You Are a Reader! / You Are a Writer! - by April Jones Prince

About the Book

Titles from separate title pages; works issued back-to-back and inverted (tãete-bãeche format).

Book Synopsis

Two rhyming books in one that inspire and encourage children who are learning to read and write. Now available in paperback.

You are a Reader! / You are a Writer! is a book made to be read twice, once from the front and once from the back. Read one way, children will see all the joys that reading can bring--flip it over and they'll be inspired by the imaginative possibilities of writing!

With a jaunty rhyme that's great for reading aloud and a diverse cast of characters at various stages of reading and writing, there is something for everyone here. Learning to read? Scan, sound, simmer, think. You can guzzle words and ink. You might stumble, you might sigh. But readers practice, grow, and fly! Learning to write? Wake, watch, wonder, plot. You can weave with words and thoughts. Still staring at an empty page? Every writer knows that stage. Ask "What if?" Change your view. Try a pen--or stick--that's new. But writers read and draft, and fly!

Throughout the book are suggestions for where to find inspiration for reading and writing and different ways to move on if you are discouraged. Christine Davenier's energetic illustrations add to the fun in this true celebration of what it means to be a reader and a writer, no matter how accomplished you are or aren't.

Praise for Snowy Race

"A girl gets to ride on her dad's giant snowplow in this delightful rhyming tale. They race through the heavy snow, but it's not clear where they're going until they arrive at the train station. . . Prince's (What Do Wheels Do All Day?) text is intriguingly spare, letting Davenier's (The First Thing My Mama Told Me) softly exuberant wintertime scenes shine." --The New York Times

Rhyming, minimal text coupled with fetching illustrations by Davenier expertly convey the exhilarating drama of entering into a snowstorm as well as the comfy feelings of being in a warm house while the weather is frightful. --School Library Journal

A winning, winter race. --Kirkus Reviews

Review Quotes

"April Jones Prince presents these related skills with a spirit of joyful adventure. . . . Christine Davenier's pictures here are, as ever, a treat: With lively lines and delicious dappled watercolors, they radiate coziness and good cheer."--The Wall Street Journal

★ "This cleverly designed picture book is actually two rhyming stories, bound back to back. The stories meet in the middle in a page with text printed in a circle that repeats the mantra that "readers and writers and writers are readers." This innovative design reinforces the book's central ideas: that reading and writing go together and that, fundamentally, every child is capable of creativity. . . . Taken together, the text and pictures articulate a quirky, inspirational call to creative action that is sure to empower young children to explore the wild world of words. A cleverly designed, engaging picture book about the joy of text." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Rhyming text in an upbeat, singsong-y rhythm winds through soft spot art, cheering on new readers and writers in this two-books-in-one picture book. The effective format celebrates becoming a reader on one side and becoming a writer on the flip side."--The Horn Book

"The reading portion of the book inspires children to keep going despite difficult words that come their way. The writing portion sympathizes with the fact that it can be difficult to find the right words. . . . What a marvelous book to have on the shelves, for wannabe writers or to inspire children to think about the words they choose to use."--School Library Journal

About the Author

April Jones Prince is the author of many books for young readers, including Snowy Race, illustrated by Christine Davenier and What Do Wheels Do All Day?, a Child magazine best book of the year. She lives in Massachusetts.

Christine Davenier is the acclaimed illustrator of more than 60 books for children, including Snowy Race with Holiday House and the New York Times bestselling series The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, as well as the New York Times best Illustrated The First Thing My Mama Told Me by Susan Marie Swanson, and Miss Lina's Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone.