*Picture book, contemporary, for preschoolers through second graders *Young girl as main character *Rating: I loved this book, Someday by Eileen Spinelli. It’s clever and cute and full of imagination. Illustrations by Rosie Winstead are also super cute, as you can tell by the cover! Short, short summary: The pages in this picture book alternate [...]

This originally appeared on a great blog by Anne E. Johnson, JESTER HARLEY’S MANUSCRIPT PAGE, where she reveals her own writing as well as highlights several fiction authors in all genres! Check it out here: http://anneejohnson.blogspot.com/ When I do school visits, I often talk to students about “potato ideas.” These are ideas that are not [...]

**Humorous picture book about homophones for preschoolers through third graders (although adults will learn something here!) **Dear deer and Aunt Ant as main characters **Rating: I think a book like this is the type of material we should use to teach children, teenagers, and adults the English conventions. Gene Barretta’s book is funny and meaningful [...]

*Humorous picture book for preschool to 2nd grade *Little boy as the main character *Rating: Sophie’s Fish is everything a picture book should be. It’s kid-centered and focuses on their imagination and comprehension of problems. It also has a great twist at the end! I love this book and would recommend it to anyone. Short, [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders *Two dogs as the main characters *Rating: I have been a fan of Marla Frazee since I discovered Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (with illustrations by Marla). I was excited to read a book she wrote and illustrated and about animals–which my daughter loves. Super cute book! Short, short [...]

Continuing with my Wednesday 6 +1 traits of writing lessons to go with my book, Finding My Place, today I’m going to talk about a lesson in sentence fluency, using Finding My Place. One of the writing skills you teach with sentence fluency is having sentences of different lengths that start with different words when [...]

Here’s a simple word choice lesson you can do with kids while reading FINDING MY PLACE: ONE GIRL’S STRENGTH AT VICKSBURG or really any historical fiction book. Word choice is one of the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing. One thing about the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing that I love is that these [...]

Today, I have a few things to share with you about Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg: a story about my recent “book tour” , a story from someone who bought the book, and a quick lesson on VOICE, one of the 6 + 1 traits of writing–so let’s go! Going On a [...]

This is a book I am EXTREMELY excited to tell you about for several reasons. . . I helped to edit this book in its beginning stages in 2009, as part of my Editor 911 business. It is a terrific HISTORICAL FICTION book for upper middle grade/tween/younger YA audience by a delightful author. Ice Cube [...]

I am currently creating a short guide (PDF or Word) that shows how you can use my book, Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg (ages 9 to 12) in 6 + 1 Traits of Writing lessons. The guide will be free for the teachers at any workshops I do at schools and if [...]