| 
Books to Teach
the Love of Words
By Holly E. Newton
Words! How can they be so important in the written
language? Why must we continually edit and revamp our written work?
What’s so important about learning how to write better? Kids
ask these questions many times when handing in written assignments.
As a response, I’ve gathered some of the
best books to help kids understand this process, along with the
importance and motivation for writing — and improved writing.
I also have some outstanding books for your young budding illustrators
to help inspire them in their pursuit of drawing.
First, let’s begin with the semantics of how to write better.
Woe is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobe’s Guide
to Better English, by Patricia T. O’ Conner,
is the perfect handbook that all middle school teachers should require
that kids read. This ingenious book presents the important lessons
needed to become a better writer without cramming it down a kid’s
throat.
O’Conner presents each vital
concept in a fun, and sometimes even funny way. For instance, while
discussing the importance of communicating correctly in her introduction,
she brings out the “Bad News Rule,” stating that if
you place words incorrectly or misspell a word, your meaning can
be completely misconstrued. Chip has fallen off his skateboard
and broken his arm. You send him an instant message: “I heard
you’re bad news.” But the author points out that
instead of sending sympathy, you just insulted your friend.
The context of this important book covers all
facets that the modern child can relate with, which includes emailing,
typing on the computer, and even spell-check. (She points out that
spell-check doesn’t find miscommunicated words. That’s
something you need to do yourself.). The humorous drawings, by Tom
Stiglich, support O’Connor’s wry sense of humor of just
how complicated our language can be. For a subject that can be so
dry, here’s a fresh look into becoming better at communicating
— and can’t we all use some of that!
And for all you budding writers (and isn’t there a little
of that in all of us?), here’s a handbook that delightfully
and quite simply takes you by the hand through the tangles of authorship.
How to Write Your Life Story, by Ralph
Fletcher, takes you through the simple steps of brainstorming your
ideas, and eventually on to your final words. Each chapter is easy
to understand, and the author’s promptings and encouragement
provide motivation that you really can begin to write down your
life story. (He also states that you don’t have to wait until
you’re old to begin to write about what you know best —
your life!) This really could be the starting point of a lifetime
of writings! Fletcher has included insightful interviews with three
outstanding kids’ authors — Jack Gantos, Kathi Appelt
and Jerry Spinelli.
And for children who are really interested in becoming authors,
The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of
Fantasy, compiled and edited by Leonard S. Marcus,
is a must-read! This book has more insightful information that should
compel the budding author into writing down his/her story outline.
Here are some of the very best kids’ fantasy authors with
their thoughts and impressions of how they became writers.
The questions posed by Marcus are thoughtful
and insightful, and I learned two important ingredients that underlined
and seemed to help each of these authors as they answered his questions:
1) they loved to read, and 2) other famous authors seemed to help
spur them onto writing their own stories. Some of these outstanding
authors include Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, Brian Jacques and
Ursula K. Le Guin. (I especially love the original writings with
crossed out and edited pages illustrated throughout the book.)
Marcus has written two other books that will surely inspire young
authors. And they will likely inspire those talented budding artists
as well. Pass it Down: Five Picture-Book Families Make
Their Mark, demonstrates how talented families and
their inherited abilities to illustrate and link stories have created
famous picture books. There are pencil drawings, early photos of
the young budding artists as well as some of their best colorful
works illustrated throughout. Included in this book, which is the
size of a picture book, is the Pinkney family with Jerry and son,
Brian, with artistic drawings of “The Ballad of Belle
Dorcas” and “Mirandy and Brother Wind.”
There’s also the Rockwell family
— with the mother, father and daughter team, Harlow, Anne
and Lizzy. Their works include The Toolbox and Papa Small.
Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture-Book Teams Go to
Work, has a similar format with five more famous teams
— only this time they’re not necessarily related. Julius
Lester and Jerry Pinkney, and Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, are two
of the representative pairs in this outstanding book.
The Annotated Cat: Under the Hats of Seuss and His Cats,
introduced and annotated by Philip Nel, will take your budding author/illustrator
through the steps of Dr. Seuss’s creation of one of the most
highly successful series in history. If this book doesn’t
inspire the genius inside, I don’t know what will!
And lastly, Big Fat Little Lit, edited
by Art Spielgelman and Francoise Mouly, is filled with some of the
most beloved comics that kids love to read. Even though I’m
not a proponent for kids reading comics instead of books, it’s
a nice quick read that’s also usually funny. It’s also
another outlet for illustrators. The book includes Neil Gaiman,
Crockett Johnson and Ian Falconer.
So what are you waiting for? With these books,
you’ll surely have the tools to write or illustrate better!
Click
here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates
© 2007
Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
|
