby Animals. This back
cover lists all the other books
in the series so readers can
look for them in the library.

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The spine label is located at
the bottom of a library book’s
spine.
The call number is on the
spine label. If the call number
has a number and the first
three letters of an author’s last
name, it is a nonfiction book
that can be used as an
information resource.

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Library books on the
same subject have the
same call number and
are located next to
each other on the
shelf.

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Readers examine these text organizers before
reading the book:

•Title Page
•Contents Page
•Introduction
•Glossary
•Index

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• The title page presents
the title, the author,
the illustrator and the
publishing company.

• Libraries will often
stamp the name of
their library on this
page.

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The Contents Page lists all
the chapters as they
appear in the book. It
also lists the Glossary and
Index, located at the back
of the book.
The Contents Page tells
the reader what topics
will be covered in each
chapter of the book.

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This Contents Page
explains that bolded
words are found in
the Glossary.

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Although it does not
use the words
“Contents Page,” this
page lists the chapters
in a book.
The chapters, Glossary,
and Index are always
in chronological order
– as they appear in the
book.

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The Introduction is
located at the front of
the book, after the
Contents Page.
The Introduction tells
what topics the book
will cover. It can also
tell us why the author
wrote the book, and
how the book should
be used.
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The Glossary is located
near the back of the book.
The Glossary provides
definitions for important or
difficult words in the book.
It lists these words in
alphabetical order.
Each entry word is bolded
to make it easier to find.

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The Index is located at the
end of the book.
The Index is an alphabetical
listing of every topic the
book covers.
The Index also shows the
page number(s) where
readers can find
information on the topics.

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Readers understand information better with
illustrations that show what things look like.
Illustrations include:
•Drawings – made by the illustrator
•Collages – put together by illustrator
•Photographs – taken by a camera

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This illustration is a
drawing. There is a small
label telling the reader
that the animal on the left
is an American Toad.
When readers look
carefully at this
photograph, they can infer
that the snake is a threat
to the toad. There is no
caption explaining the
picture to the reader.

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This illustration is
a drawing that
shows snakes
shedding their
skin.
The caption
explains to the
reader that the
snake’s skin is
very thin.
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This is a double-page
drawing. It covers
facing pages in a book.
The drawing shows
animals found in the
open sea. It also
shows the number of
these ocean creatures
on the page.

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In this cutaway
drawing, the
illustrator has cut
away part of the
ground and tree
roots to show the
creatures who live
below and behind.

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This illustration of a
monkey is a collage
made of thin strips of
wood.
The heading is in larger
color print. Below the
heading, you can see
the geographical
location and remaining
number of this
endangered animal.

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This illustration is a
photograph of a
toucan bird.
The photograph has a
label with an arrow
pointing to the bird’s
large bill.

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Some illustrations
compare an
unfamiliar object,
like a baby bat, to
something we know,
like a person’s hand.

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A close-up focuses
on a detail, or small
part, of something.
This photograph is a
close-up of the clear
skin that covers a
boa’s eye.

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These photographs
show the stages in the
panda’s life cycle.
The arrows show us
the direction our eyes
should travel as we
read the captions that
describe each
photograph.

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These photographs
show the stages of
development in an
orangutan’s life.
Readers match the
circled number to
the numbered
caption when
examining this
illustration.
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Graphics help the reader to see, compare
and understand facts. Graphics include:
•Tables
•Charts
•Diagrams
•Maps

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This is a Table
called Length of
Life of Animals.
Tables allow the
reader to see
and compare
information.

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This Table is called Interesting Facts About
Reptiles. The first part of each fact is bolded so
readers can easily pick out each fact.
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This chart is a bar
graph. It shows
endangered animals as
of 2004.
The purple bar shows
the US figures; the gold
bar shows the foreign
figures.
The key shows what
the bar colors stand for.

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This chart
shows in feet
how high
different
types of birds
can fly.

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This pie chart
visually shows the
greatest threats to
US endangered
species in
percentages.
According to this
chart, hunting is
the greatest threat
to US endangered
species.
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A diagram is a
labeled drawing or
photograph. A
diagram provides
labels of the parts of
a whole object.
As the heading
indicates, this
diagram shows the
parts of a ladybug.
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This page
shows a
diagram of the
parts of a
panda’s body
below the
Glossary.

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This is a map. Maps
help the reader
understand where
things are in the world.
The large bolded word
“Africa” tells the reader
it is a map of that
continent.
The red box labeled
“Chimpanzee Habitat”
shows where
chimpanzees live.

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Using the title and the
map key, the reader can
tell that the top map
shows the farm products
of U.S. regions.
Using the title and map
key, the reader can tell
that the bottom map
shows the importance of
agriculture to state
economies.

