Title of the book: In Your Own Words - A Beginnerís Guide to Writing
Author: Sylvia Cassedy
Reviewer: Isabel Kelly

The book ìIn Your Own Wordsî by Sylvia Cassedy takes you chapter by chapter through the most commonly used types of writing students are asked to produce in elementary schools. The chapters range from myths and tall tales to plot, letters and book reports. Cassedy writes in a narrative style that is easy to read, yet it is jam-packed with ready to use ideas, writing mini-lessons and story starters. While reading this book, several times, I found myself putting the book down and writing a paragraph following her prompts.

Cassedy uses many images throughout the book that invite the reader to write. For example, in the first chapter, when she talks about taking notice, she presents a poem by Andrew Young. She writes: ìAndrew Young uses his eyes like a movie camera, moving them slowly across the panorama and stopping now and then to zoom in on something special . . .î The poem paints a beautiful description of every day objects in the countryside suggesting the poet may have been looking out his window and writing about what he saw. I thought the image of the eyes being like a movie camera zooming in and out of things was a powerful one to use with students.

Each chapter is developed in a similar way. It starts with introducing what that specific mode of writing is, and what it is not. It provides many examples of where the writer can go to find interesting characters, settings and ideas for plots when writing in that mode. After that, it provides short pieces of writing that further explain what Cassedy is presenting. Then, at the end of most chapters, there are story starters or prompts inviting the reader to write and try out Cassidyís suggestions.

I found that the book ìIn Your Own Wordsî gives writing teachers excellent ideas on how to get students started on a new assignment. For example, if the assignment is for students to write a tall-tale, teachers can develop a hand-out using the elements of tall-tales that Cassedy presents in that chapter. The ideas Cassedy presents are endless. She explains how to think about different characters and the different types of exaggerated attributes they could have. She explains how a story can have one exaggeration after another, or be built around a single incident. She also gives examples of how tall-tales can be about the weather: ìOnce the fog was so thick a woman bumped her head on it . . .î

I would recommend this book to have as part of your library. It can be a resource when planning a writing assignment. The book is well organized into short chapters and each chapter deals with a specific area of writing. Cassedyís writing style is fast moving and full of ideas. Iím sure you will find many ideas in this book that will work for you and your students.