Book Review: Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books

Book Review: Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books, by Nancy I. Sanders, 2012

If you’d like to write for the educational market or just learn the differences between beginning readers, this is the perfect book. Nancy explains in detail the structures of the following: pre-emergent readers, emergent readers, easy readers, advanced readers, first chapter books, and hi-lo readers. Whew! She also touches on writing for children’s magazines and how to write a rebus.

If you want to know the nitty-gritty of this world of beginning readers, Nancy starts with the history of how it all came to be, reading levels, standards, word lists, etc…

Each reader section gives concrete examples of the structure: vocabulary, number of words in each sentence, characters, dialogue, plot, setting, topics and themes. She also lists mentor texts or samples of each kind of book. She shows you how it all works together under very tight guidelines by the publisher. I know. I’ve done it! 

This is a spread from my guided reading book Flamingo’s Tricks, a phonics reader published by Lakeshore Learning. 

I appreciate Nancy’s expertise in sharing tips and strategies along with little assignments you can do to practice writing for this age group. 

The back of the book has a wonderful glossary. When I started writing in 2008, I knew none of the writer lingo and was constantly asking Nancy questions, like why do they call publishing houses a house? What is a royalty check? So this is very helpful for beginning writers as well.

So if you’re interested in writing beginning readers or beginning chapter books, check out this book! Writing for this age group is so much fun!

If you’d like to get a feel for Nancy’s book, click here to read the transcript of a workshop she led on beginning readers for the Institute of Children’s Literature, March 2013.

Friday Finds Two Mentor Picture Book Biographies by Kathy Halsey

As promised from Monday's post, I found two great picture book biographies as my mentor texts for my rough draft on Mary Colter, architect of the Grand Canyon and other Southwest buildings. I've been following the wonderful Nancy I Sanders' Blogzone with her step-by-step directions to crafting a biography in one week. (Nancy also has other series for three weeks and longer. Check it out.) She recommended basing our plot on a published book to emulate pacing, conflicts, and resolution. I was lucky enough to find Jabari Asim's Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington and Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx by Jonah Winter.

Why I Chose These Two Mentor Texts

Since I am writing about a "minority," a woman who broke the glass ceiling as an architect, I wanted to see how other diverse figures broke through to their successes. Sonia Sotomayor is our first Latina Supreme Court Jutice while Booker T. Washington's journey to the Hampton Institute on foot with just fifty cents in his pocket breaks barriers of color and poverty.

Metaphors for Life

The other two themes that unified my mentor texts were the glorious way the authors and illustrators chose defining images that illuminated the lives of their subjects. Sonia was seen as a lovely flower that grew and blossomed. From the biography, "Sometimes the most beautiful moonflower blossoms in an unexpected place-on a chain link fence, near broken glass, next to an abandoned building watered by someone whose name you might not even know."  

In Fifty Cents and a Dream, Asim focused on four pages in Washington's second autobiography that talked about his journey to be educated. Illustrator Bryan Collier reiterates the journey motif by depicting Washington's shirt as a map. Illustration is married to text in this slice of life biography as Asim writes in one beautiful two page spread,"He walked most of the five hundred miles to Hampton Institute. It was a journey of many days through the mountains of Virginia to reach the sea. The wind nipped at his weary bones, and the hard ground made his feet ache. But he walked on."  

Poetry in Biography

I chose wisely for my mentor texts and really learned so much more about two amazing people, Sonia and Booker. The inspiration of creating a metaphor, an overarching image of a person, is so strong in these books, it makes for enjoyable reading. These poetic picture books do not sound like the boring biographies I was forced to read in school! Writers, readers, and teachers rejoice- there is a new way to write non-fiction and I plan to master this technique by reading these two books each time I write more of my rough draft on Mary Colter, architect of the Grand Canyon. 

GROG LAUNCH PARTY WINNERS ~ by The Groggers

On behalf of the GROGGERS, we would like to thank each and everyone of you for stopping by and commenting on our posts. You kept your word by visiting, and now it is our time to keep our word by awarding wonderful prizes.

It was an awesome party on Facebook. It was truly a night of fun, friends, and family. If you missed it, do not panic. Our leader, Mr. Todd Burleson suggests that we do this again in the near future. Without further adieu, here are the winners.

Mary Warth ~ Signed copy of THE MONSTORE by Tara Lazar

Becky Fyfe ~ 30-minute Critique w/ Nancy I. Sanders

Lisa Rose ~ WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT


Cecilia Clark ~ Personalized 8x10 Illustration by Suzy Leopold

Nata Donna Arista ~ Personalized 8x10 Illustration by Suzy Leopold

Donna Sadd ~ REBEL MACKENZIE


Cathy C. Hall ~ ALL THROUGH THE TOWN

Sarah Lynn Eastler ~ Signed copy of Jane Yolen's Book

Polly Amery ~ GOD IS GOOD COLORING BOOK by Tina Cho


Pamela Courtney ~ YES YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE CHILDREN'S BOOK by Nancy I. Sanders

Elaine Keily Kearns ~ Custom Journal designed by Suzy Leopold

Wendy Greenley ~ JOSEPHINE w/ autographs

Denise MacLennan Bruce ~ Rebel Mackenzie

Carrie Brown Charley ~ One-on-one Critique w/ Kristen McGill Fulton

Beth Stillborn ~ GROWING UP MARGARET by Bonnie Tinnes

Pamela M. Tuck ~ D IS FOR DRINKING GOURD by Nancy I. Sanders

Linda Schueler ~ HOT ROD HAMSTER

KRISTINE EREKSON CALL ~ April Fool, Phyllis by Susannah Hill (autographed!)

Kristi Veitenheimer ~ OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW

Stacy Stenberg Jensen ~ ISABELLA, GIRL ON THE GO

Cathy Ballou Mealey ~ WHEN JACKIE AND HANK MET

Lisa Brathwaite ~ AS FAST AS WORDS COULD FLY

Angela Turner ~ Custom Journal designed by Suzy Leopold

Rebecca Colby ~ "Writers At Work" Plaque

Diane Tulloch ~ BALLPARK (signed copy) by Eileen Meyer

Beth Gallagher ~ THE WINNER OF THE NONFICTION ARCHAEOLOGY COURSE (facilitated by Kristen McGill Fulton)

Thank you all so much. Please come back daily, read, and comment on the GROG. Also, please like our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/GROG.writers

Winners, please PM Jackie, Todd, Kathy, or any of the GROGGERS on Facebook with your name and address. We would like to get your prizes out as soon as possible. Thanks.