"Children become better readers by writing. When children write they notice what other writers do in the books they read."

- Bernice Cullinan

 

There's not much we love more than using a favorite picture book to inspire a writing project (well, maybe homemade ice cream, but that's another blog post).

 

 

This is the perfect season to use Night Animals by Gianna Marino as inspiration for a book of our own.

The inky black pages,

the googly eyes,

the speech bubbles...

who could resist? Not us!

 

So... here you go. Everything you need to make your very own Nocturnal Animals Guess Who book!

 

Let's get started!

 

 The first thing you'll want to do is read Night Animals by Gianna Marino together. Notice the high-contrast illustrations and use of black, the speech bubbles, and the googly eyes peering out at you. We're going to use all of those in our Guess Who book!

Now, think of your favorite nocturnal animals. You'll want at least four to include in your book, but you could easily add more if you like! Use the planning sheet in the printable to write up to three clues for each animal.

Transfer your clues to book pages! This is the fun part... don't forget the googly eyes!

 

 

Next, turn the page and add your creature-reveal block. Don't forget to add an awesome creature portrait!

 

 

Repeat for all your nocturnal animals, and you're done!

Trade with a friend and see if you can guess each other's animals!

 

We'd love to see your nocturnal animal riddles! If you share on social media, tag us @rubyreadsbooks and use #rubyreads_minibooks so we can guess! We can't wait to see what you create!

 

psssst.....looking for directions to make a blank book to use in this project? You'll want to visit this post for complete directions! You're going to make a step book, but use black paper and leave the pages 4 1/4" x 11". Easy peasy!