Now that we've learned about Dewey Decimal and Cutter Numbers, it's time to take a closer look at how the nonfiction section is split in the Children's Department. There are two areas where nonfiction titles are shelved in the room. The first, and the largest of the two, is general nonfiction, and the second is biographies.
All shelves used for Children's Nonfiction are clearly labeled by topic on the lower right hand corner!
Pride: the Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
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Biographies are books written about the life and achievements of a real life person. They can be about someone who is still alive or someone who lived a long time ago. If the biography is written by someone who is not the subject of the book then it is called a biography, but if the subject of the book also wrote it than it is called an autobiography.
How to Find Biographies
All biographies in the Children's Department start their call number with "JB" and are followed underneath by a Cutter Number. The Cutter Number is based on the last name of the person the biography is about. If there are multiple books written about the same person, the number will include a letter at the end for the author's last name.
Example: "Abraham Lincoln: our 16th president" By Sarah Hansen
Abraham Lincoln: L736
Sarah Hansen: H
Call Number: L736H
The nonfiction section, as we discussed on previous pages, is organized using the Dewey Decimal System and Cutter numbers. Starting at 000 and going to 999, this section offers children the chance to learn about a wide breadth of topics! Unlike the picturebook and chapter book sections, the shelves in nonfiction contain books for all age levels.
Expository vs. Narrative Nonfiction
When searching for the right nonfiction title with your child, one of the first things you should discuss is how they want the information on whichever topic they choose to be presented to them. If your child wants a book that teaches them about a topic through a story-like structure, you should look for narrative nonfiction titles. If they want something that teaches them about a topic by describing it, then expository nonfiction is the way to go.
Who is/was is a children's biography series with over 250 titles covering the lives of important figures from all periods of history. These biographies are particularly popular with children and schools due to their accessible nature. The Children's Department has a wide selection of these titles that are sure to interest the history lover in your family!
Who Is Jeff Kinney?
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Who Is R. L. Stine?
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Who Was Sojourner Truth?
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Who Was Maya Angelou?
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When looking for a book on history or geography (Dewey Numbers 900-999), you may notice a shelf of books with the call number J920. At first glance, they may not appear any different than the other nonfiction books surrounding them, but these are actually biographies. You may find yourself asking, "Why do we have some biographies cataloged this way when most of them are not?" And the answer to that question has to do with how the biography was written. A biography written solely about Martin Luther King Jr. will have a call number of "K535" because the book only discusses his life and achievements. On the other hand, a biography written about various important figures from the American Civil Rights Movement would fall under that category of J920, because it discusses the life of more than one person.
100 Immigrants Who Shaped American History
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Rebel Girls Climate Warriors: 25 Tales of Women Who Protect the Earth
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