Books to Teach Writer's Craft with In Grades K-5

Approaches to Writing
Andrews-Goebel, Nancy. 2002. The Pot that Juan Built. Illustrated by David Diaz. NY: Lee & Low Books.
Burleigh, Robert. 2006. Tiger of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay: The Boy Whose Dream Was Everest. Illustrated by Ed Young. New York: Atheneum Books.
Dorros, Arthur. 1997. Radio Man/Don Radio. NY: Harper Trophy.
Highway, Tomson. 2010. Fox on the Ice. Illustrated by Brian Deines. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside (Bilingual: English and Cree).
Giovanni, Nikki. 2005. Rosa. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York: Holt.
Hill, Laban Carrick. 2010. Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. NY: Little, Brown & Company.
Mannis, Celeste Davidson. 2005. One Leaf Rides the Wind: Counting in a Japanese Garden. Illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung. New York: Puffin.
Miller, William. 2001. Rent Party Jazz. Illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb. NY: Lee & Low Books.
Nelson, S.D. 2006. Quiet Hero: The Ira Hayes Story. NY: Lee & Low Books.
Raschka, Chris. 1992. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. NY: Scholastic.
Ringgold, Faith. 2003. If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks. New York: Aladdin.
Rubin, Susan Goldman. 2009. Jacob Lawrence in the City. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
Young, Ed. 2005. Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem About China. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle.


The Sounds of Language
Battle-Lavert, Gwendolyn. 2003. Papa’s Mark. Illustrated by Colin Bootman. New York: Holiday House.
Buchanan, Ken. 1991. This House is Made of Mud/Esta casa está hecha de lodo. Illustrated by Libra Tracy. Translated by Patricia Hinton Davison. Flagstaff, AZ: Luna Rising.
Forman, Ruth. 2007. Young Cornrows Callin Out the Moon. Illustrated by Cbabi Bayoc. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Gunning, Monica. 1999. Not a Copper Penny in Me House: Poems from the Caribbean. Illus- trated by Frane Lessac. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
hooks, bell. 2004. Skin Again. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. New York: Hyperion.
Lord, Michelle. 2006. Little Sap and Monsieur Rodin. Illustrated by Felicia Hoshino. New York: Lee & Low.
Luján, Jorge. 2006. Tarde de invierno/Winter afternoon. Illustrated by Mandana Sadat. Tornoto: Groundwood Books.
Mora, Pat. 2007. Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué rico! Americas’Sproutings. Illustrated by Rafael López. NY: Lee & Low.
Nye, Naomi, Shihab. 1997. Sitti’s Secrets. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. NewYork: Alladin.
Santiago, Chiori. 2002. Home to Medicine Mountain. Illustrated by Judith Lowry. San Francisco, CA: Chil- dren’s Book Press.
Schertle, Alice. 2007. We. Illustrated by Kenneth Addison. NY: Lee & Low.
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. Jingle Dancer. Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. NY: Morrow.
Williams, Shirley Anne. 1997. Working Cotton. Illustrated by Carole Byard. Orlando, FL: Voyager.
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2001. The Other Side. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. New York: Putnam.

Text Crafting
Ashley, Bryan. 1996. Sing to the Sun. NY: Harper Trophy.
Brown, Monica. 2004. My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz. Illustrated by Rafael López. Flagstaff, AZ: Luna Rising.
Bruchac, Joseph. 2006. Wabi: A Hero’s Tale. NY: Dial.
Buchmann, Stephen & Diana Cohn. 2007. The Bee Tree. Illustrated by Paul Mirocha. El Paso: Cinco Puntos.
Campbell, Nicola I. 2005. Shi-shi-etko. Illustrated by Kim La- Fave. Translated by David Unger. Toronto, ON: Groundwood.
Cohn, Diana. 2002. ¡Si, Se Puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A. Illustrated by Francisco Delgado. El Paso: Cinco Puntos.
Gunning, Monica. 2004. A Shelter in Our Car. Illustrated by Elaine Pedlar. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Hayes, Joe. 2006. The Gum Chewing Rattler. Illustrated by Antonio Castro L. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos.
Herrera, Juan Felipe. 2004. Featherless/ Desplumado. Illustrated by Ernesto Cuevas, Jr. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press.
Hopkinson, Deborah. 1999. A Band of Angels: A Story Inspired by the Jubilee Singers. Illustrated by Raúl Cólon. New York: Athe- neum.
Hubbard, Crystal. 2005. Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream. Illustrated by Randy DuBurke. New York: Lee & Low.
Keeler, Patricia A and Júlio T. Leitão. 2006. Drumbeat in Our Feet. Illustrated by Patricia A. Keeler. NY: Lee & Low.
Khan, Rukhsana. 1988. The Roses in My Carpets. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
Krishnaswami, Uma. 2006. Closet Ghosts. Illustrated by Shi-raaz Bhabha. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Ryan, Pam Muñoz. 2002. When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. Illustrated by Brian Selznick. New York: Scholastic
Sun, Yung Shin. 2004. Cooper’s Lesson. Kim Cogan. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Taylor, Gaylia. 2006. George Crum and the Saratoga Chip. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. New York: Lee & Low.
Williams, Mary. 2005. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Illustrated by Gregory
Christie. NY: Lee & Low.

Text Structure

Cheng, Andrea. 2004. Honeysuckle House. Asheville, NC: Front Street.
Pinkney, Andrea Davis with Scat Cat Monroe. 2002. Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuoso. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. New York: Hyperion.
Reynolds, Jan. 2006. Celebrate! Connections among Cultures. New York: Lee & Low.
Schotter, Roni. 1997. Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street. Illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker. New York: Orchard.
Tran, Truong. 2003. Going Home, Coming Home/Ve Nha, Tham Que Huong. Illustrated by Ann Phong
Van Camp, Richard. 2003. What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses? Illustrated by George Littlechild. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press.
Weatherford, Carole Boston. 2006. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. New York: Hyperion.
Wight, Al. 2005. Do Mice Eat Rice? Illustrated by Roger Clarke. Boston, MA: Tuttle Publishing.

