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Looking for a way to motivate your child to write more? One of the best ways to motivate your writer is help them write their own books. I have seen this time and time again in my experience as a budding writer, an educator and as a mom.

One of my greatest memories as a child was writing books with my mom. Each summer my mom helped me plan, write, and “publish” my very own book. My mom is incredibly crafty so she bound my books in fun ways adding to the experience. We recently shared three of my books with my children. My kids were fascinated to read something I wrote when I was a kid. It was also really fun for me to see the kinds of things I was doing when I was in elementary school.

Here are a few major benefits your child may experience when they write their own books:

– Improved motivation for writing

– Better understanding of story elements by having to think through and create a setting, develop characters, and set up a problem with a solution.

– Paying closer attention to elements, story line, and word choice when they are reading the works of other authors

– Increased spelling knowledge

– Practice with penmanship or technology to produce a final product

– More enjoyment when writing

Her beginning books were very simple. We simply used several sheets of blank paper and a simple cover made from construction paper. However, my mom just shared these great premade books by Hygloss she found that I plan to keep on hand for my kids. You can find them here.

 How to Get into a Habit of Planning

Before we wrote down her story, I wanted her to get into the habit of planning what she was going to say before she started writing (or dictating). We used our simple pre-made book as a planning tool. I asked her to touch each page and say what she wanted written on that page. We did this two times and she refined her story each time. I let her lead this and didn’t prompt too much since I wanted to encourage her creativity and honor the work she was doing. I will have to admit that this was difficult at times and I had to refrain from changing her story. I did ask some questions to keep her focused on her story and if she got stuck I asked questions like:

What could happen here?

What is [character’s name] going to do?

Where did this happen?

Could someone help [character’s name]?

Ready to Write (or Dictate)

When she felt ready I wrote the words as she told me what she wanted on each page. After all of the words were in her book, she illustrated each page. I often read the page to her so she would remember what was on that page. We talked a great deal about her pictures matching the words and she did her best to make that happen. I think this helped her pay more attention to illustrations as she was reading. Paying close attention to illustrations is incredibly beneficial for early readers and is a great strategy to use when your child is trying to figure out a tricky word.  Learn more about early reading levels and behaviors here.

It was so fun to watch her illustrations develop over time. She began adding more and more detail and even began adding the setting into the pictures. She began paying more attention to the illustrations in the books we were reading and even referenced those as she was making her own books. Mo Willems, author of the Pigeon series and the Elephant and Piggie series, is a great example for kids. His illustrations are simple in that they focus on the characters but they are so sophisticated in the ways they show movement and expression. I also love his use of dialogue and thinking bubbles. Since we were reading so many of his books at the time, my daughter added in a few thinking bubbles in some of her books.

More Sophisticated Books

As she became older and could do more, she took on more of the writing and planning. We kept the books simple with copy paper and construction paper for the most part until we came across LuLu Junior’s Illustory kit. We decided to give the kit a try.

Writing Her Book

My daughter thought about her characters and the problem they might face. She told me her story and I encouraged her by thinking through how she might introduce a new character and how they might solve their problem. While I prompted her to think about things or asked questions, I made sure that she was making the decisions about her book since research has shown than choice is a huge motivator for children. You can read more about that here.

Once she felt like she knew what she wanted to write, she wrote her story on plain copy paper first (no illustrations, just the words (see the second picture below)). We then talked through what she wanted on each page and how she might illustrate that page. She liked the idea of using both the illustration pages and the writing pages so that also determined where her writing went. For example, on the illustration pages, she only wrote a sentence, whereas, on the writing pages she wrote multiple sentences. In order to make that work, she had to be thoughtful on how she planned her story across the pages. We even took out one of her current favorites (Owl Diaries by Rebecca Elliot) and looked at how the pages were laid out.

We sent off her pages and anxiously awaited the final product. We were notified throughout the process so we knew exactly when to expect the package (key for an anxious 6 year old).

She was so excited when the box arrived that she quickly ripped open the package and pulled her very own book from the packaging. She was so excited that she began jumping up and down while she hugged her book. She sat down and proudly read it to us. 

Her book is nicely bound with a thick, sturdy cover which even has the title and her name printed on the spine of the book. Her book includes a title page, dedication page, and the about the author blurb is printed on the back cover. Each of her illustrations pop on the glossy pages. The book is so amazing and she is so proud! We will definitely make one of these again. 

We so hope you try writing books with your child –

Start simple with a few pages and some ideas.

Study your favorite artists and illustrators and emulate their work

Tell stories

Try out kits like the one from LuLu Junior

Most of all, encourage your child to share their stories and

have fun!