Author Inspiration—Jessixa Bagley

Jessixa Bagley looks for inspiration everywhere. Memories from childhood and things that mean a lot to her are the wellspring she draws from for her relatable stories. Students will not only enjoy her books, but be able to elevate their own writing if they use her work as a mentor, and they will grow as readers as they practice various strategies.

Before I Leave—Explore the emotions two friends experience when one of them is moving away. The text is sparse (mostly one sentence per two-page spread), and the detailed illustrations are rich with activity, details, and deeper meaning. It is a great book to share with younger writers who are creating books during writing workshop or Work on Writing.

Things to notice: The story begins on the endpapers, title page, and dedication page, making the first sentence, “I found out we’re moving,” carry an even deeper sense of impending loss.

Read the pictures: How does Jessixa Bagley show movement? emotion? humor? How do her details add to the setting, problem, solution?
 

Boats for Papa—Buckley and his mama live by the sea. Buckley loves making boats out of the driftwood he finds on the beach and sends them out to sea, hoping they will reach his papa.

There are many unanswered questions and chances to infer:

• Why do Buckley and his mama miss Papa? Where is he?
• (Spoiler alert) Why did Buckley’s mama save and hide the boats?
• What do you think she thought when she read the last note?

Adding details: The details in the pictures add a lot to the story and highlight one of the easiest places for our students to make revisions.

Tune in to interesting words: driftwood, glorious, bob, tide, drifted (drifted off to sleep), drift (drift off to sea), realized, anxiously, slipped (slipped the note), kelp, shawl.
 

Henry and Bea—Henry and Bea are best friends. Bea has to navigate the change in their friendship when Henry withdraws from her completely.

Things to notice: perspective. Notice that the illustrations give us a vision from

• the front, back, and side,
• near and far, and
• above.

Tune in to interesting words: huffed, rumbled, reluctantly.

Writing tip: Adding an adjective or two to a noun will elevate the detail.

• dewy morning grass
• my family’s farm
• brightly colored autumn trees
• soft sprinkle of rain
• freshly baked cookies

Varied sentence lengths add rhythm and interest. Her shortest sentence is two words long. Her longest is 20 words long.
 

Laundry Day—If my brother and I ever complained of boredom, Mom would give us a chore to do. I vividly remember helping hang clothes on the line, an experience many of today’s children might not relate to, but it doesn’t matter. The illustrations make this chore clear, and Bagley brings us along in the mischievous way the boys keep themselves busy all afternoon.

Tune in to interesting words: invaded, whatnot, bauble, trinket, knickknack, bric-a-brac, pilfered, pirated, looted.

Illustrations: How does Bagley show boredom? movement? action? What details add humor?

Introduce ellipses.

• “Hmm . . . I have an idea!” said Tac.
• “Uh . . . and a few other things,” said Tac.
• But just then . . .

Writing: addition of dialogue

Other words for said: asked, chimed, shouted, chirped, hollered.
 

Vincent Comes Home—A cat travels on a cargo ship from shore to shore. When the ship arrives home, the cat decides to check out the place the crew has been dreaming of for so long.

Illustrations: A ship is big, and we get a sense of its size from the illustration. We also see containers and get an understanding of what a cargo ship is. How else do the illustrations add rich details or clarify the story?

Tune in to interesting words: cargo, charted, goods, port, souvenirs, exotic, docked, duffle bag, padded.

What does home mean to you? If you were to write a story about home, what would you include?