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Write! Write! Write!
A NCTE Notable Poetry Book
Twenty-two poems capture the amazing power of writing and will inspire even the most reluctant writer to begin putting words to paper.
Write! Write! Write! is a poetry collection that explores every stage and every aspect of the writing process, from learning the alphabet to the thrilling moment of writing a thought for the first time, from writer's block to finding inspiration, and from revision to stapling your finished work into a book. These poems also celebrate how writing teaches patience, helps express opinions, and allows us to imagine the impossible. This book, brimming with imagination and wonder, will leave readers eager to grab a pen, pencil, or keyboard--and write!
Twenty-two poems capture the amazing power of writing and will inspire even the most reluctant writer to begin putting words to paper.
Write! Write! Write! is a poetry collection that explores every stage and every aspect of the writing process, from learning the alphabet to the thrilling moment of writing a thought for the first time, from writer's block to finding inspiration, and from revision to stapling your finished work into a book. These poems also celebrate how writing teaches patience, helps express opinions, and allows us to imagine the impossible. This book, brimming with imagination and wonder, will leave readers eager to grab a pen, pencil, or keyboard--and write!
32 pages, Hardcover
Published March 17, 2020
About the author
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
12 books109 followersAmy Ludwig VanDerwater is author of several poetry books for children including Forest Has a Song, With My Hands, Read! Read! Read!, With My Hands, Write! Write! Write!, and If This Bird Had Pockets: A Poem in Your Pocket Day Celebration. In addition, she is author of picture books Every Day Birds, Dreaming of You, That Missing Feeling, poems in many anthologies, and popular classroom blogs The Poem Farm and Sharing Our Notebooks. Her newest book is The Sound of Kindness (August 2023).
Having studied and worked at the Teachers College Writing Project at Columbia University, Amy has been an elementary school teacher (years ago and again during COVID) and is author of the Heinemann professional book Poems Are Teachers: How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres and co-author, with Lucy Calkins and Stephanie Parsons, of Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages. For 23 years, she has led writing workshops and has taught lessons celebrating the power and joy of words.
Amy lives on an old farm in Holland, NY with her husband, sometimes a child or two, and a handful of sweet pets. You can find her knitting, baking, or picking blackberries. Find her online at https://linktr.ee/amylvpoemfarm,
Having studied and worked at the Teachers College Writing Project at Columbia University, Amy has been an elementary school teacher (years ago and again during COVID) and is author of the Heinemann professional book Poems Are Teachers: How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres and co-author, with Lucy Calkins and Stephanie Parsons, of Poetry: Big Thoughts in Small Packages. For 23 years, she has led writing workshops and has taught lessons celebrating the power and joy of words.
Amy lives on an old farm in Holland, NY with her husband, sometimes a child or two, and a handful of sweet pets. You can find her knitting, baking, or picking blackberries. Find her online at https://linktr.ee/amylvpoemfarm,
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 25, 2020
Write! Write! Write! is a collection of poems penned by one of my favorite poets, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater about all things writing. It starts with the alphabet and the formation of words strung together as sentences, covers finding and growing ideas, scrapping with writer's block, and writing as a way to use your voice. Write! Write! Write! is sure to inspire the reader to consider their own creativity through the power of writing.
There are 22 poems in all for you to enjoy and they each highlight different aspects of writing. One of my favorite poems is Writing About Reading, perhaps because it speaks to two things I enjoy doing 1) Reading and then 2) Writing about what I'm reading.
Excerpt from Writing About Reading:
My notes are my breadcrumbs.
Each one is a sign
guiding me back
to words on the shelf
leading me deep
into books and myself.
Another one that spoke to my heart was Anything Can Grow, with my favorite line being:
I compose a peaceful song
when news is shouting war
I noticed the recommendation was for kindergarten through 4th grade but I think that 5th grade students would enjoy it too. I can see it as a text to share, one poem at a time as you see fit, as a read-aloud for Writer's Workshop. And although I haven't read it yet, I predict that I will want to pair it with Kate Messner's book, How to Write a Story.
