• Age: 3 to 7
• Grade: p to 2
• Reading age: 3 to 7

A young boy wants to write a story, just like his big sister. But there's a problem, he tells her. Though he knows his letters, he doesn't know many words. “Every story starts with a single word and every word starts with a single letter,” his sister explains patiently. “Why don't you start there, with a letter?” So the boy tries. He writes a letter. An easy letter. The letter I. And from that one skinny letter, the story grows, and the little boy discovers that all of us, including him, have what we need to write our own perfect story.

This picture book from award-winning author Andrew Larsen playfully and imaginatively explores a young child's process of learning to express himself. It promotes the idea that stories are available for everyone to tell, whatever way we can, and will inspire pre-readers to try writing stories of their own. The lively, fun illustrations by Mike Lowery incorporate story panels with dialogue bubbles, adding visual texture. Also helpful, the boy's story is shown both as he actually writes it --- with just a few letters, some punctuation marks and typographical symbols --- and as he imagines it. Celebrating self-expression, self-discovery and imagination, this book would enhance an early language arts lesson on writing, particularly on the parts of a story. It beautifully highlights the exciting worlds that are opened up when children begin to read and write. In a sweet touch, the boy and his sister model a close and supportive sibling relationship.

Andrew Larsen est père au foyer et auteur. Quand il était enfant, il passait toujours une partie de son été au chalet de ses grands-parents, situé sur une colline, près d'un lac. Andrew habite à Toronto. Il a publié sept albums jeunesse.

Andrew Larsen is a father, homemaker and author. When he was a child, he would spend a part of every summer with his grandparents at their cottage on a hill, by a lake. Andrew now lives in a downtown Toronto neighbourhood. He has published seven picture books.

Andrew Larsen's profile page

MIKE LOWERY a illustré plusieurs livres pour enfants, y compris The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten et A Squiggly Story. Il habite à Decatur, en Géorgie.

Mike Lowery is a New York Times bestselling illustrator who has worked on dozens of award-winning books for kids, including The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School, Mac B, Kid Spy by Mac Barnett, How to Be a T.Rex, and many others. He's also written several books, including the Doodle Adventures series of graphic novels for kids and Random Illustrated Facts: A Collection of Curious, Weird, and Totally Not Boring Things to Know, which collects his drawings of super-weird and totally true facts. Visit him online at mikelowery.com.

Mike Lowery's profile page

• Short-listed, Blue Spruce Award, Ontario Library Association
• PICTURE THIS Recommendation List, WSRA Children's Literature Committee
• Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, starred selection, Canadian Children's Book Centre
• Short-listed, CLEL Bell Award, Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy
• Winner, Teachers' Choices Reading List, International Literacy Association
• Winner, Best Picture Books of 2016, Kirkus Reviews

A Squiggly Story is a charming little book that may help first-time storytellers keep trying to write stories, even if they lack the ability to draw proper letterforms, let alone put a complete sentence together.—New York Times

A solid read-aloud for most any children's collection, but especially where writing is emphasized at an early age.—School Library Journal

This playful multilayered story about sparking the mind is loaded with opportunities for readers to consider different kinds of storytelling.—Booklist

A positive tale of how a story can emerge organically from an inkling of an idea to an imaginative literary excursion ...—Kirkus Reviews - starred review

... Larsen's text and Lowery's illustrations ... beautifully reveal the breadth and depth of meaning that even a few squiggles and swirls can have in a child's imagination.—Canadian Children's Book News

This fun and playful celebration of the squiggly line will inspire kids to flex their own creative writing muscles.—Quill & Quire