Blog Tour: Wicked Writing Skills – Lexi Rees

*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author and Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources blog tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Blurb: Writing is like a spell. It can melt hearts and fry brains, twisting and turning as the magic works.

Want the world to fall at your feet, destroyed by the might of your pen?

– Sharpen your powers of persuasion

– Sky-rocket your debating skills

– Add ooomph to your reports

– And lots more! Packed with top tips, this awesome workbook has everything you need to know to become a WICKED WRITER.

I already reviewed Lexi Rees’ The Book Dragon Club, which explores the joys of reading and sharing the love of good books for young (and older) booklovers. I absolutely loved it.

With this new resource for children (and adults) focused on writing non-fiction pieces, Lexi Rees cements her place in my creativity toolkit for my own children (currently 7 and 4), but I am not ashamed to admit that I will also be using her books to brush up my own skills too!

The book is split into chapters which feature different non-fiction content: how to write opinions; how to participate in a debate; how to write instructions; how to write news articles; how to write a report of events (diary/journal) and how to write adverts.

Each of these sections clearly explains the style and content required for the task in a fun and accessible way, taking you step-by-step through the whole process, from the basics to practicing and polishing. Every chapter is also stuffed full of fun, thought-provoking prompts to really get your brain revving – everything from “Could we end disease?” to “How would you teach an alien to swim?” The final chapter then contains a further selection of writing prompts for all categories.

Both Minishine and Babybows were fascinated by the ideas presented here and approached them in slightly different ways. While Minishine (7) got out pen and paper and began doggedly working her way through the book in logical progression, finishing each task before moving to the next, Babybows (4) and I sat and simply chatted through some of the prompts to draw out his ideas in a less formal way.

I have been banned from including a sample of her work here (self-conscious!), but will say that her opinion piece for “Convince your parents to buy you the latest mobile phone” was tackled with much enthusiasm and plenty of persuasive language – parents might want to watch out for that one! Similarly, Babybows firmly adheres to his opinion that sweeties and chicken nuggets are ‘the best food’, and while he was willing to acknowledge my healthy-eating counterpoints, he insisted that his feelings on the subject carried more weight than my puny facts.

Ideally I would say this book is targeted at 7-8 year olds upwards, but Babybows proved that even little ones can get some value from learning how to structure a decent argument. (Whether this is a good idea to encourage this skill in recalcitrant small beings is another issue… maybe one for a debate topic in future editions!) As I said before, adults can also use this resource to sharpen and hone their non-fiction writing structure sucessfully.

On the strength of the two books I have read and reviewed here, I have added Creative Writing Skills to my list of planned resources for Minishine, and will be keeping my eye out for further advice from Lexi Rees in the future!

GIVEAWAY – WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE BOOK DRAGON CLUB (OPEN TO UK ONLY)

Wicked Writing Skills BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY

Find more from Lexi Rees at her website here, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Goodreads.

Wicked Writing Skills is available on Amazon right now!

Don’t forget to stop by the other blogs on this tour (see the poster below for details) for more great content and reviews!

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