Award‐Winning Authors and Illustrators Talk About Writing and Teaching Writing

Abstract

AbstractFrom interviews with nine award‐winning authors and illustrators of informational books, novels and picture books come three themes that are helpful to teachers in supporting students’ writing development: (1) students’ writing should come from their interests and passions; (2) students need time and opportunity to nurture their curiosity about potential writing topics; and (3) receiving ongoing reader‐based feedback gives students a sense of the impact of their writing on readers. The illustrators’ and authors’ suggestions are particularly important at a time when national and provincial curricula require teachers to teach the technical aspects of writing, such as mastering particular text forms to achieve academic purposes, or conforming to writing conventions.