The selection of material to support non-fiction in the literacy strategy can be a positive pleasure. But there will always be times that call for a ready source of off-the-shelf, pre-classified extracts. This book serves that purpose admirably.

The main body consists of a range of “shared text” extracts covering the six categories from “recount” to “persuasion”. The photocopiable activity sheets for follow-up work are superior to those often encountered. In “explanation”, for example, the two sample texts - a UCI Cinema leaflet, How The Projector Works, and an extract about otters from The Times - are supported by activities that challenge children to confirm their understanding of an explanation and their ability to sequence with a range of connectives.

Two lucid and informative opening chapters include an acknowledgment of criticisms that have been pitched against the genre-based approach. One of those is that children are being taught that writing can be packaged in only a restricted number of acceptable ways. The authors show a keen awareness of this in the activities they include for prompting children to develop their own non-fiction texts - organisational constructs rather than over-constrictive frames for a finished piece of writing. They also acknowledge the need to extend children’s experience of other formats, notably video and hypertext.