大象传媒

Watch: What is fiction and non-fiction?

Non-fiction books are all about facts. They're full of useful information.

Watch this short video to remind yourself of the difference between fiction and non-fiction books.

Learn about fiction and non-fiction with Professor Wordsmart and Dr Wandtastic!

Back to top

Features of non-fiction texts

An illustration of a young boy smiling.

Non-fiction books usually have special features to help you find the information you need quickly. This can be really useful because it means that you don鈥檛 need to read the whole book to find out what you want to know.

  • The contents page is found at the front of the book and tells you what is in each chapter.

  • The index is usually at the back of the book and tells you about the facts you can find on particular pages. It is in alphabetical order.

  • The glossary is also usually at the back of the book and is an alphabetical list that gives the meanings of important words.

  • Headings and sub-headings can guide you to the particular part of the page you need to read. They are really useful if you are looking at a webpage online.

An illustration of a young boy smiling.
Back to top

Activity 1

The index for a book about whales has been muddled up! Can you put it back into the right alphabetical order?

Back to top

Activity 2

Here is the contents page of a book called Jolly Juggling for Juniors.

Read it and then answer the questions below.

Write out your answers.

1. On which pages can I find out how I should stand before I start trying to juggle?

2. Where can I find out what not to do?

3. Where can I find out what the juggling terms 'scoop throw', 'flight box' and 'flight peak' mean?

4. Where can I find information about the right juggling balls to use?

5. On which pages can I read about the history of juggling?

You can check your answers using this

Jolly Juggling for Juniors contents page
Back to top

Activity 3

Read the information below. It鈥檚 taken from 大象传媒 Bitesize History and is all about the lives of children in the 1930s.

You can see it uses headings, sub-headings and bullet points in each section which make it easy to spot key facts.

An illustration of a young boy thinking with question marks around him.

Write a page like this for 大象传媒 Bitesize History, but imagine you are writing for students in the future to teach them about life as it is today.

Use the same heading (鈥楬ow did children spend their time?鈥) but write three new sub-titles, with bullet points underneath them.

You could write about the kinds of toys and games children play with today and the kinds of things they do with their friends and families. Think about your own experiences.

You can read the rest of the page about children in the 1930s on 大象传媒 Bitesize History.

An illustration of a young boy thinking with question marks around him.
Back to top

Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers. game

Use grammar, punctuation and spelling skills to explore jungles, caves and tombs on your mission!

Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers
Back to top

More on Non fiction

Find out more by working through a topic