Motivating the lifelong reading habit through a balanced use of children's information books

As literacy educators, we have a tendency to use mostly fiction books as our chief source of materials for motivating the reading habits of our students. When we examine children's reading interests and the books they choose for their independent reading, we discover that many children enjoy, and even prefer, to read information books. Coupled with students' strong interests in information books is the growing selection of quality children's information books available in today's school's libraries. This article explores the rationale for balancing the use of information books in literacy programs with a focus on how we can use information books to encourage and motivate girls and boys to do more independent reading. Ideas for practical applications of this rationale for both classroom teachers and school librarians are provided in the hope that all elementary literacy teachers will start using more information books to motivate their young readers.