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From Reader to Writer: Teaching Writing Through Classic Children’s Books

by Sarah Ellis

Reading and writing are a marvellous, continuous chain that links one generation to another. Fiction writer Sarah Ellis expands on this network of the imagination, encouraging today’s readers and writers with insights into 17 of the English-speaking world’s most revered authors, including six Canadians.

Each chapter spotlights a famous writer, and elaborates on a theme, style, or approach that characterizes the author’s work. J.R.R. Tolkien invented a language to enliven his fantasy world; Beatrix Potter’s tales began with a letter; Paul Yee searched out old diaries and newspapers to create stories.

This book is organized to inform and inspire teachers of students from Grades 4 through 7. Each chapter begins with an anecdote about the author’s life. These stories, usually drawn from the writer’s childhood, underscore how the problems and aspirations of young people have not changed substantially over time, although the external circumstances of children’s lives have altered remarkably. A section highlighting a specific book, with read-aloud suggestions, communicates the writer’s technique. Individual and group writing projects, ranging from simple activities to complex undertakings, address students directly and incorporate the theme of the chapter. Ellis also reveals what each writer read as a child, and provides a bibliography of other books that explore the chapter’s main idea.

An important literary resource written in an engaging style, From Reader to Writer is designed to bring book talks on classic and contemporary authors alive, and to initiate writers into a rich tradition. Difficult for most children to manage independently, this book will work best in a classroom structure, or in workshops on writing for children.

 

Reviewer: Sheree Haughian

Publisher: Groundwood Books

DETAILS

Price: $28.95

Page Count: 160 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 0-88899-372-2

Released: Apr.

Issue Date: 2000-5

Categories:

Age Range: ages 8–12

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