Non-fiction is all around us. Non-fiction is in the news, in biographies, in interviews, and even in textbooks.

The purpose of non-fiction is to provide us with information. Non-fiction sources are excellent resources for researching and discovering even more information about a given topic. 

One reason reading non-fiction may be so important is that it helps us develop our background knowledge. Background knowledge becomes more crucial in the later primary grades, as we begin to read more content-specific textbooks that often include headings, graphs, charts, and other text elements found across different academic subjects. Additionally, non-fiction empowers young people in the face of current and emerging challenges locally and globally, such as cultural, social, and economic injustice, censorship and disinformation, and the climate crisis. In the urgency of this moment, non-fiction for young people has never been more vibrant or vital. 

Furthermore, as they grow into life-long learners, on average, 80% of the reading adults do outside of school is non-fiction. Surprising, isn’t it!