The non-fiction books in Info Trail comprise a range of text types. The choice of text types featured in Info Trail books take account of recent research on teaching children to read.

Non-fiction text types can be categorised in various ways. In Info Trail, five broad types of information text are employed to help develop children's understanding of the features and potential of each form of writing. Reference features (such as glossaries, indexes, contents pages, captions and labels) are used across all text types. The five text types are:

Click on the links below to see samples of these text types.

Argument/persuasion/discussion
Sample of Argument from: Would You Be a Bee? (Science Theme), for Ages 5-6
Sample of Persuasion from: Don't Bite the Bottom off your Ice Cream Cone! (Science Theme), for Ages 5-6

Instruction/procedure
Sample of Instruction from: How to Prepare a Mummy (History Theme), for Ages 8-9

Explanation/report
Sample of Explanation from: Feet (Science Theme), for Ages 5-6

Biography/autobiography

Recount - Example from Pedal Power: Land's End to John O'Groats (Geography Theme), for ages 9-10