“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
— Stephen King
A woman with glasses reading a book in a cozy, wooden, crowded bookstore surrounded by stacks of books on shelves and tables.

Mentor texts are key to helping aspiring writers learn the craft of writing.

When we analyze the skills authors use to create well-written fiction or nonfiction, we begin to think like authors.

Below are some of my favourite mentor text suggestions, along with an overview of the writing skills each story highlights. I update the list as I discover new resources.

Be sure to check back often.

Do you have a favourite mentor text?

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Children's book titled 'CATSIDE UP, CATSIDE DOWN' by Anna Hrachovec, featuring illustrations of a yellow ball of yarn, a blue ball of yarn, and a red cat plush toy on the cover.

Catside Up, Catside Down: A Book of Prepositions

Author: Anna Hrachovec

Overview: This sweet picture book introduces young readers and writers to prepositional words, placing knitted cats in various humorous positions.

Skill: Sentence writing, using prepositional sentence openers

A person riding on an elephant's back with arms raised, on a book cover titled "You're Here for a Reason" by Nancy Tillman.

You’re Here for a Reason

Author: Nancy Tillman

Overview: This is a favourite read-aloud in my third-grade class. It is a beautiful reminder that each individual is highly valued and everyone has an important role in making our world a better place, even when some days don’t go well.

Skills: Word choice (strong verbs), voice (lyrical),

Book titled 'Something Beautiful' by Lita Judge with illustrations of an elephant, a giraffe, a flamingo, and a small red ball on the cover.

Something Beautiful

Author: Lita Judge

Overview: This book explores the theme of friendship and making new friends and how, through our friendships, we discover something beautiful about each of us.

Skills: Word choice (strong verbs), repetition, circular story structure, voice (lyrical), using description to show character traits

Book titled 'Truman" by Jean Reidy with a drawing of a young girl with dark hair looking down at a small turtle on the floor.

Truman

Author: Jean Reidy

Overview: Reidy’s whimsical story explores a day in the life of a pet turtle, Truman, from the turtle’s perspective. Ultimately, even the smallest of us can be brave and take on new challenges when we feel loved and secure.

Skills: Imaginative thinking, perspective-taking, word choice (specific adjectives), alliteration , repetition, sensory imagery, sentence fluency, character development

Book cover of "A Quiet Place" by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Dan Andreasen, featuring a boy relaxing and leaning against a tree in a forest setting.

A Quiet Place

Author: Douglas Wood

Overview: Douglas Wood takes us on a journey into a child’s imagination as he explores one quiet place after another. The reader is encouraged to notice the wonderful details in seemingly ordinary places. Dan Andreasen’s illustrations are lush and compelling, drawing us deeper into imaginative contemplation.

Skills: Imaginative thinking, observing details, word choice (specific adjectives, strong verbs)

Book cover of "Squeak!" by Laura McGee Kvasnosky with illustrations of a lion and a squirrel in tall grass, set outdoors with a blue sky background.

Squeak!

Author: Laura McGee Kvasnosky & Kate Harvey McGee

Overview: A small mouse, tickled by a gentle breeze, wakes with a squeak. That sound awakens other meadow dwellers until each has added to the cacophony.

Skills: Sound effect words (onomatopoeia), word choice (strong verbs, specific nouns, vivid adjectives)

Cover of a book titled 'Where I Live' by Frances Wolfe, showing a woman wearing a white hat and writing on a clipboard outdoors near a house.

Where I Live

Author: Frances Wolfe

Overview: A book about childhood memories becomes poignant when two ideas are combined in each of seven sentences. Learners can emulate this pattern to write about the place where they live.

Skills: Compound sentence construction, following a pattern, non-rhyming free verse

Book cover of 'Owl Moon' by Jane Yolen showing a snowy landscape with a full moon and two children with a parent walking in the snow.

Owl Moon

Author: Jane Yolen

Overview: Late one winter evening, a young girl is taken owling by her father. As father and daughter hunt for the elusive Great Horned Owl, the reader hears the girl’s thoughts describing the mystery and beauty of winter, nature, and a special time alone with her dad.

Skills: Similes, personification, word choice (strong verbs, specific adjectives)

Book cover of 'A Walk in the Words' by Hudson Talbott, showing a boy standing on a rock surrounded by black illustrations of tree branches with words written on them.

A Walk in the Words

Author: Hudson Talbot

Overview: The inspiring true story of how author Hudson Talbott overcame his fear of words and the label of “slow reader”. Allowing curiosity to lead the way, and with lots of determination and perseverance, Hudson learned he could read at his own pace to discover the magical world of reading and stories.

