All skills English

Learn Index · Reading Comprehension Grade K

Simple stories and informational texts

Listening to or reading short stories and fact texts and telling who or what they are about.

Read

Two kinds of books

When you go to a library, you will find many kinds of books. Two important kinds are stories and informational texts.

A story tells about characters and what happens to them. Stories are usually made up. Made-up writing is called fiction. In a story, a bear might talk, a car might fly, or a girl might find a secret door.

An informational text teaches true facts about the real world. True writing is called nonfiction. An informational book might teach you how frogs grow, what is in space, or why it rains.

Why it helps to know the difference

When you know what kind of book you have, you know how to read it.

  • With a story, you read from beginning to end to find out what happens.
  • With an informational text, you look for facts. You can jump to the page you need, like the page about frogs’ eggs.

Knowing the kind of book also helps you understand it. You will not think frogs really wear hats, even if a frog wears a hat in a story!

Parts of a book

Every book has some parts that help readers:

  • The front cover has the title and often a picture.
  • The title is the name of the book.
  • The author is the person who wrote the words.
  • The illustrator is the person who drew the pictures.
  • The back cover sometimes tells a little about the book.
  • The pages hold the words and pictures. We read them in order, from left to right and from top to bottom.

What stories have

Most stories have:

  • Characters: the people or animals in the story.
  • A setting: where and when the story happens.
  • Events: what happens first, next and last.
  • A problem: something goes wrong or someone wants something.
  • A solution: how the problem gets fixed.

Example: Little Hen finds some wheat. She asks her friends to help plant it, but nobody helps. She does all the work herself. In the end, she eats the bread. The characters are Little Hen and her friends. The problem is that nobody will help. The solution is that she does the work alone.

What informational texts have

Informational texts often have special parts to help you find facts:

  • Real photographs instead of drawings.
  • Headings that tell what each page is about, like What Frogs Eat.
  • Labels that name the parts of a picture.
  • Captions, which are short sentences under a picture.
  • A table of contents at the front that lists what is inside.
  • A glossary at the back that explains special words.

How to tell which kind you have

Ask yourself these questions:

  1. Look at the cover. Is it a drawing of a dressed-up animal? It is probably a story. Is it a real photo? It might be informational.
  2. Read the title. The Bear Who Lost His Hat sounds like a story. All About Bears sounds informational.
  3. Look inside. Are there characters talking? Is there a problem? Then it is a story. Are there headings, labels and facts? Then it is informational.
  4. Ask: could this really happen? If not, it is fiction.

Let’s try some examples

Example 1: Pip the penguin wanted to fly. He flapped his wings every day. One day, he jumped on a kite and soared over the ice!
This is a story. There is a character (Pip), a problem (he wants to fly) and a solution.

Example 2: Penguins are birds that cannot fly. They use their wings like flippers to swim. Most penguins live in the cold south.
This is an informational text. It teaches true facts.

Example 3: Which title is probably informational? The Silly Snail or How Snails Move?
How Snails Move sounds like it will teach facts.

Common mistakes

  • Thinking all animal books are informational. Many stories have animal characters. Ask if the animals act like real animals.
  • Thinking all stories are not true. Some stories are based on real life. But most picture-book stories are made up.
  • Skipping the pictures. In both kinds of books, pictures help you understand.

Reading tips

For stories:
– Look at the cover and guess what will happen.
– Stop in the middle and ask: “What will happen next?”
– At the end, tell the story in your own words.

For informational texts:
– Before reading, ask: “What do I want to learn?”
– Look at the photos, labels and captions.
– After reading, tell someone one new fact you learned.

Try it yourself

  1. Is a book about a dragon who bakes cookies a story or informational text?
  2. Is a book with photos of real sharks and their teeth a story or informational text?
  3. Who draws the pictures in a book?
  4. Name two parts of a story.

Answers: 1. Story. 2. Informational text. 3. The illustrator. 4. Some answers: characters, setting, problem, solution.

Grown-up tip

Read both kinds of books with your child. After a story, ask, “Who was in the story? What happened?” After an informational book, ask, “What did you learn?” Library trips are a great time to choose one story and one informational book together.

Quick recap

  • Stories (fiction) are usually made up and have characters, a setting and a problem.
  • Informational texts (nonfiction) teach true facts.
  • Look at the cover, title and pictures for clues.
  • The author writes the words; the illustrator draws the pictures.
  • Read stories from beginning to end; use headings to find facts in informational books.