Checkout Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's site (https://www.amyludwigvanderwater.com/...) to view the book trailer for Write! Write! Write! and to learn more about Ryan O'Rourke's process as the illustrator. I adored his thoughtful, cheerful illustrations.
There are 22 poems in all for you to enjoy and they each highlight different aspects of writing. One of my favorite poems is Writing About Reading, perhaps because it speaks to two things I enjoy doing 1) Reading and then 2) Writing about what I'm reading.
Excerpt from Writing About Reading:
My notes are my breadcrumbs.
Each one is a sign
guiding me back
to words on the shelf
leading me deep
into books and myself.
Another one that spoke to my heart was Anything Can Grow, with my favorite line being:
I compose a peaceful song
when news is shouting war
I noticed the recommendation was for kindergarten through 4th grade but I think that 5th grade students would enjoy it too. I can see it as a text to share, one poem at a time as you see fit, as a read-aloud for Writer's Workshop. And although I haven't read it yet, I predict that I will want to pair it with Kate Messner's book, How to Write a Story.
Checkout Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's site (https://www.amyludwigvanderwater.com/...) to view the book trailer for Write! Write! Write! and to learn more about Ryan O'Rourke's process as the illustrator. I adored his thoughtful, cheerful illustrations.
October 1, 2020
I have already used so many poems from this with my 4th grade students! From writer's block to revising to finding good ideas to creating with your words to writing opinion, this collection of poems is perfect for any writing workshop class! This will be a book I will pull out and use to jumpstart many different writing lessons for years to come! #LitReviewCrew
November 22, 2021
This poetry picturebook both tells a cute story about a love for words, as well as gives information about different types of writing. I think this would be a very fun and effective read aloud for elementary students before a writing lesson, as I believe it may spark a burst of excitement for writing.
January 18, 2020
EVERY writer in ever writing workshop needs this book. You'll be inspired, encouraged, and tickled (see "If I Were an Octopus")
March 6, 2021
Beautifully illustrated poetry book with the message everyone is a writer and everyone has a story to tell. Perfect for writers young and old!
July 11, 2020
This book is full of creative poems about writing, and I enjoyed it a lot. The illustrations include lots of diverse children, and the poems are broad in their coverage and appeal, addressing multiple methods of writing and covering different writing interests. My favorite poem was the very relatable one about editing, and my second favorite was written from the perspective of a child's journal.
Some of these poems flow better than others, but they are all creative and upbeat, with positive messages about imagination, hard work, and perseverance. This is a great book for children who are interested in writing, and adults will enjoy it as well.
Some of these poems flow better than others, but they are all creative and upbeat, with positive messages about imagination, hard work, and perseverance. This is a great book for children who are interested in writing, and adults will enjoy it as well.
July 18, 2020
Creative and fun! A great title for introducing children to poetry as well as encouraging kids to write.
July 16, 2020
Perfect mentor text for writing workshop!
October 14, 2020
Charming book of poems to encourage young writers.
A variety of poetry styles that capture the challenge and joy of the writing process.
Encourages everyone to write and believe in themselves.
A variety of poetry styles that capture the challenge and joy of the writing process.
Encourages everyone to write and believe in themselves.
September 27, 2022
We absolutely loved this one! Writing and reading theme! The poems were creative & intelligent. This is one I need to own.
April 28, 2020
Amy's book, Read! Read! Read!, came out a few years ago. I returned to read it again after reading this brand new one, all about writing. Some people narrow the definitions of 'reading' or 'writing', looking at these processes as single acts, but not Amy. Luckily for readers of all ages, and especially now that teachers and students are doing their studies screen to screen, Amy has written a book full of poems that feel like a basket of fruit, all different, but yes, all fruit (writing).
