8 New Books that Will Inspire Writers of All Ages

ABC: The Alphabet from the Sky, by Benedikt Gross and Joey Lee
Before any great story hits the pages, a writer must first be in love with words and letters. This lovely and inventive new alphabet book from geographer and designer duo Benedikt Gross and Joey Lee will inspire a love of letters in young readers. Using satellites and computers the pair has discovered “accidental letters” in roads, rivers, buildings, lakes, and more. With all 26 letters represented in this astonishing worldwide adventure, there is more than enough beauty, learning, and inspiration to start little ones on their story telling path. (Ages 3-5)

This Adventure Ends, by Emma Mills
This coming of age tale twists together writing as a career and writing as a lifestyle when Sloane, our teenaged heroine, and her family move from New York to Florida in an attempt to break her father’s writer’s block. While her father may be a well-known novelist who has written popular books that have been made into movies, he now works on soap opera about teen werewolves, and he slowly pulls everyone into the show and the fanfic universe surrounding it. As the family talks writing and storytelling at the dinner table, Sloane and her friends are living out their day to day teenage dramas: who is dating who, who is in trouble, and what really happened at that party last night? Life begins to copy art in smart, funny, and inventive ways as author Emma Mills shows readers that writing is more than just something you do for a grade. Kids will be inspired to record their own adventures on the page after reading! (14-18)

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
Too often when we talk about writing we just talk about fiction. Jacqueline Woodson’s newest book Brown Girl Dreaming is an eye-opening hybrid of nonfiction and poetry that will open up a whole new world of writing to young readers. Woodson retells her life story as a girl raised in South Carolina and then New York in vivid, engaging verse. Along the way she tells readers what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living through Jim Crow laws and rise of the Civil Rights movement. Woodson’s poems are beautiful, but also completely accessible to young readers. As Woodson learns to find her love and purpose in writing, so too will your aspiring young artist. (Ages 10 and up)

Double Down (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #11), by Jeff Kinney
The Diary of  Wimpy kid series, notably the newest addition, Double Down, highlights all the joys of writing. Keeping a diary on its own is a great way to start writing, but young fans can follow hero Greg Heffley on his newest adventure- writing a movie! When Greg’s mother encourages him to try something other than playing video games he discovers an old video camera in his basement, and his dreams of being a big time movie director are born! Along with his best friend, Rowley, Greg invents the plot to the ultimate scary movie; one that won’t just be the best movie ever made, it will make they boys rich and famous to boot. A great way to introduce kids to the fun of screenwriting and to encourage them to make their own movies this fall. (Ages 8-12)

Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White, by Melissa Sweet
E. B. White is the author of the classics Charlotte’s Web and Stewart Little, along with the college must-read The Elements of Style, so this first fully authorized biography for kids should be in every family library. Charlotte’s Web itself is a love letter to the power of writing and friendship, and in that same vein the two-time Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet mixes White’s personal letters, photos, and family ephemera with her own exquisite artwork to tell White’s life story. Young writers will be will want to emulate the journalist, they will be encouraged by frequent New Yorker contributor, and they will fall in love again with author of their favorite stories. White loved words his entire life, and this biography is a great one to introduce to any budding author. (Ages 7-10)

Timmy Failure: The Book You’re Not Supposed to Have, by Stephan Pastis
Timmy Failure has a major, major problem, which is that this book was never meant to exist. Here are the important facts: there’s a Merry, a Larry, a missing tooth, and a teachers’ strike. When Timmy should be using all of this new free time from the teachers’ strike to further his investigative career, he is instead banned from all detective work! Everyone is out to get Timmy and everything he has recorded in his private notebook. When it is stolen, Timmy knows he will be grounded for life. (Or maybe longer.) How can he find his way out of this mess? Just like Harriet the Spy inspired me to sneak around the neighborhood to take notes and write stories, our current generation of kids can find the same love of snooping and writing in Timmy. Hopefully no one gets grounded in the process. (Ages 8-12)

A Squiggly Story, by Andrew Larsen and Mike Lowery
A young boy wants to write a story, just like his big sister, but unlike her, he only knows his letters and a few words. At his sister’s encouragement, though, he tries. He writes a letter—the single letter “I”. From there a beautiful and unique story grows. Along the way the boy, his sister, and the reader all learn that we all have what we need to write our own perfect story. (Ages 3-7)

Dog Man (Captain Underpants: Dog Man Series #1), by Dav Pilkey
In Dav Pilkey’s ever-growing world of connected stories, kids can be anything, and this time Greg and Harold—stars of the Captain Underpants books—are the creators of Dog Man. Born out of the idea that Greg the police dog and his cop companion must be combined in a life-saving surgery after they are injured on the job, this fast-paced caper is delightfully absurd. With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound has a real nose for justice and a heart of gold. Dog Man must fight crime (and his own doggy desires) in this hilarious new series. By embracing the unusual and celebrating a child’s imagination, Greg and Harold—and Pilkey by extension—become the writerly heroes we all need. (Ages 7-10)
Which books have inspired your budding author?