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Thorfinn and the Gruesome Games
by David MacPhail (Author) and Richard Morgan (Illustrator)

Prepare yourself for the wrath of the Norsemen! That is, if you don’t mind and it’s not too inconvenient… Everyone knows Vikings are ruthless barbarians whose idea of a good time involves pillaging, plundering, and feasting. But Thorfinn is no ordinary Viking! He is always polite and happily offers to wash the dirty dishes. Too bad his dad is Harald the Skull-Splitter, the village chief and the roughest and toughest Viking of them all. Harald, Thorfinn and the other Vikings are preparing to compete in the annual Gruesome Games, held on the Scottish island of Uraig. It falls to Thorfinn to save their village, but in a competition, where belching, axe-throwing, pie-clobbering, and goat-throwing are great point scorers, what help will a terribly nice Viking with a talent for baking be?

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

Readers meet Thorfinn in chapter 1:

One of the women spotted the chief’s son — a boy called Thorfinn — stepping out from behind a large sheet covering the great hall.

“What are you up to, Thorfinn?” she asked.

“Good day, dear ladies,” said Thorfinn, removing his helmet. “You’ll be the first to see my new surprise. Ta da!” He pulled the sheet away.

The women’s screams could be heard on the other side of the village.

Thorfinn’s introduction begins in an unusual way:

One of the women spotted the chief’s son — a boy called Thorfinn — stepping out from behind a large sheet covering the great hall.

That leads to a question:

“What are you up to, Thorfinn?” she asked.

And an unusual answer:

“Good day, dear ladies,” said Thorfinn, removing his helmet. “You’ll be the first to see my new surprise. Ta da!” He pulled the sheet away.

Her reaction is also unusual:

The women’s screams could be heard on the other side of the village.

Introducing the main character in an unusual way catches the reader’s attention. (To find out what was under the sheet, you have to keep reading!)

The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
by Laura Shovan (Author)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

Eighteen kids,
one year of poems,
one school set to close.
Two yellow bulldozers
crouched outside,
ready to eat the building
in one greedy gulp.

But look out, bulldozers.
Ms. Hill’s fifth-grade class
has plans for you.
They’re going to speak up
and work together
to save their school.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

The poem for April 21 (today!) begins:

April 21
STAND UP, SIT DOWN
Hannah Wiles

The phone rings.
I can hardly believe what I see.
Shoshanna’s number on the ID.
She says George is planning a protest
for our school to stay open.
She wants me to come.

The poem begins with an action:

The phone rings.

That action leads to a reaction that rhymes:

I can hardly believe what I see.
Shoshanna’s number on the ID.

What Shoshanna says on the phone comes next. The information is first:

She says George is planning a protest
for our school to stay open.

Then Shoshanna makes a request:

She wants me to come.

Not a word is wasted as the story in the poem moves forward line by line with actions and reactions.