Customer Reviews

Show; Don't Tell!: Secrets of Writing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Show; Don't Tell!: Secrets Of Writing by author and writing expert Josephine Nobisso is a wonderfully shows young readers ages 7 and older a diversity of writing tips and strategies that they can use in their own efforts. Eva Montanari's artwork is a perfect supplement to Josephine's text. Show; Don't Tell! is enhanced for young readers with a push-button sound feature as well. Fun and informative, Show; Don't Tell! is unique and highly recommended.

After years of reading mind-numbing chldren's books that my kids thought were hilarious and gross and cute and cuddly--I wanted an illustrated book that taught them something they could use in school.

This is it.

Though I feel this book is a bit wordy (ironically), it gets my kids (ages 5-8) thinking and answering questions. It really gets their minds working, though in the illustrated format they still crave. And what they're learning from this book will have a positive impact on how they do their work in school.

This is a wonderful book. I have been searching high and low for a book that truly explains the difference between showing and telling. This is the one. My students truly grasp the concept now. Before, no books could get the point across to them, but now they have it. Any teacher having a hard time explaining show, not tell to their students should purchase this book. A+

I'm going to completely forgive the few pages of this book that are so busy they're a bit hard to follow. This book does something remarkable, thus making it forgive-able: it offers real advice from a real author on how to make your own writing better. My students need books like this.

I would say there are five different lessons about "showing" in these pages. If you are a teacher, this book is a gold mine of advice/ideas that can strengthen your own writing lessons.

We created a lesson inspired by this book at our non-profit writing lesson collection--WritingFix. If you go to Google and type WritingFix & Show Don't Tell into the searching window, the first link that comes up will be that lesson!

This is an awesome book! I have used this book with third graders, with the whole class and with small groups. They really enjoyed it...it is somewhat similar in style to a comic book (or diary style that is popular, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid) with different characters speaking, different fonts and sizes. With the whole class, it worked best if they were on the floor, as close as possible to the book because of all the different things going on. It helps writers think about whether they are doing a good job communicating, being specific, and using the different senses in your writing. It incorporates language terms including parts of speech and figurative language (similes and metaphors). My students loved looking at the book again on their own time--it includes things to examine, touch, and even a sound to listen to and practice describing. I would definitely recommend this!

I bought this book due to the positive reviews, and because it looked so cute. I do love the art. It's a pleasure to look at. But the text seems to be too high for very little ones, and way to easy for the age range for which it is advertised. Amazon lists it's age range as 9-12. I have a 10 year old who loves books, both chapter and picture. She never even gave this one a second look. Maybe it would be good for a slightly younger set who are just starting out reading and writing.

This book has good lesson ideas for descriptive writing; although, some of it is hard to follow and choppy. The recorded sound at the back of the book could be useful for some children, but I did not personally find it inspiring. I'd use it as a jumping off point.

I splurged on this book to give to my daughter as a present because she loves to write books and stories. The book's cover is beautiful and I guess my imagination got a bit out of control, leading me to have high expectations for this book. I was extremely disappointed in this book that makes writing seem like such a chore and a bore, not a joy. Fancy novelty stuff and a story format doesn't make up for the uninspired, discouraging tone of the book. I was expecting this book to be full of encouragment and good advice, not rules given in an authoratative, strict and tedious manner.