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Readers understand that print features focus your
attention on specific parts of a nonfiction book. Print
Features include:
•Titles
•Headings
•Boldface Print
•Italics
•Captions
•Labels
•Bullets
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The chapter title is
bolded and in larger
print to call attention
to it.
The title tells the
reader what the topic
will be in that
Chapter Title
chapter. The reader
knows what to expect
when reading that
chapter.
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The heading
“Bright Eyes” is
bolded and in a
larger print.
There are
several other
headings on this
page: “Touch,”
“Smell,” and
“Taste.”
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A caption
describes or
explains the
illustration.
Captions can be
inside, beside,
above or below
the illustration.

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Bullets are placed
before items in a
list. They call the
reader’s attention
to each item.
The heading of
this fact box is
bolded and placed
in an orange color
bar to call
attention to it.
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The captions
for each of
these small
illustrations
on this page
are in italics
to distinguish
them from
the other text.
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The heading
“Bone Facts” is
typed in a RED
band of color to
get the reader’s
attention.

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This diagram
has labels
for the parts
of the
rattlesnake’s
mouth.

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This is a labeled
diagram showing
the parts of an
ant’s body.
This diagram has a
caption in italics
below it. The text
has bolded words
that would be
found in the
glossary.
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• Bolded letters call attention to the text.
They tell the reader “Look at me! I am
important.”
• Italics also call attention to the text.
They tell the reader “Look at me! I am
different.”

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Nonfiction books provide other important
features that help the reader. These
other features include:
•Fact Boxes or Lists
•Bibliographies
•Website Lists
•Copyright Date

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Nonfiction books
often provide
extra facts in fact
boxes throughout
the chapters.
This list has
bullets in front of
each item.

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Nonfiction books
often provide lists
of additional facts
at the end of a
chapter or at the
end of the book.
Sometimes they
are in a box.

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This page contains
two resource lists.
The first is a
bibliography of
suggested books.
The second is a list
of suggested web
sites to visit.
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This page contains:
the Index, a
bibliography of
books, and a list of
web sites.
It also provides
information about
the authors.

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This page
provides a
list of
organizations
to contact, a
bibliography of
books and a
list of
websites.

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The copyright date
tells the reader when
the book was
published.
Copyright information
is found on the back
of the title page, or in
the back of the book.

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• Nonfiction features help the reader to
understand nonfiction books or magazine,
newspaper and encyclopedia articles.
• It is important that readers understand these
features so they can use them purposefully in
their reading every day.

11/6/2009 57

• Armentrout, David and Patricia. Chimpanzees. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Publishing, 2008.
• Bredeson, Carmen. Boa Constrictor’s Up Close. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2006.
• Bredeson. Carmen. Giant Pandas Up Close. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2006.
• Donald, Rhonda Lucas. Endangered Animals. NY: Scholastic Inc., 2001
• Earle, Ann. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. NY: Harper Collins, 1995.
• Gans, Roma. How Do Birds Find Their Way? NY: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996.
• Jenkins, Steve. Almost Gone: The World’s Rarest Animals. NY: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2006.
• Kalman, Bobbie. Baby Apes. St. Catherines, Ontario: Crabtree Publishing Co., 2008.
• Kendell, Patricia. Chimpanzees. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughan Publishers, 2002.
• Lauber, Patricia. Snakes Are Hunters. NY:Harper Collins Publishers, 1988.
• Mattson, Mark. Scholastic Environmental Atlas of the United States. NY: Scholastic Inc, 1993.
• O’Toole, Christopher. Discovering Ants. NY: The Bookwright Press, 1986.
• Otto, Carolyn. What Color is Camouflage? NY: HarperCollins, 1996.
• Parker, Steve. Eyewitness Books: Mammal. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1989
• Pyers, Greg. Ladybugs Up Close. Chicago: Raintree, 2005.
• Rylant, Cynthia. The Journey: Stories of Migration. NY: Blue Sky Press Scholastic, 2006.
• Walker, Sara. Big Cats. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2002.

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• Kendall, Juli. Reading Workshop Journal. October 22, 2009.
http://www.middleweb.com/ReadWrkshp/JK33.html
• Stein, Barb et al. Reading Nonfiction Part 1. October 22, 2009.
http://www.iowa-city.k12.ia.us/library/Curriculum/Lit/Lessons/ReadingNonfiction1.htm
• Stein, Barb et al. Reading Nonfiction Part 2. October 22, 2009.
http://www.iowa-city.k12.ia.us/library/Curriculum/Lit/Lessons/ReadingNonfiction2.htm

• Huey, Raymond B., and W. Herbert Wilson, Jr. "Animal." World Book Student. World
Book, 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

• Means, D. Bruce. "Reptile." World Book Student. World Book, 2009. Web. 2 Nov.
2009.

11/6/2009 59

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