A few months ago my husband asked me why our older daughter only read fiction. I looked at him incredulously, as I know of very few 8 year olds girls that have a love of non-fiction. My husband, however, had 2 brothers and comes from a house where very little fiction was read. To this day, he reads very little fiction, so he just wanted more to connect with her on since she is such a voracious reader. The biggest problem is that finding books that meet her interest level, which is only just budding on non-fiction subjects that attract her, is challenging.
When I found a copy of National Geographic Kids Titanic at the local library, I decided to test the waters. Apparently I picked well because she LOVED it.
The book is printed on bright paper, organized into manageable sections and full of great photos and illustrations to keep younger readers engaged. There are also great information bubbles defining terms and giving “weird but true” facts.
The book does a great job of focusing on the ship itself, why it was so famous, and why people made claims that it was unsinkable. The majority of the book deals with the Titanic itself and when it focuses on the actual disaster, it is handled in a way that makes it simple enough for kids to understand, but not so detailed that it will upset them.
When I asked my daughter what she thought of it, she said that it was “really good.” She liked the way that the series told “facts about interesting subjects,” and then asked, “can we get more of them?” Turns out she both liked the National Geographic format as well as learning about the Titanic as I was sent out to the library a week later to find more.
An awesome way to get a reader into the world of non-fiction!
You can tell her that her great grandmother was born on the day the Titanic sunk.