I was convinced that kindergartners
preferred fiction, even though much
of the research cited children’s preferences
for the content of informational
books over narrative text, given that
they are provided with quality options
in both genres (Duke 2003; Kletzien
& Dreher 2004; Stead 2006; Pilonieta
2011). “Studies show that even young
children can learn content from informational
text, can understand and
retell informational texts, can learn
about the language and features of
informational text, can respond to
and discuss informational text, and
can even write informational text!”
(Duke 2003, 3). There has also been
an increase in the number of quality
informational books available (Read,
Reutzel, & Fawson 2008; Gill 2009). I
decided to investigate the children’s
book preferences to determine if my
perception that they preferred fiction
was accurate.