Writers Express: A Handbook for Young Writers, Thinkers, and Learners

I received a book that was probably chewed up by a dog and has some sort of mildew growing on it.

I bought this hardcover to replace an old soft-cover that has seen better days. It's a great reference book for kids of all ages.

Out of all the resources I was exposed to during my time in college (elementary education) this is my most treasured. It is thorough, entertaining, accurate, and creative. It not only covers the writing process wonderfully (and it surely does that), but is overflowing with tips and tools to help the writer/student: tips on giving speeches, performing poems, test taking strategies, planning a writing portfolio, conferencing with partners about your writing, developing a personal writing style, conducting interviews, story elements, reading strategies, tips to improve listening and thinking skills, how to manage your time, just to name a few... It is exhaustive in covering the various forms of writing (a sampling: persuasive and expository paragraphs, narratives, letters, poems, journals, newspaper articles, family stories, book reviews, observation reports, fantasies, tall tales, historical fiction, even writing songs and plays...) Beyond the writing process itself, you will find information on all sorts of things: writing conventions, parts of speech (including every single preposition, predicate adjectives, direct objects and the like), synonyms, homophones, contractions, all the different types of pronouns, on and on... But more than being an indispensable resource, it has a cool presentation. Students will actually enjoy reading from this book, and get excited about their writing. It's not your typical dry text most students at any level are subjected to. This is good for everybody. The teacher (public or homeschool). The student (especially one struggling to enjoy writing). And the writers among us. I wouldn't put any age limit on it. I've used it to homeschool. I'll be using it in the public school classroom soon. And I refer to it with my own writing. As a teacher I wish every child had their own copy. Get this. You won't be disappointed. You'll wish you stumbled upon it a lot sooner.

This is a superb book if you have an aspiring writer or just a child who likes to use words. It is laid out in a cute, fun and easy to read style. The pictures are delightful! Even if your child is a bit resistant to reading this book, the pictures will engage him or her.You and your child will find such helpful information. He'll learn how to pick a subject and how to proofread a final draft. This book isn't just for the aspiriting author but is also wonderful to use in elementary school to get those papers done!Your child will learn how to start a journal (a terrific way of expressing oneself), write a poem, (riddle or play) or write a fantasy story. He will also learn how to get ready to take a test with some test taking skills.There is a section on how to use capital letters and punctuation and finally full color maps, an historical time-line and the metric system. Other helpful sections in the book include helping your child manage his time, writing a speech. The one negative is that there is a section on using the card catelogue in the library. This book was written in 1995 and although many schools still use them, children are learning to look up books through the computer. I definitely recommend this book to have in your home to help your child with his writing skills or to inspire the budding author. If you are a teacher this is a great book to have in the classroom.

I have 3 boys who dislike writing. It's frustrating to get them to think of ideas to write about even in their daily school journals. This book makes thinking of ideas fun and helps to know how to write them. I borrowed Writers Express from a friend after being told it was great. I then purchased Write Source 2000, as I was unsure of the age appropriateness. Write Source 2000 is great for 6th grade and above because it is less cartoon-like and has higher level information. Writers Express is perfect for 2nd grade and above. Much of the information is overlapping, but written age-appropriately.

It's not often that a middle schooler wants to buy a reference book. When our daughter saw her younger brother's book it reminded her of its value when she was in his grade. Not only did she request that we buy the book, she requested a hard cover copy because the soft cover had worn significantly on her school copy. She wants to be able to use it for some time to come.

This is a great resource book for anyone teaching their child at home or for those of us who don't know all our grammar rules. It has tons of valuable information presented in an easy to read and understand format. I ordered one after I got a look at my son's from school.