Maura Murphy's Reviews > Words with Wings

Words with Wings is a novel in verse that could be read in any 3-5 classroom. This book is written from the perspective of Gabby, a young girl that loves to daydream, even though it often distracts her from what she is supposed to be doing, such as chores or listening in class. She is also struggling with her parent's divorce, living with her mom who does not seem to understand her, and missing the father she feels closer to. With the help of her teacher and a new friend at her school, Gabby learns to love her daydreams and discovers her passion for writing.

While reading this book, I thought about how it would be great to use in a class to discuss descriptive language. All of Gabby's daydreams are described so vividly and beautifully that they are very easy to picture. While reading this novel as a class, students could write their own poems or daydreams using descriptive language just like Gabby does. You could also use this book and have students do a project like Mr. Spicer's daydream for fifteen minutes, where students take 15 minutes each day to write. This would be a great way to encourage students to write and let them practice their writing skills by letting them write about whatever they want to. This could help children become passionate about writing, just like Gabby.

This was a WOW book for me because I loved reading all of Gabby's daydreams, especially since they were written in verse. I also found Gabby to be a very relatable character, and I loved reading about her experiences. I also loved the character of Mr. Spicer, a teacher who encourages his students to keep dreaming and uses his students' interests to help them become passionate learners.