6 Picture Books to Inspire Student Writing

Writing can feel intimidating to students because it involves experimenting, taking risks, and receiving feedback from teachers and peers. To mitigate this apprehension, I’ve found it helpful to share stories of characters who write, allowing students to connect with these writers and learn from them. 

Below are picture books that teach the power and purpose of writing, along with ideas for helping elementary and middle school students connect with them.

Using Picture Books to Inspire Students to Write

A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Mike Lowery. When a younger brother wants to write his own story but doesn’t know where to begin, he turns to his big sister, who “loves to write BIG words and little words.” With her advice, the emergent writer learns the tools for crafting a wonderful story, even though he doesn’t know all of his letters or how to craft sentences. 

Lowery’s illustrations complement the story, giving students insight into how beginning authors can share their own stories while building their skills. Use this book to encourage students to write about what they know, using emergent writing skills such as drawing symbols or sketches, using initial sounds to represent words or ideas, using punctuation marks to reflect emotion, and/or using scribbles or mock handwriting. (Grades K–2)

Write! Write! Write!, by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, illustrated by Ryan O’Rourke. This anthology comprises 22 poems that are all about writing. Poems that describe the purpose of the various stages of the writing process include “How to Begin,” “Revision Is,” and “Final Edit.” 

“Our Alphabet,” “Ideas (Like Peaches),” “Timeline,” “Writing About Reading,” “Writing Is for Everyone,” and “The Pen” describe strategies authors use when crafting poetry. Use the verses in this anthology individually, as a collection of poems, or as reading or writing models demonstrating intentional uses of language. (Grades 1–4)

The Word Collector, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. This is a story about words. While other children collect coins, stamps, or bugs, Jerome is a word collector. He curates his collection into careful categories based on how they sound, what they mean, and how they make him feel.

When Jerome loses his balance and his words spill out into the world, they become a jumbled pile with no rhyme or reason. That is, until Jerome realizes that the way authors string words together makes meaning and gives them their power and purpose. 

This book can help you teach vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms, word families, figurative language, and more. To further experiment and play with language, look with students around your classroom, building, and community for categories of words. You might facilitate a word hunt including some of Jerome’s categories: Words That Catch My Attention, Words That Jump Out at Me, Short and Sweet Words, Multisyllabic Words, Words You Do Not Know, Words That Sound Beautiful When You Say Them, and/or other creative categories you and your students devise. (Grades 2–8)

Milo Imagines the World, by Matt de la Peña; illustrated by Christian Robinson. This text shares the musings and drawings of young Milo as he takes his monthly train ride, observing the people who pass through his subway car. He imagines and draws their worlds in his notebook, making innocent yet pervasive judgments.

When he encounters a boy about his age, he imagines him living a prince-like existence filled with “a butler, two maids, and gourmet chef offering crust-free sandwich squares.” Milo is surprised to see that the boy and his father exit the subway to the same prison where Milo and his sister will be visiting their mother.

Milo Imagines the World asks readers to reflect on the question, “Can we really know someone just by looking at them?” and gives students and teachers an opportunity to think about how writing can help us reflect on our feelings, observe the world around us, and share our ideas about our world. (Grades 3–6)

16 Words: William Carlos Williams and “The Red Wheelbarrow”, by Lisa Rodgers, illustrated by Chuck Groenink. This simple, powerful biography describes the life and times of poet William Carlos Williams—specifically, the evolution of his famous poem “The Red Wheelbarrow.” The book offers readers a glimpse into his nuanced process and how observation can be a powerful writing tool.  

By juxtaposing Williams’s life as a physician with the challenges he faced as an author, you can help students make connections to their own writing experiences and learn simple strategies for gathering writing inspiration from the beauty of everyday surroundings. Ask students to travel to different places in your school or their neighborhood to collect sensory details about what they observe. (Grades 4–8)

How to Write a Poem, by Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido, illustrated by Melissa Stewart. Award-winning authors bring readers on a journey dripping with sensory details, figurative language, clever font choices, line breaks, and white space in this how-to book about crafting poems. It offers a unique model of how students can write procedural poems. 

While the genre is typically seen in primary classrooms, asking students to craft how-to poems about more sophisticated topics can be a new and exciting way for them to dip their toes into poetry. Suggested topics might include how to be a good citizen, a caring friend, or a successful author. (Grades 4–8)

Sharing books that connect to the writing process, demonstrate the benefits of writing, and highlight how authors craft stories can show students that writing is worth the risk-taking and challenges they may face in your classroom. Additionally, using these books as springboards that scaffold student writing can be an efficient and effective way to build a community of writers in your classroom.