Once Upon a Time: Creative Writing For Kids

by Annie Buckley and Cathy Law

Chronicle Books, September, 2004.
Hardcover, pages.
ISBN: 0811842274
Ages 8 and up

Once Upon a Time: Creative Writing For Kids by Annie Buckley and Cathy Law

So how do you teach creative writing to very young children? Creative Writing Fun for Kids uses an an outstanding method for introducing grade school children to the basics of fiction writing. The colorful cards teach story construction in a fun way. First, one draws a How To card, such as "Great Beginnings". The card explains the beginnings of a story, gives examples, asks the children how each beginning makes them feel etc. Then they are told to pick a Character card, a Setting card and an Object card to use with the new story. The cards lead the child through the plotting, all the way up to the ending. This would make a marvelous project for the classroom or at home on the weekends. With 50 cards, the ideas are really endless. Who knows, maybe you'll create your own little Shakespeare, Austen or Hemingway.

Once Upon a Time: Creative Writing For Kids is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the November-December, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.