YOU ARE A READER! / YOU ARE A WRITER!

If you love reading, writing, listening to, or telling stories, then this book is for you!

Learning to read can be challenging—vowels in particular can be confusing—but with enough practice and the right strategies, the narrator assures readers, everyone can learn not only how to read, but also how to enjoy it. The narrator emphasizes that even if books are not for everyone, there are many other exciting reading materials: magazines, recipes, maps, and even labels at museums. Writing, like reading, can be tricky and also requires patience and practice. But, like reading, writing, once mastered, can open up all kinds of creative opportunities, from writing songs or poems to composing slogans or text messages. This cleverly designed picture book is actually two rhyming stories, bound back to back. The stories meet in the middle on a page with text printed in a circle that repeats the mantra that “readers are 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. While there is no protagonist per se, Davenier’s loose, humorously informal illustrations include diverse characters with varied skin colors, hair textures, and abilities. 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.