Skills: Word attack skills, strong vocabulary (look for words hidden in the illustrations), perseverance, daily writing inspiration, using illustrations and words to tell a story

Book cover of 'Things That Are Most in the World' by Judi Barrett, showing an abstract illustration of a creature with multiple eyes, tentacles, and swirling shapes, primarily in shades of orange, red, yellow, and black.

Things That are Most in the World

Author: Judi Barrett

Overview: A playful look at superlatives using vivid imagery and humour.

Skills: Superlatives, sentence construction, extending sentences to include vivid details, using illustrations and words together to form an image

Book cover of 'The Almost Fearless Hamilton Squidlegger' by Timothy Basil Ering, showing a cartoonish drawing of a grasshopper standing on a lily pad at sunset with a small white flower nearby. The sky is filled with warm colors and a bright moon.

The Almost Fearless Hamilton Squidlegger

Author: Timothy Basil Ering

Overview: Hamilton Squidlegger isn’t afraid of anything. Well, almost anything. He is too afraid to sleep alone. Hamilton’s dad makes his favorite treat (a double-decker grasshopper worm-cake with snake-belly frosting), but Hamilton can only eat it under one condition…he must spend the whole night in his own mud.

Skills: Vivid word choice (verbs, adjectives, specific nouns)

Book cover of 'The Keeper of Wild Words' by Brooke Smith, showing a girl outdoors among flowers and trees, reaching out toward a woman with long curly hair in a red and purple dress.

The Keeper of Wild Words

Author: Brooke Smith

Overview: A young girl visits her grandmother, and together, they go on a search to discover and collect “wild” words in the hopes of preserving them. This is a wonderful story that encourages writers to actively seek out and collect their own “wild” words.

Skills: Lyrical descriptive language, vivid word choice, personification, effective use of very short sentences, interjections, building a word collection

Book cover of 'Moving Words about a Flower' by K.C. Hayes and illustrated by Barbara Chotin, featuring a large yellow flower with a green stem and several smaller flowers and abstract decorations around it.

Moving Words About a Flower

Author: K.C. Hayes

Overview: On a rainy day in the city, a tiny seed finds its way into a crack in a sidewalk and so begins a story of life and survival as a dandelion plant is born. K.C. Hayes shows how vivid action and descriptive words can be used to create concrete images that both spark the imagination and teach scientific facts.

Skills: Effective word choice, onomatopoeia, using specific, concrete words and sensory imagery to build a word picture for readers to visualize

Book cover of 'How to Write a Story' by Mark Siegel, with an illustration of a young girl writing at a desk, surrounded by papers and books.

How to Write a Story

Author: Kate Messner

Overview: Dive into the story writing process as a young writer follow ten steps to plan, write, revise, edit, and publish a descriptive story. 1. Search for an idea 2. Choose a setting 3. Choose a main character 4. Dream up a problem for the main character 5. Plan your story 6. Write wth so much detail readers can see it in their minds 7. Read through and make a list of ways to make it better 8. Edit for punctuation and spelling 9. Choose a title 10. Share

Skills: Story writing process, think like an author, writing to entertain (Companion to “How to Read a Story” by the same author.)

Book cover of "Stanley's Party" by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Bill Slavin, showing a group of dogs celebrating a party, featuring a yellow dog in the center and other dogs in the background, on a textured green background.

Stanley’s Party

Author: Linda Bailey

Overview: One the best books I have found to show students how to describe story action in slow motion. Stanley knows he is not allowed to sit on the couch. But his people go out a lot! In step-by-step action, Linda Bailey shows what happens when a dog finds out he can host a party for his canine friends.

Skills: Describing in slow motion; word choice emphasis on strong verbs and specific nouns

Book cover of "I Need My Monster" by Amanda Noll and illustrated by Howard McWilliam, featuring a boy peeking under his bed with a curious expression and a football, tennis racket, and a rock visible in the background.

I Need My Monster

Author: Amanda Noll

Overview: Ethan’s personal under-the-bed monster, Gabe, has gone on vacation. How will he get to sleep without him? Use this resource to show students how to describe a unique character in detail. Children love to imagine, draw, and write about their personalized monster.

Skills: First person narration, describing characters in detail, sensory imagery, connecting illustrations to written descriptions

Cover of a children's book titled "Carmine: A Little More Red" by Melissa Sweet, featuring an illustration of a girl riding a red bicycle in a forest, with a wolf in the background.

Carmine - A Little More Red

Author: Melissa Sweet

Overview: Combination alphabet book and upgraded Little Red Riding Hood story encourages children to discover and collect interesting vocabulary words.

Skills: Use in conjunction with word collecting books or word lists to collect vivid verbs and specific nouns.