So,
to answer April’s insightful question posed in her Friday post, you can find my current fingerprint all over today’s
post, literally and figuratively.
For
a variety of reasons too many to share, it’s the TEACHING part of my
TeachingAuthor handle that currently fills my days. I’m a gardener of sorts,
seeding and feeding writers, helping others
tell their stories to young readers. I
pinch myself daily, honored to be doing so.
I also remain grateful.
Ironically, it is I who likely blooms fuller from helping such singular
folks grow their diverse offerings.
As
luck would have it, I often have the chance to seed and feed Young Authors. I take joy when sharing
writing resources, opportunities, connections and book titles (how-to’s,
biographies, autobiographies, related fiction) with teachers, librarians,
parents, booksellers – and best of all, the young writers themselves who
squeeze me out like a sponge.
Here
are five titles I’ve recently added to my Young Authors hand-out, though in truth,
all five speak to writers of all ages.
👍WRITING WITH ROSIE by Patricia Reilly Giff (Holiday House, 2016)
Thumbs up for award-winning author Patricia Reilly
Giff’s writing how-to book for writers and readers ages 8-12. The subtitle says it all: You can write a story too.
In conversational chapters that engage, amuse (thanks
to her dog Rosie), inform and inspire, Giff introduces the elements of
narrative (character, plot, setting, conflict, resolution), shares how she dealt with those elements, offering
specific Show, Don’t Tell examples from her published books (CAN YOU SEE HOW I
DID IT?), then gives the young writer a chance to try his hand (YOUR TURN). Kirkus
called it “the best recent writing guide for young readers and writers.” Giff knows her audience and how to reach them
in age-appropriate meaningful ways. Holiday
House also offers an accompanying Educators Guide with Instructional Standards. Giff’s spirit abounds. “Writing is a joyous part of my life. I want
that joy for you too, because we all have stories to tell.”
McKay’s
introduction to punctuation marks and how they work to tell a story is A-OK! Thanks to Holmes’ reader-friendly
illustrations, the marks come to life, building on each other’s expertise to
help Period tell his tale. The resulting
story appears at the end, punctuated correctly.
Young readers ages 4 to 8 come to know each mark in a way that makes
their usage unforgettable.
👏 HOW THIS BOOK WAS MADE by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex (Disney-Hyperion, 2016)
Applause! Applause! There’s finally a fun picture book that SHOWS readers
in pictures and in words how a writer’s idea becomes a book they can hold in
their own two hands. In between there are “dangerous animals, an angry mob,
unreasonable editorial demands, high-seas adventure and traffic.” The
Narrator-dash-Writer writes and rewrites and works with his editor so the
illustrator can make his art in a timely fashion so the publisher can print the
book so it eventually can sit reader-ready on a shelf! There’s just enough
absurdity to keep the reader laughing but just enough reality to keep the
reader and future writer learning. Barnett and Rex make making a book understandable and fun.
✋ THE UNCORKER OF OCEAN BOTTLES by
Michelle Cuevas and Erin E. Stead (Dial, 2016)
High
Fives to Cuevas for her gorgeous writing and Stead for her beautiful
illustrations that capture the uncorker’s one-of-a-kind life and heart-stopping
situation. This book deservedly sits on numerous Best Books of 2016 lists – SLJ,
the Boston Globe, People Magazine and Time. The story is a keeper, like the
unaddressed party invitation the nameless character receives. Bottled messages especially appeal to young
writers. Wonder prevails and gets us all “What-if?-ing.” Just think about the
author, to launch a story idea. Or think
about the recipient. Maybe think about
the message. It’s a terrific device when
a writer needs to step into another person’s – or character’s – shoes, as both
the writer and the reader. A bottled message and its mystery make a swell story
hook, too. 
V is for victory in Jeffers’ prose poem.
Beautifully illustrated by Winston’s clever typographical images created from text from favorite classics, all the
words – both Jeffers’ and Winston’s - sing the praises of the travel
opportunities stories bring the reader. Might this be the perfect explanation
for how readers become writers? How
might young writers create text images from their favorite stories to create stories of their own? (Oh,
to have a classroom of young writers ripe for such an assignment!)
🤞 My
fingers are crossed you’ll come to know, explore and use the above five titles, whether sharing them with Young Writers or telling your stories.
Enjoy!
Esther Hershenhorn
