Thoughtful text features make it easier for readers to locate information in nonfiction text. They support an author's argument and can provide additional information visually. Exposing 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to a variety of text features will help them better navigate the media-rich world in which they are growing up.
Many of the children's nonfiction books today lack text features, instead prioritizing storytelling. Books like this serve an important purpose, but they are not as useful at preparing students for the nonfiction texts they will encounter in the real world.
Below, find a list of engaging children's books that DO include a variety of text features and can be used as mentor texts.
A List of Mentor Texts for Reviewing Text Features
1. What Do You Think About...? Books
These are truly one-of-a-kind nonfiction books designed to go beyond identifying text features — they ask students to analyze, question, and evaluate how text features are used to persuade.
Unlike traditional children's nonfiction, these books don’t treat text features as neutral add-ons. Instead, students are challenged to think critically about how authors use text features to share selective information, support arguments, and influence readers’ thinking.
You'll find a table of contents, index, glossary, photos, captions, maps, charts, labels, fact boxes, bold lettering, and more in these books.
Full disclosure: I wrote these books, so yes, I’m a little biased. But these books were created for a reason — I couldn’t find any nonfiction books for upper elementary that intentionally used text features to present arguments and reveal bias. These books exist to fill that gap.
2. Gail Gibbons Books
Gail Gibbons has written and illustrated a huge variety of nonfiction books. Chances are, if you are looking for a specific nonfiction topic, she has a book on it.
While her books don't include a huge variety of text features, they are full of diagrams and illustrations with useful labels and captions that enhance the text, as well as the occasional map. Her books would be a great introduction to how text features and other visual elements can contribute to an understanding of the text.
For a fun enrichment activity, have students create a glossary and index for one of her books.
3. National Geographic Kids Series
The National Geographic Kids books are packed full of text features. You'll find maps, charts, diagrams, photographs, labels, fact boxes, headings, and more. They cover a huge variety of topics, so you're sure to find something of interest to your students.
The books come in a variety of different reading levels, so choose one that is appropriate for your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students! The lower leveled books don't include as many text features.
Use this free text features slideshow to introduce text features, and then have students search for the text features in one of these books!
4. Who Would Win Books
Jerry Pallotta's Who Would Win Book Series is a great nonfiction series for teachers and students alike! Not only are these books engaging for upper elementary students, but they are packed full of text features.
Any of these books would be great for a text feature scavenger hunt!
5. Grand Canyon
There are not many nonfiction, Caldecott-honor-winning books that are also useful for teaching text features - but Jason Chin's Grand Canyon is an exception!
While it doesn't include a huge variety of text features, there are diagrams and labels interspersed throughout the book, and the illustrations are, of course, engaging!
6. Classroom Textbooks
Utilize your textbooks - even if they are outdated - by using them to teach text features. Most textbooks will include almost any text feature you want to teach.
Use this free text feature chart to introduce and review text features, and then use your textbooks to reinforce their knowledge!
Improve Nonfiction Books By Adding Text Features
Once your students are able to identify informational text features, give students an opportunity to apply what they have learned by creating their own text features for a provided text or book.
This is a much more challenging task than simply identifying text features. It requires students to think about how text features support and provide additional information for a text.
Whenever you come across a nonfiction book that doesn't have many text features, encourage your students to think about what text features could be added to make the text more interesting and more understandable.
During a professional development session with Adrienne Gear, she suggested using Seymour Simon books for this activity. His books usually have only text and photos, and would greatly benefit from headings, captions, diagrams, labels, glossaries, indexes, and more!
Or, for a no prep version you can use today, check out this Text Features resource. It includes activities that require students to add text features to the text provided - as well as create their own short article that includes a variety of text features!
Check out these other books ideal for upper elementary teachers.