Where Fiction Meets Fact: When Accuracy Counts

Guest blog by Carrie Finison

I write fiction picture books that often feature animal characters. Reading (and writing) these books requires a certain suspension of disbelief. Bears that make doughnuts? Sure! A tortoise that walks to school and carries a lunchbox? Why not? Pig construction workers? Nothing wrong with it!
 
Suspension of disbelief comes with the territory AND YET even in fiction there are times when sticking to the facts and being accurate is important. As I worked through the first few drafts of my book Pigs Dig a Road (Penguin Random House, 2024), I quickly realized that I knew next to nothing about how a road is actually constructed. If I didn’t want to be constantly corrected by a bunch of 4-year-old armchair experts, I would need to do a lot of research to make sure the book depicted the stages of building a road accurately. I knew that kids wouldn’t mind seeing a pig driving a bulldozer, but they WOULD mind if the bulldozer was doing the wrong job.

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With the threat of indignant preschoolers looming over me, I hit the library. Luckily, road construction is a topic that lots of kids are interested in, and so I was able to find many nonfiction books written at a kid level that explained the steps of road construction and all the trucks involved. These books went in-depth enough without being overwhelming in terms of detail. This leads me to my first tip: If you’re writing a fictional story about a topic kids know and love dearly, seek out nonfiction children’s books on the subject to learn the details.
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​At the library, I was also able to find a couple of VHS tapes (that I couldn’t play) and a DVD (that I could play) that showed the process of building a road from start to finish, with lots of footage of big trucks in action. This leads me to my second tip: YouTube is your friend! After watching the DVD from the library, I thought perhaps similar footage might be available on YouTube. I typed the search phrase “road construction for kids” and sure enough, I found a TON of videos showing bulldozers, excavators, graders, dump trucks, compactors, and rollers all doing their jobs, and all clearly explained.

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​All of this research helped me to develop the text for the story and add details that would be both fun and accurate. It also helped me to create illustration notes that I hoped would guide the illustrator a little in terms of the road-building steps. This leads me to a third tip: If you HAVE done research and there’s something that you feel is important to depict accurately, it’s a great idea to include illustration notes and even visual sources.

​And, here’s a final tip: when you need more information, consult the experts. The key word there is WHEN you need more information. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, or some blend of the two, going to an expert should never be your first move. You will be able to ask better, more informed questions if you are already knowledgeable about the subject matter. As it stood, I didn’t need to find an expert for Pigs Dig a Road because there was more than enough information in the books and videos I found,  but I wouldn’t hesitate to find someone and ask questions if needed.
 
As fiction writers, I think it’s important to reflect upon our stories and think about where the suspension of disbelief that we’re asking of the reader feels OK, and where it won’t work. Always, we must establish the “rules” of our fictional worlds up front. A talking potato can work if it is introduced on page 1 of the story. A talking potato showing up on page 16 in an otherwise normal world will feel out of place and wrong, and will take readers out of the story.
 
Similarly, when kids know a lot about a subject – whether that’s trucks, or trains, or schools – and are approaching your book as a fan of that subject, they want to see you get the details right. Otherwise, they may call you out in the middle of story time. That’s motivation enough to hit the books!

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Carrie Finison writes children’s books with humor and heart, including Dozens of Doughnuts​ (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2020); Lulu & Zoey: A Sister Story (Running Press Kids, 2022); Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time for School (Random House Studio, 2022); and Don’t Hug Doug (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2021), which was named an ALA Notable Children’s Book in 2022. Her newest book is Pigs Dig a Road, a humorous story about road construction and teamwork. She lives in the Boston area. Visit her online at www.carriefinison.com , or follow her on social media @CarrieFinison.