Ways with Genre

Alarcón, Francisco X. 2005. Poems to Dream Together/ Poemas para soñar juntos. Illustrated by Paula Bar- ragán. NY: Lee & Low Books.
Arcellana, Francisco. 1999 [1938]. The Mats. Illustrated by Hermès Alègrè. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller.
Bley, Anette. 2007. And What Comes After a Thousand?   La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller.
Bruchac, Joseph (Abenaki). 2000. Pushing up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children. Illustrated by Teresa Flavin. New York: Dial.
Crews, Donald. 1991. Bigmama’s. NY: Greenwillow Books.
Hinojosa, Tish. 2002. Cada Niño/ Every Child: A Bilingual Songbook for Kids. Illustrated by Lucia Angela Perez. El Paso: Cinco Puntos.
Hurston, Zora Neale. 2006. The Six Fools. Adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas. Illustrated by Ann Tanksley. New York: HarperCollins.
Krach, Maywan Shen. 1997. D Is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture. Illustrated by Hongbin Zhang. Arcadia, CA: Shen’s Books.
Liu, Jae Soo. 2002. Yellow Umbrella. Music by Don Il Sheen. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller. (CD included).
Mora, Pat. 1997. Tomás and the Library Lady. Illustrated by Raul Colón. New York: Knopf.
Muse, Daphne. 2005. Entrance Place of Wonders: Poems of the Harlem Renaissance. Illustrated by CharloteeRiley-Webb. NY: Abrams Books.
Myers, Walter Dean. 1996. Brown Angels: An Album of Pictures and Verse. New York: HarperTrophy.
Pinkney, Andrea Davis. 2000. Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters. Illustrated by StephenAlcorn. San Diego: Harcourt.
Shea, Pegi Deitz and Cynthia Weill. 2003. Ten Mice for Tet. Illustrations by Tô Ngoc Trang. Embroidery by PhamViet Dinh. San Francisco: Chronicle.
Steltzer, Ulli. 1999. Building an Igloo. NY: Henry Holt & Co.
Sweet, Melissa. 2005. Carmine: A Little More Red. Boston: Houghton.
Thong, Roseanne. 2005. Round Is a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes. Illustrated by Grace Lin. NY: Scholastic.
Tingle, Tim. 2006. Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom. Illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos.
Velasquez, Eric. 2001. Grandma’s Records. NY: Walker.
Winter, Jeanette. 2006. Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book. Orlando, FL: Voyager.
Yoo, Paula. 2005. Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story. Illustrated by Dom Lee. NY: Lee & Low.


Conventions of Language
Bruno, Elsa Knight. 2009. Punctuation Celebration. Illustrated by Jenny Whitehead. NY: Henry Holt.
Lowry, Lois. 2009. Crow Call. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. NY: Scholastic Press.
Park, Linda Sue, and Julia Durango. 2005. Yum! Yuck! A Foldout Book of People Sounds. Illustrated by Sue Ramá. Cambridge, MA: Charlesbridge.
Lyon, George Ella. 2011. Which Side are You On? Illustrated by Christopher Cardinale. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.
Pulver, Robin. 2003. Punctuation Takes a Vacation. Illustrated by Lynne Rowe Reed. NY: Holiday House.
Raschka, Chris. 1993. Yo! Yes! New York: Orchard.
Truss. Lynne. 2007. The Girl's Like Spaghetti: Why, You Can't Manage without Apostrophes! Illustrated by Bonnie Timmons. NY: Putnam.
Zolotow, Charlotte. 2000. Do You Know What I’ll Do? Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. NY: HarperCollins.


Connecting Illustrations & Text

From Crazy Horse's Vision. Illustrated by S.D. Nelson (Lee & Low)

Brooks, Gwendolyn. 2007. Bronzeville Boys and Girls. Illustrated by Faith Ringgold. New York: Amistad.
Bruchac, Joseph. 2000. Crazy Horse’s Vision. Illustrated by  S. D. Nelson. New York: Lee & Low.
Chen, Chin-Yuan. 2003. On My Way To Buy Eggs. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller.
Crews, Doanld. 1998. Night at the Fair. NY: Greenwillow.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence. 1999. Jump Back Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Illustrated by Ashley Bryan, Carole Byard, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Brian &Jerry Pinkney & Faith Ringgold. NY: Hyperion.
Frame, Jeron Ashford. 2003. Yesterday I Had the Blues. Illustrated by R. Gregory Chrisite. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle.
Gerstein, Mordicai. 2009. A Book. NY: Roaring Press Books.
Herrera, Juan Felipe. 2003. Super Cilantro Girl/La superniña del cilantro. Illustrated by Honorio Robleda Tapia. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press

Lofthouse, Liz. 2007. Ziba Came on a Boat. Illustrated by Robert Ingpen. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller.
Robles, Anthony D. 2003. Lakas and the Manilatown Fish/Si Lakas at ang Isdang Manilatown. Illustrated by Carl Angel. Eloisa D. de Jesus and Magdalena de Guzman, trans. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press.
Say, Allen. 1993. Grandfather’s Journey. San Diego,CA: Houghton Mifflin.
Velasquez, Eric. 2010. Grandma's Gift. NY: Walker Books for Young Readers.
Williams, Vera B. 1984. A Chair for My Mother. NY: Harper-Trophy.