Word After Word After Word

Do you know an elementary school student interested in writing?  Encourage them to pick up Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan.  She’s the author of the Sarah, Plain & Tall series, and a number of other books my children and I love.

Word After Word After Word is the book that came out of countless requests for MacLachlan to write about the writing process.  Instead of writing a non-fiction book, she wrote a short novel about a famous writer visiting a fourth-grade classroom.  The writer encourages the children to write what they know, and the children talk together and write, trying to figure out what they have to say.

It’s a sweet story, made better by short poems at the ends of chapters written by the children in the book.  And, to illustrate different aspects of writing (place, characters, memory, etc), the writer reads parts of books to the class.  Those who have read MacLachlan’s other works will recognize some of the writings.

Aspiring writers, really of any age, will enjoy Word After Word After Word.