Nonfiction or informational books for children are created in order to inform readers about the world they live in and to present facts or data through indexes, diagrams, tables of content, maps, pictures, sketches or photographs and texts that support children’s learning. They are characterized by scientific validity and artistic use of language, format, graphics and other material aspects; hence, it is vital that they encourage children's curiosity. Additionally, the trending “fictionalizing” as an authors’ stylistic option is understandable considering that the information they want to share with children does not exist in a vacuum, but is comprised of events governed by a cause-and-effect relationship. Thus, contemporary writers draw on narrative elements and techniques they previously used in literary texts. After all, the interpretation of events, phenomena, achievements etc., all contain the element of subjectivity and for their construction some type of representation is necessary.
Despite this, the genre of nonfiction books has not received the same amount of scholarly attention as pure fictional books within the field of children’s literature. This is not to say that there is an obvious gap in the study, since some recent publications on the topic have started to emerge. These new studies have addressed the critical potential (Sanders, 2018) and the aesthetic qualities of nonfiction (Grilli, 2020), verbal and visual strategies (Goga et al., 2021), hybridization of nonfiction (von Merveldt, 2018; Αγγελάκη, 2023), particular genres (Rybak, 2022), as well as the new special issue of Bookbird on nonfiction (edited by Aronson & Malilang, 2024). These works are merely the beginning of setting new directions in the study of nonfiction.
Thus, you are invited to expand this emerging network of knowledge in the upcoming conference that touches on the issue of (re)thinking the borders in children’s nonfiction. Specifically, papers related to the conference's overall theme are invited. Possible areas for investigation include but are not restricted to:
1. Negotiation of boundaries between fiction and nonfiction
2. Borders of theory – new methodological approaches
3. Representations of nonfiction children’s literature in works on the history of children’s literature
4. Nonfiction epitexts (such as reviews in journals and magazines)
5. Nonfiction peritexts (such as prefaces and afterwords)
6. Nonfiction goes international (awards, bookfairs, festivals)
7. Censorship or cultural adjustment in the translation of nonfiction for children
8. Space and memory within nonfiction – museums, galleries, and historical sites
9. Nonfiction books between art and economy
10. The role of the visual code in nonfiction (aesthetics, pictorial turn, etc.)
11. Authoriality in nonfiction
12. The role of the intended reader in nonfiction
13. Practising research on nonfiction
14. Nonfiction and creative writing
Bibliography
Αγγελάκη, Ρ.-Τ. (2023). Το βιβλίο γνώσεων για παιδιά. University Studio Press.
Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature (2025, Vol. 63, No. 1 is a Special Issue on Nonfiction in Children’s Literature, https://www.ibby.org/bookbird/bookbird-1-2025)
Goga, N., Iversen, S. H. & Teigland, A.-S. (Eds.) (2021). Verbal and Visual Strategies in Nonfiction Picturebooks: Theoretical and Analytical Approaches. Scandinavian University Press. https://doi.org/10.18261/9788215042459-2021
Grilli, G. (Ed). (2020). Non-Fiction Picturebooks. Sharing Knowledge as an Aesthetic Experience. Edizioni ETS.
Merveldt, N. v. (2018). Informational Picturebooks. In B. Kümmerling-Meibauer (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks (pp. 231-245). Routledge.
Rybak, K. (2022). How Informational Activity Picturebooks Work: Interactive Invitation to a Critical Approach to Knowledge. International Research in Children’s Literature, 15(3), 323–337 https://doi.org/10.3366/ircl.2022.0470
Sanders, J. S. (2018). A Literature of Questions? Nonfiction for the Critical Child. University of Minnesota Press.
Please send an abstract of 300 words maximum and a short biography of 100 words as a single Word document to
Abstracts should include the following information:
1. Author(s)
2. Affiliation as you would like to appear in the programme
3. E-mail address
4. Title of proposal
5. Text of proposal (including research question, methodology, research context)
6. Selected bibliography with academic sources (3-5 references)
7. Areas of interest referring to the topics listed above (1-14)
8. Five keywords
9. Format: paper/PhD presentation/roundtable (see options and guidelines below and choose one!)
Deadline for abstract submission: 31 January 2026
Notification of acceptance: 15 March 2026
All submissions are reviewed by the members of the Organising Committee. All abstracts and papers accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English and copyedited.
Various formats depending on your needs are offered:
I. Paper presentation: A standard format, that is a 20-minute presentation followed by a 10- minute discussion.
II. PhD presentation: A 10-minute presentation followed by a 20-minute discussion suggested to PhD students. Due to the limited time of the presentation, the paper should include: research question(s), methodology, research context, and possible issues to resolve. Please feel free to focus on a specific part, issue or element of your PhD that aligns with the areas indicated above.
III. Roundtable discussion: A 60-minute discussion chaired by a moderator who makes sure that those who are interested are welcomed and participate. If you are interested in suggesting a topic or area (see list above) to discuss, we encourage you to present and justify it in the abstract. The abstract should also include information on how you plan to chair and carry out the discussion to secure a dialogic and collaborative atmosphere.
Conference fee:
Regular Fee: €95
PhD Students Fee: €75
Registration deadline: 5 June 2026
Participant registration fee includes coffee breaks.
Once the registration payment is done, NO REFUND will be available.
Organisation committee:
Rosy-Triantafyllia Angelaki
Nina Goga
Giorgia Grilli Chrysogonus
Siddha Malilang
Krzysztof Rybak
Webside can be viewed here.
[Quelle: Pressemitteilung]