Title: Writing Prompts For Girls: An “A+ Teacher Design” to motivate girls to write for homeschoolers and teachers. Targeting Grade 1, Grade 2 & Grade 3.
Written by Christine Calabrese
I recently reviewed Writing Prompts For Boys: An A+Teacher Design and you can see my complete review for that book on Amazon.com.
Calabrese recently released this edition for girls and it does an excellent job just like the previous edition for boys. The author selects a wide array of topics like the princess theme, horses, snowy days, music, sports, secrets, and fantasy to name a few of them. She encourages girls to use their “w” words and imagination to write and draw their way to success providing exciting vocabulary, simple rules, and exciting scenarios.
Children see writing as a fun exercise not a laborious chore. This book is perfect for the primary grades but also wonderful for older reluctant readers and writers.
As a former teacher, I would highly recommend these resources to parents and teachers.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alana Harrison and Drew Callander have spent their lives telling stories and cracking jokes. Alana graduated from The College of William and Mary with a degree in Comedic Writing and Performance. Drew graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Fiction Writing. Together they have created cartoons and short films with Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, John Oliver, and Kristen Schaal. Their work as writers and improv comedians has aired on Sirius XM Radio, NBC, and Comedy Central. Mightier Than the Sword is their first book series. They live with their two kids and one exquisitely talented cat (none of whom help with the dishes).
ABOUT THE IllUSTRATOR
Ryan Andrews lives in the Japanese countryside, with his wife, two kids, and their dog, Lucky. A friendly Kodama or two have been known to take up residence in the giant acorn tree that shades the house. Ryan often works at his drawing desk in the early-morning hours, to the sound of rummaging wild boar and badgers, who come from the surrounding forest seeking out shiitake mushrooms and fallen chestnuts.
In my blog post on November 18, 2020, I reviewed Mightier Than The Sword Book 1
Today, I am reviewing Book 2, Mightier Than The Sword: The Edge of the Word
In this exciting sequel to Book One of the middle-grade chapter series, once again the reader is a superhero who holds the fate of the fictional land of Astorya in your hands.
At the end of the first book in the series, you rescued Prince S from the evil Queen Rulette and wrote your way out of trouble time and time again. Now you are determined to protect your fictional friends by hiding the Original Story that created the kingdom. You volunteer to accompany Prince S on his journey to the evil dark side where all sorts of villains await.
The reader will need to assist and hold on to these precious memories. Together with the Prince, you will encounter gargoyles, monsters, deadly ooze, an Ice Dragon, wrestlers, and fiery lava. The sights and sounds that assault you threaten your resolve. It will be difficult to prevent surrendering to your darker side.
Can you succeed in your mission? What may you lose in the process? Readers will sharpen writing skills by participating and creating the story, learn lots of new vocabulary, develop puzzle skills, and learn a bit of French. Buckle your seatbelt and get ready for the journey of your life.
Publisher’s Synopsis: Wildly funny and inventive, this interactive book pulls you, the reader, into the action. Yes, YOU!
You wake up in the fictional land of Astorya, where stories from our world come to life. You’re a real human being (we assume), and in this fictional world, that makes you a superhero. Armed with your trusty pencil, you have the power to create: what you write, draw, or scribble in the book becomes part of the story!
Only you can rescue Prince S. from the evil Queen Rulette. Aided by the Couriers–a French stoat with dangerous dance moves, a giant dung beetle, a fire ninja, a Pegasus-centaur-cowgirl and a super-intelligent femalien chameleon—you must write, draw, and puzzle your way through a hilarious adventure and prove that the pencil is mightier than the sword.
When the authors tell the reader that this book is like no other in the first sentence, they are not exaggerating. This interactive book places the reader in the driver’s seat; the only requirements are a pencil and an active imagination.
You, as the reader, become the protagonist. You wake up on a beach with no memory of who you are. Next, you find a piece of paper with a message from Prince S., pleading to be rescued. Then you discover a pencil in your pocket.
In this strange world pizzas fly around the sky, trees talk, and you meet a tiny rodent called a stoat named Manteau who speaks French. You find out that you are in the land of Astorya, where everything is a story. The stoat tells you that you must travel to rescue the prince. Along the way to the Fuschia Purple Palace where he is held captive, you will be chased by Rubots, Ninjas, bandits, meet pirates, and work your way through the land of Doodles.
You will be required to use that pencil to write your story. Readers are encouraged to fill in the blanks of scripts written inside this book. As a bonus, young readers can expand their vocabulary and creative writing skills. Andrews helps you to visualize the imaginary characters through his black and white illustrations.
I promise you an exciting journey with lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending. Attention readers ages eight though twelve, buckle your seat belts and sign up for the journey.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alana Harrison and Drew Callander have spent their lives telling stories and cracking jokes. Alana graduated from The College of William and Mary with a degree in Comedic Writing and Performance. Drew graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Fiction Writing. Together they have created cartoons and short films with Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, John Oliver, and Kristen Schaal. Their work as writers and improv comedians has aired on Sirius XM Radio, NBC, and Comedy Central. Mightier Than the Sword is their first book series. They live with their two kids and one exquisitely talented cat (none of whom help with the dishes).
ABOUT THE IllUSTRATOR
Ryan Andrews lives in the Japanese countryside, with his wife, two kids, and their dog, Lucky. A friendly Kodama or two have been known to take up residence in the giant acorn tree that shades the house. Ryan often works at his drawing desk in the early-morning hours, to the sound of rummaging wild boar and badgers, who come from the surrounding forest seeking out shiitake mushrooms and fallen chestnuts.
Nibolene Falls in a Doughnut Hole
by Maria Calanchini
This book is one of the collection of Goop tales based on 52 imaginary creatures called Goops who represent the bad habits of children. Does that make them horrible creatures? You will see that they are charming and adventurous as each of them finds a way to visit an exciting destination. They teach you new vocabulary words and introduce you to fun facts about foreign places. In this particular adventure, Nibolene is a little girl Goop who likes to eat too much.
The author introduces her in a poem:
Ah, Nibolene, Sweet Nibolene,
Was neat and spic and span and clean!
She told the truth, indeed, she did,
And always did as she was bid
Yet, she nibbled like a bull
And soon she felt far too full!
Nibolene’s favorite food is doughnuts. One day while eating one, she fell into the doughnut hole and found herself in a French bakery shop. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. Here she meets Esmeralda, a little French dog who wears a beret and speaks with a French accent. Esmeralda tells Nibolene that she was named after a character in the Hunchback of Notre Dame story. She offers to show Nibolene the famous cathedral, but cautions her to beware of the gargoyles who can come to life if they see something that they don’t like. You might be able to guess what happens when Nibolene falls asleep in the cathedral. She has quite a scary adventure which allows the reader to experience more of the sights of Paris. Will Nibolene ever find her way back to the patisserie and climb back into the doughnut hole that will transport her back to Goop land?
Calanchini delights and entertains her readers, but also provides them with a glossary of French and English vocabulary to help them understand the language and culture. There are beautiful photographs of Parisian foods and landmarks. Younger children will enjoy the silliness of the story, while and older child will appreciate learning about the language, culture and history of Paris, I feel the book would be appropriate for ages 5-12. Calanchini has a website GoopTales.com and a Facebook Goop Tales page. Children are encouraged to watch and listen to Goop Tales or download a partially finished tale and write their own ending. I heartily recommend this highly entertaining and informative series.
December 4, 2022
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