Can You Believe It? How to Spot Fake News and Find the Facts

Volume XXIX / Issue 5 - September 30 / 2018

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Author:

Joyce Grant

Illustrated by:

Kathleen Marcotte

Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2022

56 pp., hardcover, $19.99

ISBN:

9781525303227

Grades:

Grades 4-6

Ages:

Ages 9-11

Review by:

Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen

Excerpt:

There are lots of reasons why people write stories that aren’t true, and we’ll talk about them later in this book. Some do it to boost the number of visitors to their website or increase their followers on social media. Others want to spread lies about someone or something. And some people do it to cast doubt about the real news, to get you to stop trusting any news source. That’s a big problem, because people need sources they can trust for important information.

Unfortunately, fake news spreads faster than the truth. In fact, lies are 70 percent more likely to be shared on Twitter than real news, according to a 2018 study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). And when fake news makes you feel a strong emotion – anger, shock, confusion or even happiness – you’re much more likely to like or share it.

Can You Believe It? How to Spot Fake News and Find the Facts is a good guide to identifying fake news online. Presented in a well-organized and easy-to-read format, this book walks readers through the different types of fake news and how to spot them.

Author Joyce Grant and illustrator Kathleen Marcotte have created an entertaining and educational book for young readers about fake news and fake stories online. The book starts by showing that real stories can have catchy and odd headlines, then moves on to why people create fake news and what features real stories have which fake stories generally lack. Chapter 2 walks readers through the steps of writing a good and true story. Chapter 3 focuses on issues like mistakes, point of view, and bias in news.

Once readers know what a real news story looks like, Grant shifts to types of information and stories that aren’t news but aren’t necessarily fake, and so they can confuse people. This includes stories like opinion pieces, satire and ads. Grant then covers clickbait, propaganda and deepfakes, and follows up with an excellent section on how the same piece of information can be presented through different types of stories (news article, clickbait, opinion, ad, and a social media post from an influencer). This section really shows readers what to look for to identify real news and how easily you can be fooled by other types of stories.

The final chapters take the reader through investigating articles and practicing critical thinking skills to evaluate those articles. The process is enhanced by two characters who lead the reader through questions to ask about the articles and what to be skeptical or critical of. All the chapters have activities for readers to practice their skills to detect fake news.

Marcotte’s lively and colourful drawings in the book complement the information presented and add fun for the readers, especially the illustrations done for the sample fake news stories, such as the candy-stealing raccoons and the tree octopus.

At the end of the book, there is a list of age-appropriate trustworthy websites and online games for readers that want to learn more about fake news and how to identify it.

Colourful and catchy, Can You Believe It? How to Spot Fake News and Find the Facts provides a good overview of what fake news is, why people create and circulate fake news, and how to identify fake news. While aimed at younger readers, this book can be used by readers from all ages and is an excellent resource for learning about fake news and how to identify it.

Highly Recommended

Reviewer:

Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen is a graduate of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Subject Headings:

Fake news-Juvenile literature

Media literacy-Juvenile literature