Fiction vs Nonfiction Books for Kindergarten ELLs

Fiction The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle	Nonfiction Ladybug Life Cycle by Justin McCory Martin
Differences in Genre	Differences in Genre
Characters have personalities and talk to each other There is a problem to solve and a moral at the end of the story  The illustrations are cartoonish	No characters in this book, informational text Real facts about ladybugs The illustrations are real photos
Features that Support ELLs	Features that Support ELLs
The book is engaging and amusing for young children The vocabulary is common for many settings The book is organized sequentially by time and size of animal	The information is real and so are the photos Helps to expand their background knowledge on ladybugs
Challenging for ELLs	Challenging for ELLS
No explanation why the main character is grouchy so it is hard to make a connection Story is not realistic	New vocabulary Informational text is more difficult for beginner readers to read alone