Cover Image: Another Squiggly Story

Another Squiggly Story

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Member Reviews

Another Squiggly Story is a great picture book that also has some comic strip layouts in it, thanks to the fun illustrations by Mike Lowery. His distinctive style is evident on each page. The story of a little boy who is learning to trust his voice and write authentically as part of a class assignment will ring true to young primary students who are participating in Writer's Workshop at their school. Teachers may use this as part of a mini lesson to introduce writing. I think it's also a great way to teach growth mindset.

I highly recommend this fun picture book for schools and libraries.

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The story of me, sounds mundane to me. LOL. But the author tried to put a positive thought in this book, for young kids who read it. You have to start somewhere, and you can make a story by connecting the dots. Or you can write about anything that catch your interest, and write about it. So this book, for the right audience, can be a motivator to start writing,

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In the sequel to A Squiggly Story, the child gets an assignment to write a story about himself. He explores other children's ideas. Some of the illustrations and text were missing from my copy, but overall it is a good story about using your imagination and just trying something new, without worrying about being "great" at it yet, as well as the additional new theme of learning to express who you are and your interests. I did not enjoy this one quite as much as the original, but I still feel like it shares a positive message and was entertaining while teaching children about writing - and although there are many picture books about reading, there are not quite that many about writing.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

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A little boy describes how he has an assignment to write about himself, and the text works as his autobiography. Luckily, his older sister knows what to do and helps him. The text is in sentences and in dialogue balloons, looking a little like a graphic novel for young children. The digitally created cartoonish artwork depicts him with brown skin and dark curly air but his racial identity is not spelled out. Although he and his sister are not named, others children in class have names, and are shown with various skin tones to indicate ethnic diversity. Teachers will find this useful in kicking off a similar assignment.

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Another Squiggly Story is an engaging, child friendly story sharing the process of writing an auto-biography and sharing the story of you! I really enjoyed this one I think a lot of teachers would benefit from having Another Squiggly Story in their classrooms! :)

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I really enjoyed this book! It's a new way to look at autobiographies, the writing process, and what can we do if we get stuck. Very kid-friendly! I can see students making several connections as they read this book. A great addition to any classroom.

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Every teacher friend would agree with me that teaching the elements of writing to young children is not easy and the hardest part is getting them to write. Great book to for teaching writing unit

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Ever been asked to create a story for an assignment from a teacher and not know where to begin? It's even more daunting and difficult when the story has to be an autobiography. Are you kidding? Me? What can I possibly write about boring old me?

This positive story is sure to inspire young kids to write their own life story and achieve satisfaction after its completion. The illustrations are comic book/graphic style. The book is brimming with suggestions that will guide kid's thinking processes as they document their personal story. "Another Squiggly Story" is a wonderful book to read aloud in a classroom setting when introducing a new creative writing unit. Sharing it would lessen the feeling of intimidation for the assigned task that many students may feel.

The book celebrates self-reflection, self-expression, storytelling, and igniting imaginations. I like how the little boy listens to the suggestions of his classmates and his big sister for his story. The book explains to young budding authors that a well-written story needs a beginning, middle and an end, and how reaching out to others to share ideas is important. This book was one of the nominees for the Blue Spruce Award from the Forest of Reading in 2018. I highly recommend this book.

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In my kindergarten class, we read A Squiggly Story every year to kick start our Writers Workshop and the class ADORED it. I was very excited to not only see that a sequel was being released but that I was granted early access to the story -- thank you Netgalley and Kids Can Press.

This story lived up to my hopes and dreams. The story is so relatable for kids and so helpful to model writing.
Similarly to the first book, this book is designed to teach a lesson as opposed to entertainment. Don't get me wrong, with the graphic novel style illustrations, it's still very enjoyable but you wouldn't necessarily pick this up for bedtime reading or library story time.

I adore this book and hope that it finds its way into so many classrooms (grades K-3).

Here's to hoping that there are more squiggly stories in the future :)

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I received an electronic ARC from Kids Can Press through NetGalley.
The teacher assigns a project to write a story about themselves and one student struggles with this assignment. Readers see him think about what to write. He learns about autobiographies from his older sister and gets started with a title. Larsen shows readers what other students are writing and contrasts that with the main character's struggle. He does create his story by the end.
The illustrations are the main strength of this book. The writing is not as consistent. Readers will appreciate the variety of styles used and the persevering attitude modeled.

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This is such a great way to talk about writing with little ones. I loved the repetition throughout the book, the fun illustrations, and the reminder that sometimes when we feel stuck we can ask others for help. Especially loved the sibling relationship shown and how writing can begin in many different ways.

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I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My daughter liked it, she thought it was a good graphic novel with big bold pictures and a funny story. She even considered writing her own autobiography after she read it

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This is a really cute comic book-style book that shows different methods of writing about who you are. My child is preschool age so a little bit young for this, but she still had lots of questions to ask and we had a fun conversation about what she might put in her own story about herself. It's a great perspective for little kiddos to think about what they like and what makes them who they are.

Thank you to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

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Another Squiggly Story is a simple and engaging story that would be great for children K-2. While I loved the illustrations and the beginning of the story, I did get slightly confused towards the end on what the moral of the story was. I had to read the synopsis to remind myself what the purpose was. There’s not really a clear picture as to how the main character “connected the dots” and what that actually means in regard to creating the autobiography.

I feel like there aren’t many natural stopping points in the story that allow for adult questioning/prompting to provoke student thought. I would love to see a more clear idea either through main character think-aloud or prompting from the sister’s character as to why it’s ok to be stuck and the process of starting something!

I also think the line “If you try to be perfect, you’ll never do anything” should maybe be reworded to something more positive-sounding?!

Overall, cute book that I think children will enjoy! 3 stars, I liked it but didn’t love it!

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This is a lovely book introducing the elements of writing an autobiography. I really like how accessible the book is. The main character, his friend Marcus and his sister all write their own stories of themselves in different ways, for example by writing lists or drawing pictures to create a comic style book. All of these ideas are presented as equally valid and the characters are encouraged to explore and think for themselves, rather than focusing on the end result, as can often be the case in schools.

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This is a nice story about the writing process and about autobiographies. As an elementary teacher, I think this would be a great book to introduce a new writing unit or to take away the intimidation of writing at the beginning of the year. I could definitely find a place for this book in my Grade 3 classroom and would recommend it to other teachers!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

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This picture book, written in comic book style, would be useful to inspire students to write about themselves. By following the steps in the story (write a list, make connections, etc) students may be able to come up with their own story.. I appreciated that the book shows a character who has an easier time expressing themselves in pictures.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a great story for kids who struggle coming up with ideas to write. As a teacher I know sometimes it is hard to come up with an idea when you can 'write anything you want'. This is a nice visual way to show students it's common and not something to stress over.

A great classroom read!!

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This is a cute comic-like book about writing autobiographies. The sister is informative and defines many things for the protagonist, and I look forward to seeing the book when it is finished and printed. It is a good book to start a writing prompt on, and I could definitely design a youth program around this.

Thank you Kids Can Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

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Yes, be the author of your own life!
Thank you, Kids Can Press, for the advance reading copy.

I find this picture book to be quite fun and engaging. It will possibly bring out the author/writer in your kid. Not kidding!

The book actively shows how to engage the kids in writing something by themselves and making themselves express with words. Basic beginners and basic writing for them.

I find the illustrations simple and engaging.

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