Nonfiction Analysis

Janea Irby
LAE 4244
After reading over 7 science informational books, I decided to do my analysis on Big Yellow
Sunflower by Frances Berry and A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Aston. These books are similar
because they both are about plants and seeds. They are both non-narrative science informational
trade books with an expository structure. There sole purpose is to provide information to readers.
Both books used very colorful pictures that can be appealing to young readers.
Big Yellow Sunflower is a book that can be used for younger readers KG-2nd grade, while A Seed
is Sleepy uses more advanced vocabulary for higher grades such as 3rd-5th grade. The latter
book used more text features to further explain the concept of seeds and to show the variety of
different plants while the first book only had information about sunflower seeds. The style of
both books are very different. The second book is a very traditional turn the page and look on
the next for the rest of the text, while the first book is very unique and each page opens up as
petals of a very big flower. In the center of that flower are directions to plant and care for
sunflower seeds. This is a different text feature that I have not seen in many other informational
books.

Rubric
BYS- Big Yellow Sunflower, ASIS- A Seed Is Sleepy

Is the information accurate? BYS-4

ASIS-5

Written by a qualified author? BYS - 3 ASIS - 3

Information up to date? BYS - 4 ASIS - 5

Information checked by authorities in field or reliable
source? BYS - N/A

ASIS - 5

Is book suitable and relatable for targeted age group?

Is subject adequately covered? BYS- 3

ASIS - 5

Is there a purpose to inform, entertain, or both?

BYS- 5 ASIS - 5
Does the book foster inquiry? BYS - 3 ASIS-5

Is information presented clearly? BYS - 4 ASIS - 4

Does the style invite reader involvement?
BYS- 3 ASIS -5
Is the language vivid and interesting? BYS-3 ASIS-5

Is the information organized in a kid-friendly format?

BYS- 5 ASIS -3
Does the book have clear reference aids that are easy
to use? (e.g., table of contents, index, glossary, etc.)
BYS - 3 ASIS-5

BYS - 5 ASIS 5

Do the illustrations help clarify and extend the text?

BYS- 3 ASIS - 5
Are size relationships realistic? BYS - 0 ASIS - 0
Do illustrations and diagrams have captions as
needed? BYS - 0 ASIS - 5

Does the book present information in a creative way?

Is there a story that includes information in the
illustrations and text? BYS - 0 ASIS - 3
Is the book all facts? BYS - 5 ASIS -5
Is the book appealing to children? BYS - 5 ASIS 5

Total: BYS - 63 ASIS - 88

BYS -5 ASIS - 5

My Wordle
My Wordle represents my plant science topic because I chose words from both my books that I
compared and contrasted for my nonfiction analysis. I chose a variety of words from both text in
my wordle activity. A few words were new to me such as cotyledons, which are seed leaves and
monocots, which are seeds with one leaf, like corn. I also selected simple words such as seeds,
plants, soil, Earth, and many others. I loved the Wordle activity because it allows us to use words
that we connected with in the text and show them in a very artistic way. I would use this in my
future classroom as a literature response and as a way to differentiate product and assessment for
my students.

References:
Aston, D. (2007). A Seed Is Sleepy. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
Frances, B. (2008). Big Yellow Sunflower. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.