ReFoReMo Day 2: Author Marcie Flinchum Atkins Digs Up Storytelling Techniques

By Marcie Flinchum Atkins

If you are interested in writing about true topics, there is more than one way to do so. One of those ways is to try informational fiction.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to use Melissa Stewart’s definition of information fiction from this post : “books that share a significant amount of true, documentable information, but also have some made up parts.” This includes books that have an inanimate object or animal narrator or have animals talking.

Here is a sampling of informational fiction books separated into a few categories.

Dialogue and Humorous Tone
These books employ dialogue between characters to tell the story.

The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach

• Dialogue between caterpillars
• Tone is humorous and the characters are very silly
• Readers learn about the life cycle of the butterfly

Are We Pears Yet? by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Carin Berger

• Dialogue between pear seeds (then trees) as they move through their life cycle
• Tone is humorous
• Set against the backdrop of a play, which adds another layer
• Readers learn about the life cycle of a pear tree

First Person POV and Lighter Tone
These books utilize first person POV but are also lighter in tone. In many cases, the characters have big personalities.

Glacier on the Move by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Alice Brereton

• First person POV from a glacier’s perspective
• Factual information is also presented in snippets in the margins from a talking ice worm
• Readers learn about glaciers

Moon: Earth’s Best Friend by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by Stevie Lewis

• First person POV from the perspective of the moon
• Tone is humorous
• Readers learn facts about the moon

I also recommend taking a look at Stacy McAnulty’s other books in the series: Sun: One in a Billion and Earth! My First 5.54 Billion Years.

Sylvia’s Bookshop: The Story of Paris’s Beloved Bookstore and Its Founder by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Katy Wu

• First person POV from the perspective of the bookshop
• Lighter in tone
• Rhyming

My Happy Year by E. Bluebird by Paul Meisel

• First person POV told from the Bluebird’s perspective
• Diary format that follows the Bluebird’s life cycle

I also recommend reading Paul Meisel’s other book written in the same style: My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis.

Pluto Gets the Call by Adam Rex, illustrated by Laurie Keller

• First person POV told from Pluto’s perspective
• A few other planets chime in with dialogue as well
• Humorous tone

More Serious Tone
These books are also told from the first person narrative, but they are not laugh out loud funny. They have a much more serious tone.

Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival by Lindsay Moore

• First person POV told from the polar bear’s perspective
• Lyrical language
• Serious in tone

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Jamey Christoph

• First person plural POV (the “we” POV) from the buildings’ perspectives
• Serious historical fiction about the history of buildings in the LGBTQ+ movement

My Mighty Journey: A Waterfall’s Story by John Coy, illustrated by Gaylord Schanilec

• First person POV from the waterfall’s perspective
• Poetic/lyrical writing

What unique structures have you noticed authors using to convey information to readers?

Marcie is giving away a copy of her picture book, Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature, to one lucky winner! To be eligible for prizes throughout the challenge, you must be registered by March 2, comment on each post, consistently read mentor texts, and enter the Rafflecopter drawing at the conclusion of ReFoReMo.   

Marcie Flinchum Atkins is a teacher-librarian by day and a children’s book writer in the wee hours of the morning. She holds an M.A. and an M.F.A. in Children’s Literature from Hollins University. Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature (Millbrook Press, 2019) is her most recent book. Marcie also serves as the nonfiction event coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI region. She muses about mentor texts and making time to write at www.marcieatkins.com. She’s on Twitter and Instagram as @MarcieFAtkins.