The poem before the title page becomes the invitation to take the alphabet, "a puzzle –/full of mystery/full of glory", to mix "endless worlds/from 26". Through every page, the writing process lives in Amy's metaphors. You can discover building blocks in "Timeline" where "Writing a sentence/is building a tower"; and gardening in "Anything Can Grow" that tells "When I plant a writing seed/anything can grow". Clever choices from start to finish take every reader on the journey in writing from that opening alphabet, through creating ideas to having patience to the final celebration of a pen, "And when he reads, the boy can see/the pen has set his stories free."
For all the teachers creating online lessons for this next and final month of the year, this book to share will remind students of the joy of the writing process, poem by poem, all the days through to a celebrated final product. The imaginative final poem, "Truth", leaves an invitation for everyone to open a door: "Everything has a door./We write our way in./We do./Each word is a key./It is."
With pages full of a diversity of children, and occasionally animals and adults, Ryan O' Rourke makes magic in his illustrations with Amy's poems. There are those building blocks of words, a tree filled from which to choose "Ideas (like Peaches"), and a fabulous double-page spread of an octopus, a notebook and pencil for each tentacle! That poem and page itself inspires a writing time for "If I were. . ." Thanks to Amy and Ryan for a new writing book that will be a joy to have in every classroom!
The poem before the title page becomes the invitation to take the alphabet, "a puzzle –/full of mystery/full of glory", to mix "endless worlds/from 26". Through every page, the writing process lives in Amy's metaphors. You can discover building blocks in "Timeline" where "Writing a sentence/is building a tower"; and gardening in "Anything Can Grow" that tells "When I plant a writing seed/anything can grow". Clever choices from start to finish take every reader on the journey in writing from that opening alphabet, through creating ideas to having patience to the final celebration of a pen, "And when he reads, the boy can see/the pen has set his stories free."
For all the teachers creating online lessons for this next and final month of the year, this book to share will remind students of the joy of the writing process, poem by poem, all the days through to a celebrated final product. The imaginative final poem, "Truth", leaves an invitation for everyone to open a door: "Everything has a door./We write our way in./We do./Each word is a key./It is."
With pages full of a diversity of children, and occasionally animals and adults, Ryan O' Rourke makes magic in his illustrations with Amy's poems. There are those building blocks of words, a tree filled from which to choose "Ideas (like Peaches"), and a fabulous double-page spread of an octopus, a notebook and pencil for each tentacle! That poem and page itself inspires a writing time for "If I were. . ." Thanks to Amy and Ryan for a new writing book that will be a joy to have in every classroom!
December 1, 2021
Accessed via Epic
This anthology of poems focuses on the writing process. Poem topics range from the editing process and finding inspiration to different kinds of writing such as thank you notes and opinion pieces. Each poem follows a different structure or form. There are acrostic poems, poems that rhyme, concrete poems, dialogue poems, form poems, and free verse. Throughout the book, there are examples of how language can be used, not only in poetry but other forms of writing as well. Onomatopoeia, alliteration, similes, metaphors, rhyme, rhythm, different forms of capitalization and Children will love paging through this NCTE Notable Poetry Book!
In the classroom, this text could serve a variety of purposes. Teachers can use this text to serve as inspiration for every stage of the writing process. Students would enjoy reading through it, especially students who might be frustrated by the writing process. They might find inspiration or motivation! Additionally, teachers can use this text to teach about poetry. Since there are countless examples of different types of poetry and elements of poetry teachers can always make a connection to their learning objective. This anthology would also be wonderful and fun in a classroom library!
This anthology of poems focuses on the writing process. Poem topics range from the editing process and finding inspiration to different kinds of writing such as thank you notes and opinion pieces. Each poem follows a different structure or form. There are acrostic poems, poems that rhyme, concrete poems, dialogue poems, form poems, and free verse. Throughout the book, there are examples of how language can be used, not only in poetry but other forms of writing as well. Onomatopoeia, alliteration, similes, metaphors, rhyme, rhythm, different forms of capitalization and Children will love paging through this NCTE Notable Poetry Book!
