How Does Non-Fiction Reading Enhance Critical Thinking Skills?

Three Key Benefits of Reading Non-Fiction
As an English Literature graduate I have always been a voracious reader of fiction. I spent my childhood lost in imaginary worlds and raced through countless novels. It is only in recent years, however, that I’ve discovered the delights and benefits of non-fiction books. Looking back, I wish I had understood their importance earlier in my academic life. Beginning my course at university, I was struck by the interdisciplinary nature of my degree – in order to write essays on Milton, I needed to understand the history and politics of the English Civil War, and my reading of George Orwell was greatly informed by wider knowledge of nineteenth century culture. I quickly learnt that nothing can be fully appreciated in isolation.

1) Reading Non-Fiction can be fun
Non-fiction material is the basis of the majority of our national curriculum – history, science, religious studies, geography and many more subjects depend upon it. Yet the benefits of reading non-fiction books are rarely extolled in the classroom and children are taught that reading for pleasure equates to reading fiction. Often, the only non-fiction books students will encounter are textbooks. Those who don’t enjoy fiction are led to think that they don’t enjoy reading – but this is not the case, they simply haven’t found the right books to engage them.

2) Non-fiction books help us understand the world we live in
Non-fiction makes up a substantial amount of the world’s literary output, and is something that we encounter daily. Newspapers, recipe books and even our Twitter feeds require us to interact with and assimilate non-fiction material. By encouraging students to explore factual writing as well as fiction, they will be better equipped to engage with the world around them.

Encouraging your child to read non-fiction – as well as fiction – can benefit their learning enormously. Non-fiction books on topics that overlap with and expand upon what is being learnt at school will engage a child’s natural curiosity. It could even spark a lifelong love of a subject. One of the major advantages of reading non-fiction books from a young age is the way they will nurture and encourage academic growth by providing super-curricular knowledge and a greater understanding of our world. Material explored can offer new perspectives on and insights into both historical and current affairs: books on nature could lead to an awareness of climate change, or a biography of a famous figure could open eyes to different historical periods. Even reading The Guinness Book of World Records could create an interest in a new sport, culture or hobby.

3) Reading Non-Fiction Boosts Learning
A crucial benefit of reading non-fiction is that, whatever the topic, non-fiction reading will also provide your child with tools that can boost grades in the classroom. Through non-fiction books, they will encounter new, and sometimes specialist, vocabulary and learn how to understand and assimilate information. For older students, non-fiction books will teach them how to interpret data and secondary sources, as well as how to structure arguments. This is excellent preparation for A Level study and beyond.

Non-fiction books can delight students of all ages, from children just learning to read right up to teenagers applying to university. For younger readers, the Dorling Kindersley ‘Eyewitness’ series offers stimulating introductions to a whole range of subjects. ‘You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without’ is another great series which will engage curious children.

For young adult readers, biographies are a great example of non-fiction literature. Choosing figures familiar from history lessons at school, film and TV or a favourite sport player offers a welcoming starting point for students.  As well as biographies, many TV personalities with a bent for learning such as Stephen Fry, Professor Brian Cox or David Attenborough have written non-fiction books.

There is one genre that makes even seasoned, self-proclaimed readers shudder. It is cloaked by imagery of old, dusty middle school textbooks and dense pages filled end to end with texts and tacky graphics or maybe hours spent on mirlyn looking for the right article. It is tiring, boring and unimaginative — it is nonfiction.

I am here, economics book and memoir in hand, to defend the honor of this noble genre that has been degraded by your high school history class assignments. If you peer behind the cobwebs and sweep the dust off the “boring” genre, I promise it will enrich your life in ways you have never imagined.

I know what you’re thinking: “Sure, there’s no lack of information to be found in the nonfiction genre, but why should I care? It’s boring information.” I once thought the same thing, too.

Before my senior year of high school, I was someone who avoided nonfiction at all costs. That summer, I was assigned a book for my macroeconomics class called “Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science” by Charles Wheelan. I absolutely dreaded reading it. I knew nothing about economics, other than that it was boring enough to be called the “dismal science,” and I did not want to spend a second of my summer reading a nonfiction book.

I was shocked when I started reading it because I actually really liked it — so much so that I disregarded my other books and blew through it, reading, annotating and writing down concepts for future research. Wheelan was funny, engaging and intelligent. I laughed at his jokes and was guided along by his easy-to-understand examples of concepts, which I still use today as an economics major.

Wheelan’s writing opened my eyes not only to economics and how it can explain the world around me, but also to the nonfiction genre and all that it has to offer. Nonfiction doesn’t have to be boring — it can be whatever you want it to be. Missed out on AMCULT 234? Read about it. Want to learn about constitutional law? Read about it. Still wondering just what went through Britney Spears’ mind during her infamous 2007 breakdown? You can read about that too. Seriously, the world is your oyster here