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Children's Writer's Word Book
In this revised and expanded 2nd edition, Children's Writer's Word Book helps you immediately determine if you're using the right vocabulary and language for your audience. With its intuitive organization, you'll easily find appropriate words for children of various ages, and discover substitute words that might work even better.
This comprehensive resource keeps you in touch with reading levels for today's kids, and saves you valuable research time by putting all the information you need in one volume. You'll find:
• Lists of specific words that are introduced at seven key reading levels (kindergarten through sixth grade)
• A thesaurus of those words with synonyms, annotated with reading levels
• Detailed guidelines for sentence length, word usage, and themes at each reading level
• A thorough explanation of guidelines for national standards on reading
This new edition also addresses important timely topics of the day, such as disability issues and sensitivity to race, religion, and culture. Other new additions relate to divorce, the concept of death, space exploration, the internet, fantasy and science fiction, ethnic and cultural pride, and much more.
With Children's Writer's Word Book, 2nd edition , you can rest assured you'll be able to address your young audience with a vocabulary and style they'll understand and enjoy—and improve your chances with children's publishers.
This comprehensive resource keeps you in touch with reading levels for today's kids, and saves you valuable research time by putting all the information you need in one volume. You'll find:
• Lists of specific words that are introduced at seven key reading levels (kindergarten through sixth grade)
• A thesaurus of those words with synonyms, annotated with reading levels
• Detailed guidelines for sentence length, word usage, and themes at each reading level
• A thorough explanation of guidelines for national standards on reading
This new edition also addresses important timely topics of the day, such as disability issues and sensitivity to race, religion, and culture. Other new additions relate to divorce, the concept of death, space exploration, the internet, fantasy and science fiction, ethnic and cultural pride, and much more.
With Children's Writer's Word Book, 2nd edition , you can rest assured you'll be able to address your young audience with a vocabulary and style they'll understand and enjoy—and improve your chances with children's publishers.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1992
43 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 8, 2008
A good source for some ideas. I usually don't read books on writing: cramps my style. But it's always good to have these reference books if you get stuck or need a first-grade word for "spectacular". But at the same time, this is not a science. Words in the real world don't stay in a particular age group. And if you rely too much on these types of books it will hinder the flow of ideas. Nothing worse than flowing with a particular character or story line and then stopping for a word check. So use this and any other word-reference book judiciously. Let your intuitive voice guide you and avoid suggestion(s) that collide with it that knock you out of the flow. Good writing.
April 20, 2015
This is my go-to book for the write words. I'm not talking about dumbing down for the kids, I'm talking about meeting the children at their reading level. Let's face it, if a book is too hard to read, the kid won't think reading is fun.
This book helped me write stories that encourage kids to read.
This book helped me write stories that encourage kids to read.
August 30, 2011
A how to book for writing books and stories for children. It also evaluates children's vocabulary.
January 8, 2014
This is a great reference book when writing for children or for people with low-level English. It was an invaluable resource when I was working on writing assignments for a children's writing class.
May 8, 2021
Great must have resource for all children's book writers! Helps to to review and choose vocabulary words appropriate to each grade level that you are writing for.
October 7, 2020
An excellent resource for children's writers, especially those who write nonfiction. My favorite section is the thesaurus, where you can look up any word, find out what grade level it's appropriate for, and choose an alternate word for older or younger kids. So, for example, if you want to say that something is "accurate", a word that's introduced in the 6th grade, but you're writing for younger kids, you can try true (Kindergarten), exact (2nd), correct (3rd), or without error (4th).
The book also has lists of words by grade (with guidance on how and what children learn at each age and what kinds of writing is appropriate), an overview of the children's writing market, information on national standards, and a giant alphabetical list of words with their grade level identified.
The book also has lists of words by grade (with guidance on how and what children learn at each age and what kinds of writing is appropriate), an overview of the children's writing market, information on national standards, and a giant alphabetical list of words with their grade level identified.
April 28, 2022
Great resource for upcoming children's authors like me. Lots of helpful content.
February 21, 2024
I simply LOVE this book! It is indispensable as a children's book writer. What I love is that it breaks down words into grade levels and provides "bigger" words for generating ideas.
October 2, 2014
The Children's Writer's Word Book was recommended by my MA Tutor, author Sara Grant, while I was studying writing for 5 to 8 year olds. However it's appropriate for a broad range of ages from kindergarten through to 6th grade. That's ages 5 to 12 for those not familiar with the American school system. It's a good resource if you have doubts about the vocabulary you are using for the age ability you are writing for. There's also a useful thesaurus listing age appropriate alternatives if you do find yourself stuck. Users of UK English may want to not that the spellings are in US English, but that doesn't detract from the books usefulness. My only warning is to not become too seduced into using it all the time or you may find your work becomes stifled, but save it for the revision stage of your writing.
December 11, 2015
This is a go-to book for me when
I'm writing a book for a targeted age range. I want to make sure I'm using words my readers will understand. This book guides me in my word choices and gives me alternatives when I'm off target.
I'm writing a book for a targeted age range. I want to make sure I'm using words my readers will understand. This book guides me in my word choices and gives me alternatives when I'm off target.
March 13, 2010
Used daily as I write middle grade non-fiction!
June 14, 2015
Have used my present copy often for tutoring as well as writing childrens' books, I am happy to disclose that I am looking forward to purchasing an updated version.
December 16, 2020
I actually have the first edition, but still invaluable when working with reading levels.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews