Rosie Woods in Little Red Writing Hood

Gr 2-4–Rosie Woods is a quiet bookworm who revels in the world of cleverly crafted stories. In sharp contrast stands Wolfie, an exuberant young boy and a veritable chatterbox. As the third-grade class embarks on the journey of learning to write their own tales, Rosie finds herself in a bit of a predicament. While Wolfie incessantly spills the beans about his exciting villainous ideas, Rosie struggles to find her creative footing. Her inspiration strikes after a visit to her grandmother’s house, where she draws upon her observations of Wolfie to model a character in her story. She artfully captures his big eyes, big ears, and a big ol’ nose, though she grapples with the dilemma of casting her friend as the story’s villain rather than hero, fearing it might hurt his feelings. The sporadic illustrations include glimpses into Rosie’s notebook, with word balloons reminiscent of graphic novels as well as textured and detailed color drawings. Author Myers, a former teacher, skillfully navigates the creative writing process for elementary-age children. Her expertise shines through as she takes the reader on a journey through the various stages of storytelling. The back matter extends the book’s educational value, offering readers the opportunity to ‘Think About It’ and ‘Dig Deeper.’ It provides a guide for analyzing stories, along with vocabulary related to essential elements of a story and the writing process, introducing terms such as ‘revision’ and ‘setting.’