National Non-Fiction November 2019

Post by Chris Routh

National Non-Fiction November is one of four national initiatives organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups. This year’s theme is Transport and Travel Around the World. Having a theme provides a focus and a hook to hang related events & activities from, but every year the main aim is to celebrate the pleasure of reading for information generally while highlighting some of the best books available at the time. FCBG always provides a range of ideas and resources to get you started, but it’s entirely up to you how you celebrate NNFN.

Getting Started Our new NNFN Coordinator Marc Thomas has put together an inspiring list of ideas to help your planning: https://fcbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/NNFN-Ideas-for-Transport-and-Travel-Events.pdf These range from a paper aeroplane race to getting up close to a fire engine. A particular favourite of mine is the idea for a mini-go kart race which is ideal for all ages. We hope that you will share photos of your own activities and events during the month.

Book List Marc has also compiled a start-up list of 30 recent titles from no less than 15 different publishers: https://fcbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/NNFN-Book-List-2019.pdf Look out for more recommendations during NNFN when there will be a programme of dedicated blogs on our website and daily tweets @FCBGNews and @MarcNNFN. Whether you are a parent, teacher or librarian, please join in by telling us about a favourite information book – particularly if it’s about transport or travel – and look out for a special giveaway bundle of books about space.

Competition  For the third year running we’re organising a competition, this time in partnership with Lonely Planet who are providing the fabulous prizes. The challenge is to design a vehicle for the future and we are looking forward to seeing the young designers’ solutions for issues relating to the environment and sustainability. See here for more information, including the terms and conditions: https://fcbg.org.uk/national-non-fiction-november-competition-2019/

We would like to thank Lonely Planet for supporting the competition and providing the design for this year’s banner based on the artwork of James Gulliver Hancock, illustrator of How Airports Work and How Trains Work.