The Primary English Encyclopedia: The Heart of the Curriculum, Third Edition
Fiction as a source of information
See also Art and English, History and English, information story, Science and English
We learn much about life at different times and in different environments and about the human condition from fiction. In Primary English, fiction and informational texts can sometimes work together to help children learn.
After enjoying Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, children sometimes turn to information books about the creatures of the riverbank. I have known cases where older primary children have taken their explorations further – into books about the changes in the natural environment and how we can prevent more damage being done to our riverbanks. The celebration in The Wind in the Willows of the natural world is a powerful background to looking at environmental issues because it gives us a sense of the richness we have lost or might lose.
Experienced teachers often find fiction a powerful beginning for other kinds of learning. Just a few other examples known to me of children’s interest being sparked by stories include: eight year olds wanting to find out about spiders after reading E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, nine year olds investigating pigs and animal welfare after a shared reading of Dick King-Smith’s The Sheep-pig and ten year olds researching the facts on evacuees during the Second World War after enjoying Nina Bawden’s Carrie’s War.
Things can happen the other way round. Richard Adam’s Watership Down, a fantasy which gives us a sense of the spirit of the countryside, could be a starting point for or complement informational research. But in an interesting case study by Donald Fry, in Chapter 2 of Children Talk About Books, this novel is a way into enjoying fiction for a seven year old who has a preference for factual texts. Seven-year-old Clayton identifies with the interests of his father who works on a farm and reads Farmer’s Weekly. Father and son enjoy informational reading about animals, agriculture and wild flowers. The teacher praised this at parents’ evening but suggested father and son might also read some fiction together to broaden the range of Clayton’s reading. In this case a story read by father to son extended an interest in agriculture and wild life.
Illustration can sometimes link fact and fiction; picture book illustrators in particular often take great care over detail and accuracy. Judith Graham (1996) explores the potential of Alexander and Lemoine’s story, Leila, about a child searching for her lost brother in the desert, a starting point for research into desert life. Clothes, plant and lifestyle are all portrayed powerfully.
So, there can be some rich interplay between texts of different kinds. But we need a light touch here – mostly stories are worthwhile for their own sake and impart their lessons with gentleness and subtlety.
Fry, Donald (1985) Children Talk about Books: Seeing themselves as readers Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Graham, Judith (1996) ‘Using illustration as the bridge between fact and fiction’ English in Education 30 (1).
Mallett, M. (2003) Early Years Non-fiction. London: Routledge. (chapter 11).
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