Children's Book Review: *S is for Story* by Esther Hershenhorn

• S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet written by Esther Hershenhorn; illustrated by Zachary Pullen
• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press (September 9, 2009)
• ISBN-13: 978-1585364398

Back-of-the-book blurb: What is a first draft? What is a writer’s notebook? Author Esther Hershenhorn uses the alphabet to help explain, explore and examines the tools, techniques and strategies for those hoping to live the literary life. Budding writers of all ages will be inspired to put pen to paper (or fingers on keyboards)!

She Is Too Fond of Books’ review: My 6-year-old came home from school earlier this week, proudly waving a finished piece of writing, “I’m an author! I’m an author!” he grinned.  Oh, how I love the Writer’s Workshop program taught in our elementary schools.  Students go through the processes of free writing and revising, then they “publish” their finished pieces and share them aloud.  What a wonderful empowerment!

This was a great time for us to revisit a favorite ‘alphabet’ book from Sleeping Bear Press. S is for Story follows the same format as the other alphabet books I’ve reviewed (E is for Eiffel Tower, J is for Jack-o-Lantern, S is for Shamrock, V is for Venus Flytrap).  Each letter represents something significant to the writer (a = alphabet, b = book, c = character, etc.).  A short verse (great for read-alouds) accompanies the illustration in the center of the page, while longer expository text is on the sidebars.

For example, the letter W:

W’s for Word Choice
It’s never either/or.
The word just right
makes writing tight,
ensuring stories soar.

Sidebar text explains that

Writers build stories, word by word, sentence by sentence.  Skilled writers choose their words carefully.

Does your character walk or shuffle, stroll or strut?  Is the day hot or humid or suffocating?  Think what you want your reader to sense and know.  Specific words create specific images.

The sidebar continues, explaining the use of reference materials (thesaurus, dictionary) and encourages writers to take care when choosing character names as well.

Many of the pages include “A Writer’s Tip”; in this case, “if you set your story in another time, read books and newspapers from that period to find words and names people used.”  The book also contains relevant quotes from authors such as Mark Twain, Kate DiCamillo, and Lewis Carroll.

As with many books from this publisher, S is for Story has a Teacher’s Guide available online.  Most of the worksheets can be used outside the classroom; a nice supplement for home-schoolers and those who enjoy pencil/word games.

Esther Hershenhorn‘s text is informative and fun to read.  Many nuggets in those longer sidebars can be appreciated by both beginning and more experienced writers.  The verses are catchy, encouraging quotes that might do me good when stumbling over writer’s block!

Zachary Pullen‘s illustrations are detailed and delightful.  For the most part his characters are young people, the main audience for this book. The people in his drawing have slightly oversized heads which fully capture their facial expressions.

I’ll likely bring S is for Story to read these center verses and share the illustrations when I next visit the Kindergarten class as a “guest reader.”  Do take a look at it – it’s appropriate for all ages, from the youngest making their first marks on a page, to older students, and even to adult friends who may be working on a draft of longer stories or a novel.