In the classroom, this text could serve a variety of purposes. Teachers can use this text to serve as inspiration for every stage of the writing process. Students would enjoy reading through it, especially students who might be frustrated by the writing process. They might find inspiration or motivation! Additionally, teachers can use this text to teach about poetry. Since there are countless examples of different types of poetry and elements of poetry teachers can always make a connection to their learning objective. This anthology would also be wonderful and fun in a classroom library!
May 10, 2022
This book is a 2023 Beehive Award Nominee at our library. I'm not a great poetry lover but I need poems for a weekly meeting, so I'm always on the prowl! I enjoyed a lot of these poems, aiming at inspiring the next generations of young writers. My favorite poem was FINAL EDIT. I am not a writer but I can imagine having to review and edit your work so that it perfectly says what you want to say, with good and proper English!
"I revised.
Now I must edit.
I always do.
I should not dread it."
I found this applies in many aspects of my life as I'm constantly trying to "edit" my actions so that I can near my goal of being a decent human being.
"But I don't like it.
There. I said it."
I loved the honest ending. No, it's not easy and we would rather get a pass but it's necessary and it's okay to say you don't like it. You do it anyway because it will result in your best writing, in your best self.
"I revised.
Now I must edit.
I always do.
I should not dread it."
I found this applies in many aspects of my life as I'm constantly trying to "edit" my actions so that I can near my goal of being a decent human being.
"But I don't like it.
There. I said it."
I loved the honest ending. No, it's not easy and we would rather get a pass but it's necessary and it's okay to say you don't like it. You do it anyway because it will result in your best writing, in your best self.
October 30, 2021
Write! Write! Write! Won the 2020 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry award and it is also a NCTE Notable poetry book. This is a book full of different poems about writing and it will definitely give readers inspiration for writing. I think these poems are great for children who have trouble writing because they aren’t too long to the point where the children would get bored of reading them and it has a lot of useful information in them like how to start your writing and how to revise and finish a paper. I would definitely put this in my classroom library as a useful tool for writing and you can also have some in class writing assignments that are branched off of this book.
December 17, 2021
This book of poems is intended for children 5-9 years old. The book of poems is about inspiring young readers to write. This book is appealing to young readers through the author's use of playful illustrations, using diverse children and other whimsical images as a guide to get them to understand the various stages of the writing process. This book is excellent to use as an aid for children 5-9 years old who are learning to write. I especially like how the book suggest that the children surrounds themselves with objects that makes them comfortable in order to start thinking of ideas to write down.
November 3, 2022
Published March 17, 2020
Poetry book
I think this book is super cute and can be super helpful for students. I would keep this book in my classroom library but also use these poems before writing lessons because I think it could really help students with writing block or to help get their creativity flowing! This is a great way for students to look at writing in a more positive light if they struggle to do so.
Poetry book
I think this book is super cute and can be super helpful for students. I would keep this book in my classroom library but also use these poems before writing lessons because I think it could really help students with writing block or to help get their creativity flowing! This is a great way for students to look at writing in a more positive light if they struggle to do so.
November 9, 2021
I loved this poetry book. It is a collection of poems that is inspiring to a writer or even a student who isn't so sure about writing. I especially loved a couple in it: Our Alphabet in the forward and My Little Sister Writes. This is adorable and I would love to share a poem a day out of it during a poetry unit!
Genre: Poetry Year:2020
Genre: Poetry Year:2020
November 29, 2022
Published 2021
NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award
Poetry
I have never read a poetry book that could be so related to academics for a young child. From the alphabet to the final edit, I found so much poetry that could be incorporated into the many stages of early writing. These poems can be used to inspire students to write and use their imagination which I really enjoyed.
NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award
Poetry
I have never read a poetry book that could be so related to academics for a young child. From the alphabet to the final edit, I found so much poetry that could be incorporated into the many stages of early writing. These poems can be used to inspire students to write and use their imagination which I really enjoyed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2023
This is the most amazing book about the process of writing and what it means to be a writer. Each poem (and its accompanying illustrations) is beautiful and highlights an element of writing and why writing is so important. I absolutely loved everything about this book!
November 2, 2020
This book is wonderful! Highly recommend.
Great in an elementary / middle school setting to inspire young writers.
