Definitely the book to help students with their ideas for writing. Ralph has a hard time figuring out what to write about and then finds success. Fun illustrations.

We read this cute story about a boy called Ralph and his efforts towards putting words to a story. I used the book to discuss with my tinies that storytelling does not have an exact formula. Each one of us is a story teller with a unique way/manner of story telling. We don't have to wait until we find the perfect story. Every mundane event has a story, just like how every adventure has a story. After reading the book, we told each other some stories that we made up impromptu - a story about playing Garba, a story about visiting my aunt, they told me a story about visiting their grandma, a story about a mile long traffic jam that we were stuck this morning while we were reading the story - and so on. It made them so happy when I complimented them on their story telling. I have a feeling we are going to come back to this book everytime I feel I need to give their creativity a gentle nudge. We loved it! ❤️

Age: 1st grade+
Writing

I loved writing books when I was Ralph's age, and was never afraid to tell a story just because I thought it wasn't interesting enough (unlike Ralph) - so this book really hit home for me. I was just like Ralph's friend Daisy! I really enjoyed the illustrations in the book, too.

Abby Hanlon gets the primary writing workshop (and every writer's process) PERFECT!

Adorable. Ralph's story (or lack thereof) needs to be told during every beginning of the year writing workshop. We know that despite modeling with our kids, despite heart maps and quick writes, despite sketching and turn and talk time that we have kids in our rooms who struggle to put their ideas on paper. Ralph's story (or lack thereof) will resonate with these kids; it will resonate with anyone who stares into an abyss wishing for an idea to magically pop up. I'm other words, Ralph's story (or lack thereof) but subsequent success will hit a nerve with us all. I'm impressed by the author/illustrator's commitment to drawing her own pictures despite her lack of formal training. The artwork is wonderfully sophisticated while still retaining a huge amount of childlike qualities. I can't wait to read this one when we begin personal narratives in the fall. Highly recommended!

Listened to this as a read-aloud at the Young Writers Young Readers camp; what an excellent mentor text for kids to see how to deal with writer's block. Funny & engaging story about a boy who finally finds his voice!

Yes, we all have stories to tell. Johnny was able to predict where the baby put the inchworm!

Very fun book that worked well for Elementary School Storytime

Great to teach narrative writing in my classroom!