This is a new second edition of an unusual older book on writing. Fletcher is an experienced creative writer (he has been a fellow at Yaddo) and teacher of both adults and children. Here, he creates a standard book for writers, mixing practical examples with advice and inspiration, but with a difference: it is designed for child writers and is written for K-12 teachers. The book does not focus on benchmarks, tests, or child learning theory. It is a plain-spoken writer's guide by an experienced writer/teacher of early grades who uses the same approach adult writers use for themselves, sensibly scaled to children. Some writing samples are taken from children's books, but most are from the work of student writers in elementary and middle school; those from the earliest grades are printed in facsimile (the author explains that children incorporate new ideas most easily when they can see their peers using them). By using smart real-life models of writing by children and writing a book of sophisticated adult ideas in language most sixth-graders could understand, the author makes a convincing case that child writers are writers, whether they are first-graders writing poems or tenth-graders writing papers. He does not ignore the differences of children (the chapter on time, for instance, includes finding time to write, and that children in grades 3-4 start to select and sequence events in writing as they learn to handle time like an adult). He simply focuses on a writer's approach to learning to write with skill and joy. Part one looks at essentials: having good mentors, writing as a process of discovery, and finding a love of words. Part two looks at craft, with chapters on teaching children to use specificity, character, voice, beginnings, endings, tension, place, time, and language. This edition adds two new chapters, on writing nonfiction, and on revising. There is a useful appendix of examples and recommended books for each chapter's focus; the author includes sections of picture books, books in various genres that are suitable for children, and books for young readers. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)