Would pair well with Lucy Calkins Writers' Workshop.
Great in an elementary / middle school setting to inspire young writers.
Would pair well with Lucy Calkins Writers' Workshop.
January 26, 2022
Charming collection of poems about writing, good for elementary students.
May 4, 2022
A fun collection of poetry to ignite the creative muse in young writers.
August 4, 2020
Another example of excellent poetry which is likely going to miss its best audience. These poems are all about writing (pretty obvious), and they address editing, annotating, and spending too much time on phones rather than F2F connections. Not exactly the stuff for primary students, but the illustrations are mostly babyish -- children of all skin tones are depicted plucking ideas like peaches from a tree, cuddling a cat, and typing on a laptop. Picture book format and illustrations will dissuade use by its best potential appreciators -- middle grade and junior high educators and students. Poetry collections for young people should be published in two formats (my ultimate dream) - a picture book version and a small, less illustrated, version to appeal to older readers.
"Final edit"
I revised./Now I must edit./I always do./I should not dread it./I read out loud to help me hear/what sounds imperfect to my ear --/an extra word/a misused phrase/one sentence that feels like a maze./I read again. What do I see?/Superfluous apostrophe?...
"Final edit"
I revised./Now I must edit./I always do./I should not dread it./I read out loud to help me hear/what sounds imperfect to my ear --/an extra word/a misused phrase/one sentence that feels like a maze./I read again. What do I see?/Superfluous apostrophe?...
February 4, 2020
I am so thankful to have had an F&G sneak peek at this book! It is full of beautiful sentiments that will reach and resonate with both the reluctant writers and those who already love to write, write write. Line after line are ready to inspire writers of every kind! Be sure not to miss a single poem, especially “Revision is” and “Conversation”.
I know now why people before me didn’t want to pass this book on to the next reader. It is absolutely something special! It deserves a place in every classroom and as a part of all writers’ workshops.
I know now why people before me didn’t want to pass this book on to the next reader. It is absolutely something special! It deserves a place in every classroom and as a part of all writers’ workshops.
January 13, 2020
Thank you to the author, illustrator & publisher for sharing a F & G advanced copy with #bookexpedition.
This picture book is full of poems that celebrate the power that writing brings to every aged writer. With gorgeous oil paint illustrations that match the mood of every poem, this will be a definite purchase for my classroom library.
My favorite lines:
I make marks with one wish-
that a person will look
that a reader will giggle
remember
reflect.
The reason I write?
To connect.
This picture book is full of poems that celebrate the power that writing brings to every aged writer. With gorgeous oil paint illustrations that match the mood of every poem, this will be a definite purchase for my classroom library.
My favorite lines:
I make marks with one wish-
that a person will look
that a reader will giggle
remember
reflect.
The reason I write?
To connect.
January 20, 2020
Where do I even begin to describe this beautiful book about the power of words? I was so moved and motivated by this book and it made me want to get up and write my own story. We need more books out there that really show kids (and adults) that writing is for everyone and sometimes, it is the simple act of putting pencil to page to get us going. Thank you for sending a copy to the LitReviewCrew in exchange for an honest review!
January 19, 2020
I can't wait to own a copy of this for my 7th grade students! People of any age will love the poems in this book and when they're done reading, they'll be inspired to write! The illustrations are also brilliant and celebrate diversity. Many types of people are represented in these pages!
April 14, 2021
I love this beautiful book of poems. It's an inspiration to write and shows different ways to use your creativity, to escape writers block, and use your voice. The illustrations are also wonderful and this book is a must have for all inspiring writers out there.
April 25, 2021
A wonderfully inspirational poetry collection introducing young readers to a variety of writing forms and processes, guiding aspiring writers through brainstorming, revision, editing, and sharing their work.
April 27, 2021
We really enjoyed this book. It is filled with short poems all about writing. Really simple inspiration and encouragement to write. They are not all masterpieces, but great for a poetry study or just encouraging kids to write. I like it enough to add it to my home library one day.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews