By the time they reach preschool or kindergarten, young children are already writers. They don't have much experience, but they're filled with stories to tell and ideas to express--they want to show the world what they know and see. All they need is a nurturing teacher to recognize the writer at work within them. Taking an exciting, new approach to working with our youngest students, this book shows how, by respecting children as writers, engaged in bookmaking, teachers can gently nudge them toward a lifetime of joyful writing. The authors guide the reader through fundamental concepts of early writing. Providing numerous, helpful examples of early writing--complete with transcriptions--they demonstrate how to: make sense of children's writing and interpret how they represent sounds, ideas, and images; see important developmental signs in writers that teachers can use to help them grow further; and recognize the thinking young children engage in and discover that it's the same thinking more experienced writers use to craft purposeful, thoughtful pieces. Then the authors show you how little ones can develop powerful understandings about: texts and their characteristics; the writing process; and what it means to be a writer. The reader will learn how to support their writers' quest to make meaning, as they grow their abilities and refine their thinking about writing through teaching strategies such as: reading aloud; working side by side with writers; and sharing children's writing. This book divides into two sections and ten chapters. Section I: Building Understandings About Young Writers, contains: (1) What It Means to Be a Writer; (2) Composition and the Importance of Making of Picture Books; (3) Rethinking the Meaning of Writing Development; (4) Understanding Dimensions of Composition Development; and (5) The Child's Image of Self as Writer: Managing the Balance of Initiation and Demonstration. Section II: Teaching Practices That Nurture Young Writers, contains (6) Understanding the Teaching Context; (7) Supporting Young Writers Through Read-Aloud; (8) Understanding Side-by-Side Teaching; (9) Building a Repertoire of Responsive Actions for Side-by-Side Teaching; and (10) Supporting Young Writers with Share Time.