The Children’s Book Review | February 28, 2019
Karen Benke is the author of several books, including Rip the Page! Adventures in Creative Writing, which has been translated into Russian and Korean, Leap Write In! featuring more adventures in creative writing, and Write Back Soon: Adventures in Letter Writing. Her books are used internationally by educators to inspire and encourage emerging and reluctant writers to play on the page. She writes with children at Book Passage Bookstore, New York City’s Poets House, California Poets in the Schools, and The Writers Nest, located in a converted lumber mill, circa 1892. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her teenage son, a rescue dog, and a cat named Clive.
I write because …
I LOVE the feeling of a pencil wedged between my fingers AND the scritch-scratch-scritch sound of led across paper.
Writing’s like a little road that leads me to discover the imaginative worlds living inside of me…the images, poems, stories, writing prompts that I get to share with YOU.
I read because …
Reading transports me into other dimensions of time and space, to try on different lives, thoughts, words, feelings, adventures. And then magically returns me to my couch with cat Clive, dog Raz, snacks, and tea!
My latest published book is …
Rip ALL the Pages! 52 Tear-Out Adventures for Creative Writers
I wrote this book because …
My editor reminded me how much kids LOVED the wacky prompts + blue, rip-able pages from my first book, Rip the Page!. She wondered if I’d write an ENTIRE book of prompts for 3rd-5th grade kids, to write and rip and make into silly objects. How could I resist?!
Best moment …
Right now…sipping noodle soup and writing to you, as cars zoom by outside and cat Clive naps…my new book, sitting right over there on the table, winking at me!
My special place to write is …
Upstairs, across a sky-bridge, at a desk made from the boards of an old bookshelf, in the far corner of my studio, at The Writers Nest, located in a converted lumber mill, circa 1892!
Necessary writing/creativity tool …
Sharpened Palomino Blackwing pencils, black pens that don’t leak, & stacks of paper, preferably unlined. Oh yeah, and my imagination!
The person who has been my greatest writing teacher or inspiration is …
My 17-year old son, Collin Blake Trelawny!
Currently reading …
Besides my students imaginative poems and stories, I’m currently reading a collection of poems titled The Carrying by Ada Limon
Favorite bookshop …
Book Passage Bookstore and Book Passage Two, at San Francisco’s Ferry Building.
All-time favorite children’s book I didn’t write…
The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant
Favorite illustrator …
Jon J Muth
A literary character I would like to vacation with …
Mary Poppins and/or Hermione Granger!
When I am not reading or writing I am …
Hiking the trails around my house with dog Raz or trying out a new recipe that’s sweet but not too sweet…and dreaming up my next adventure.
Visit Karen Benke at www.karenbenke.com
Written by Karen Benke
Publisher’s Synopsis: Unleash your creativity! Explore creative writing in new ways that will have you cutting, folding, tearing, and ripping the pages!
This is the activity book for out-of-bounds creative writing fun. Full of 52 zany, silly, and thoughtful prompts—perfect for elementary-aged kids—this book will take your writing to new places, literally! Write a haiku and fold it up into a paper crane, write fortunes and tuck them in places for people to find, write out all your accomplishments and then let your talents soar as a paper airplane—there’s no end to the imaginative ways to use words and paper.
“Rip ALL the Pages is a super-rad book packed with smart, engaging, challenging writing prompts that are sure to stoke the creative fires in writers of all ages!”
—New York Times bestselling author Kate Schatz, author of Rad Girls Can! and My Rad Life
Ages 7-12 | Publisher: Roost Books | March 5, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1611806571
Available Here
Discover more books like Rip ALL the Pages! 52 Tear-Out Adventures for Creative Writers, written by Karen Benke, by checking out our reviews and articles tagged with Creative Writing, Karen Benke, and Writing Tips; plus, be sure to follow along with our Writing and Reading Life series.