The Phive - Storywriter's Book Review

Enchanting Learning Storywriter's Book

The Phive Enchanting Learning Storywriter's Book is an inspiring guide to help children get started with imaginative story writing. This creative writing journal is a must-have for budding storywriters and is packed full of magical story prompts, titles, and planning pages for young authors. We sent a copy of The Phive Children's Storywriter's Book to Babipur fan and book lover Lauren to review with her children.

Lauren's Review of The Phive Children's Storywriter's Book

Hello, I'm Lauren, mum to three little ones aged 5, 7 and 10, a huge lover of children's books and @Laurenandthelambs over on Instagram. Myself and my kids are very rarely seen without a book in hand so when Babipur kindly asked us if we'd like to review the new Children's Storywriter's Book from The Phive for their blog, we jumped at the chance. 

Caitlyn, my eldest, was very excited about this book. She's my biggest bookworm and adores world building and creative writing. So, after having a quick flick through myself, in which I was very impressed, I passed it on to her to get her thoughts. 

Inspiring Children's Story Prompts

The first story prompt she settled on was 'The Power of the Flowers' though that wasn't surprising to me as she's a nature lover through and through. There are 15 different prompts in this book and they're based around a magical theme; from dragons and time travelling tents to secret cottages and enchanted woodlands.

Each page has a title and a sentence or two to start off the story followed by two and a half A4 pages of writing space as well as plenty of extra pages in the back for when their imagination starts running. There are also two drawing spaces; one A4 page that has a little doodle fitting the prompt that they can expand on and one half page that's a complete blank space to fill once they've decided on a direction for their story. 

The prompt for the story she chose reads - 'Wandering through the flowers, I suddenly heard an enormous roar in the distance, followed by a slow rumble under foot....'. These couple of lines really leave the direction of the story up to the writer but give enough of a kick start to get their brains working. Caitlyn jumped between various ideas; an earthquake, giants fighting, a huge tree falling- but settled on none of those and instead decided on a worm. Yes, a worm. 

Enchanting Learning Story Planning Pages

Initially, she was reluctant to make use of the planning pages in the middle of the book and she told me 'I already know how to write a story, mum!'. But after we chatted a bit about her ideas she realised how handy it'd be to have a page to jot down ideas and words or phrases she'd like to use and have somewhere to go back to them. Imagine that!

The planning pages adesigned very well, there's plenty of space to note things down and a few prompts to set you on your way. When planning her story,  Caitlyn chose to go down the route of mind maps. Having a space where she wasn't limited to lines but also wasn't a huge, intimidating blank canvas was great for her.

Creative Writing Ideas For Young Storywriters

A quick brain storming session gave her the premise for her story; a giant worm, aptly named 'big worm', who is the guardian of the meadow. The story also stars Caitlyn, and herself and Big Worm want to stop the destruction of the wild space. By using the planning page, Caitlyn was able to lay out the basic arc of her story. The handy 'describing ingredients' list at the back of the book gave her lots of ideas for imaginative text to bring her work to life. 

A Working Journal

Over the next few days, she worked on her story here and there, coming back to the ideas she noted down and adding new ones to them. Again, she really appreciated how beneficial it was to have this space to take notes, especially because she's not fond of having marks through her work from where it's crossed or rubbed out or a reminder of where she might have made a mistake. The space on the planning page gave her that place where she could be messy and have random squiggles without affecting the presentation of her work. I definitely think she's a convert to the idea of rough drafts.

Budding Young Authors 

Caitlyn is very impressed with her story and read it to us all with pride. Following her creativity, my 5 year old also gave it a go though she didn't get much further than colouring a rainbow and adding on 'the rain got heveer (heavier)' to a prompt called The Colourful Warning before she got distracted by the ice cream van pulling up. 

With a little bit of help I'm sure she'd be able to manage a short story and it's doubtful she'd plan it without prompting. From this I'd say this book would be best aimed at age 6 upwards. Caitlyn, aged 10, wrote solo and just used me as a sounding board for ideas when needed or to check a spelling for her.

A Treasured Keepsake

One other thing I do want to highlight is the construction of this book. The quality is really nice, the pages are a good thickness and don't rip as soon as you put a rubber on them. You could definitely keep this book for a long time. The little page on the inside of the front cover has a space for the authors name and age so it's perfect to keep in a memory box or as a keepsake when they're finished. 

It's thoughtfully made too; the inks are plant based and the covers are made of FSC card and biodegradable laminate. Even the binding is made from recycled materials. Also, for every product sold The Phive, through their partnership with Nature & Nurture, plants a tree in the UK. 

The Phive Storywriter's Book Gets A Glowing Review

Thank you Babipur for sending this out and giving us a chance to review it. It really got our creative juices flowing and the years of experience in the education sector Zoe at The Phive has really shines through in how well thought out this book is.

This is our first experience of a product by The Phive and I'm thoroughly impressed by it. I could see it working effectively to build creative writing skills in both the home and school environments and especially well with those who home educate. Between what I've experienced with this book and what I've seen from their phonics and storytelling cards, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them again. You can find a range of learning items and wall prints by The Phive at Babipur now.