Nonfiction Text Features

A Nonfiction Text is any text that contains

true or factual information…

Nonfiction Text Features are the features

that help a reader to navigate a Nonfiction
Text more easily.

Examples of Nonfiction Text Features

include…Table of Contents, Headings, Bold
Words, Captions, Photographs, Graphs,
Charts, Illustrations, Glossary, and Index.
Verso Page
A verso page is found in the beginning of
the book. It contains the author’s name, the
publisher, the city of publication, the
copyright date, and the ISBN. The ISBN
stands for the International Standard Book
Number…it is a 10 digit number (but can also
have 13 digits) that is different for every book
published. The verso page also tells you
the genre. Nonfiction children’s books have
the words “Juvenile Literature on the verso
page.
Title Page
The title page has the title, the
author’s name (and illustrator if there
is one), and the publisher.
 Dedication Page

The dedication page is found in the

beginning of the book. It tells whom
the book is dedicated to and will often
contain an added message. Often
both the author and the illustrator
will dedicate a book to someone
special.
Table of Contents
The Table of Contents is found in the
beginning of a book. It is sometimes
labeled just “Contents”. It contains
chapter titles or headings and lets the
reader know what page they are on.
This allows the reader to know what is
in the book and also be able to find
information quickly.
Timeline
A timeline tells the order of events
that something took place. The can be
about a person’s life or events in
history.
Photograph
A photograph is a picture taken with a
camera to show the reader exactly what
something looks like.

Photograph
Illustration
An illustration is a picture drawn or
painted to show how something or
someone looks.

Illustration
Caption
A caption is located near a photo,
illustration, or any kind of visual that
helps to explain to the reader the
visual. It is usually a sentence or two.

Caption
Labels
Labels are similar to captions in that
they are located near photos or
illustrations. However, labels are one
or two words instead of one or two
sentences.
Label
Diagram
A diagram is a drawing or picture that
has labels showing the important parts.

Diagram
Headings
A heading is a title found at the top of
a page or section of text. It is often
written in larger, bold print, and lets the
reader know what that section will be
about. It is important to ALWAYS read
the headings on a page!!
Subheadings
Subheadings are titles underneath
headings. It breaks the information
down even further. It allows the reader
to skim and scan to find the information
that they might need. It is important to
ALWAYS read the subheadings on a
page!!
Heading

Subheading
Chart
A chart is a visual that is used to
compare and contrast information.
 1 Delaware December 7, 1787
2 Pennsylvania December 12, 1787
3 New Jersey December 18, 1787
List of Dates When
4 Georgia January 2, 1788
States Joined the
5 Connecticut January 9, 1788
Union
6 Massachusetts February 6, 1788
7 Maryland April 28, 1788
8 South Carolina May 23, 1788
9 New Hampshire June 21, 1788
10 Virginia June 25, 1788
11 New York July 26, 1788
12 North Carolina November 21, 1789
13 Rhode Island May 29, 1790

Chart 14 Vermont March 4, 1791

15 Kentucky June 1, 1792
16 Tennessee June 1, 1796
17 Ohio March 1, 1803
18 Louisiana April 30, 1812
19 Indiana December 11, 1816
20 Mississippi December 10, 1817
21 Illinois December 3, 1818
22 Alabama December 14, 1819
23 Maine March 15, 1820
Graph
A graph is used to
show information in 6

a visual way…this 5

can be a bar graph, 4

pie chart, or plot 3

line. 2

0
Cats Dogs Hamsters Fish
Map
A map shows the location of an area.
Sidebar
A sidebar is added information related
to the text. It is found on the side of
the page.
Framed Text
Framed text offers nuggets of
information not found in the text. It
usually has a box around it and can be
found anywhere on the page.

Framed Text
Bold Words
Nonfiction texts often have important
words written in bold. A reader’s eyes
are drawn to these bold words. You
can often find the bold words in the
glossary or index and they are always
important to note.
Bold Words
Back Matter
Back matter is any added information
located at the back of the book. This
can be photographs, a note from the
author or illustrator, websites to
research related information…the list is
endless!
Index
The index is found at the back of the
book and contains important ideas or
central concepts. The words are always
listed in alphabetical order with the
page numbers the information can be
found on. The index helps a reader to
locate information quickly.
Glossary
The glossary is a mini-dictionary found
at the end of a nonfiction book. It
gives the definition of unknown words
from the book that are listed in
alphabetical order. Often the words
found in the glossary are in bold font
in the text.
About the Author
About the author tells about the
person that wrote the book. This is
sometimes found at the back of the
book and sometimes on the book’s
jacket. Often there are other books by
that author listed as well as a photo.
Bibliography
A bibliography is located at the back
of a book. It lists the sources that the
author used to find the information to
write that book. Bibliographies can
be used to find other books on that
topic but can also show the reader how
much research the author did in writing
the book. A good nonfiction text
always includes a bibliography.
 Remember to use
Nonfiction Text Features
to help you read and
understand Nonfiction
Literature!