Non fiction articles

Biographies and autobiographies bring the lives of influential people to life for young children, highlighting the role exceptional individuals have played in our shared history. Introduce your child to the world's greatest artists, activists, scientists, inventors and humanitarians with books aimed at every age group. Each biography and autobiography is bursting with anecdotes, imagery and information, sure to inspire young people to follow their own dreams and aspirations.

Whether your child is just learning to read and print letters or looking for ways to put their creative writing skills to the test, we've rounded up some fantastic resources to help them practise phonics, grammar, story-writing and comic-creating at home. Plus there are loads of different ways to connect with authors and listen to stories.

We've rounded up some of our favourite online resources to support your child's learning at home.

Encourage and develop your child's passion for reading with these brilliant book apps for kids.

Brilliant books to help kids find out about our fascination with the Moon and human beings' extraordinary journey to set foot on its surface in 1969. Whether your child is in Reception or Year 6, we've selected great non-fiction titles about the people who have influenced space history to feed their astronomical ambitions.

How do we help children understand what's going on in the world in an age-appropriate way? We have top tips for helping them make sense of the news.

Clear, accurate information that's age-appropriate is essential when you decide to use a book to help you discuss puberty and sex with your children. We've picked some of the best books to help you make potentially awkward conversations easier, whatever your child's age. You know your child best, so always check you're happy with the level of detail and information in a book before you share it with them.

When it comes to encouraging children's love of books and reading, teachers (and librarians!) are the experts. We asked Ashley Booth – reader, Year 6 teacher and passionate advocate of children's books – to share his tips for teachers (and for parents!) on igniting a love of reading in primary-school children.

Is your child stuck in a reading rut? Lucy Dimbylow takes a look at how to encourage them to test the water with different styles and genres of fiction and non-fiction.

While some children love nothing more than sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and a pen, others are filled with dread at the thought of writing much more than their name at the top of their worksheet. Teacher and author Alison Wilcox shares her tips for encouraging the writing bug.

From adjectives to writing frames, TheSchoolRun's primary-school literacy glossary offers a complete guide to all the concepts children are taught in EYFS, KS1 and KS2 English. Brush up on your own literacy skills, clear up homework confusion and understand exactly what your child is learning at school by reading our basic definitions (with links to more detailed explanations, teachers' tips and examples).

At school your child will be expected to produce pieces of extended writing, which is a writing task completed independently. Find out how teachers will help your child develop this skill and how you can support their learning at home.

In Key Stage 2 your child will learn about biographical and autobiographical texts. Find out about the features of these texts and help your child write their own texts at home.

A non-chronological report is a piece of text that isn't written in time order. Find out how your child is taught to read and write non-chronological reports in primary school.

Paragraphs are sections of text, used to structure writing to make it clear and easy to read. We explain how the use of paragraphs is taught in KS2 and how you can help your child improve their writing by using paragraphs at home.

Has your child been asked to write a recount? Find out what the main features of this kind of non-fiction text are, plus how recounts are used in primary school literacy lessons.

We read instruction texts on an everyday basis. In primary school your child will be taught to recognise the main features and write increasingly complicated instruction texts as part of their non-fiction literacy work.