Lemony Snicket’s 13 Words Writing Activity
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You know Lemony Snicket (aka. Daniel Handler) from his Series of Unfortunate Events. And, if you’ve read that series, you’ll be amply prepared for his new, zany picture book, 13 Words, with painted illustrations from the fabulous, Maira Kalman.
Imagine for a minute that you come upon thirteen words – any old thirteen. And then you make up a story using all thirteen words. That’s about the gist of Snicket’s 13 Words picture book. It’s  13 words woven into a loosely-sensible plot. And, I happen to think it’s fantastic.
The paintings illustrating each page pop out with bold colors. Visually, you’ll stop to absorb the images, details, and point of view.
I think 13 Words a GREAT book to use as to teach writing to young writers. Think of the possibilities — kids find their own 13 words and create a story. Kids use Snicket’s 13 words, reorder them, and make-up a new story. Or, you could notice word choice in a story . . . this book would be the perfect picture book to use. What other writing could be inspired from this book? Teachers? Writers? Thoughts?
And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for . . .
1. Bird
2. Despondent
3. Cake
4. Dog
5. Busy
6. Convertible
7. Goat
8. Hat
9. Haberdashery
10. Scarlet
11. Baby
12. Panache
13. Mezzo-Soprano
Here’s a bit of what you can expect:
Word Number 6: Convertible
Outside is a glamorous green convertible
ready to take the dog into town.
Word Number 7: Goat
The driver of the convertible is a goat.
He is wearing a spiffy jacket.
See if this book trailer helps you get even more of a sense of this book.
Really, 13 Words is to picture books as Monty Python is to movies.
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Great pairing of words and art – I am a longtime fan of both of them and would love to share this book with young readers and writers at the library.
Well i have never heard of this author but what a great idea..it is sure to encourage older children to write their own stories using 13 words
I have not heard of this book, but I love his Series of Unfortunate Events and I think this is a great idea to use for writing centers in a classroom.
Wow. I had seen the absolutely delicious book before, but I had not seen that amazing trailer.
WOW. It was really smart of someone to put those two creative minds together.
As with all Maira Kalman’s books, I don’t think I’d ever tire of looking at this one.
We coincidentally just picked up this book from the library, so we’re definitely going to give these great ideas a try! Thanks!