Vivian Yenika-Agbaw is professor of children’s literature and literacy at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. She teaches courses on children’s and adolescent literature.Ruth McKoy Lowery is professor of literacy and associate chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. She teaches courses on children's literature and literacy education.Laura Anne Hudock is a PhD Candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at The Pennsylvania State University, where she instructs pre-service teachers in Children’s Literature, Reading, and Language Arts courses.Paul H. Ricks is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at The Pennsylvania State University, where he currently teaches children’s literature courses.

Exploring Nonfiction Literacies in Classrooms: Innovative Practices is a superb addition to scholarly literature about nonfiction for children. This important resource will help teachers and literary scholars understand the latest in best practice regarding nonfiction literature and greatly expands our understanding of the diverse needs of students.

• List of FiguresList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction- Critical Thinkers and Innovative PracticesVivian Yenika-Agbaw and Ruth McKoy LoweryChapter 1- Exploring the Universe of Facts: Outstanding Nonfiction and BiographiesDeborah ThompsonChapter 2- Picture Book Biographies as Mentor TextsLeslie Colabucci, and Vivian Yenika-AgbawChapter 3- Mirrors and Windows for All: Nonfiction Picture Books as Tools for Understanding DisabilitiesPatricia A. Crawford, and Kaybeth CalabriaChapter 4- Challenging Gifted and Talented Readers with Nonfiction TextsMargot Dickey and Laura Anne HudockChapter 5- Nonfiction Instruction for English Language Learners Xiaodi Zhou and Danling FuChapter 6- Differentiating and Promoting Critical Thinking with Nonfiction Multimodal Text SetsDanielle Hartsfield and Nicole MaxwellChapter 7- Creating an Appealing and Usable Classroom Library of High Quality Diverse Nonfiction TextsCuthbert Roland-StormConclusion- A Few Thoughts on Using Nonfiction Texts in the 21st Century ClassroomPaul H. RicksAbout the EditorsAbout the Contributors