When faced with a big writing assignment, it helps to get good advice. Fourth graders at Valley Park Elementary School got their help last month from two fine local authors.

The kids in Susan Evans' class will be writing a historical fiction story about one of the religious holidays. Working in three-person teams, they also are to illustrate and publish the stories in book form.

Pat and Fred McKissack are St. Louis authors who have published over 100 books, most of them for kids.

Last month, they visited Ms. Evans' students via closed-circuit TV to provide writing tips. The McKissacks were at the headquarters of the Cooperating School Districts in Creve Coeur. The kids were in the technology lab in Valley Park High School, 15 miles away.

During the hour-long class, the McKissacks told the kids how to do research to gather facts and then how to make an interesting story. Pat McKissack said it isn't enough to "just lift out facts" and write them down.

She and her husband, Fred, told how each story has to have characters. It also needs action and a setting where the story takes place. The story must be based on a good idea that tells "why it's being written and what is the point of the story," Pat McKissack said.

Nine-year-old Anthony Woods said he hasn't decided which holiday to use yet. But, he's pretty sure he'll write his story in poetry form. He said he was pretty good at thinking up words that rhyme.

Using his brother Devan's name, Anthony rattled off other words such as seven, eleven, heaven and Kevin.

He also said he did a good job when asked to write a Pilgrim's diary for one writing assignment. "I was supposed to write 10 entries in the diary but I wrote 11," he said.

Ten-year-old Shunique Prechard said she's going to use a regular story form for her holiday writing assignment. She's sure her story will be about Christmas.

She said the best story she's written so far was a murder mystery.

When asked who did the murder, she said, "Some old man who killed my grandma." Asked how it was solved, she said, "We called the police and the police caught him."

Shunique and nine-year-old Taylor Bryant both hope they get to illustrate the book that their three-member teams publish. Both said they wanted to be professional illustrators when they grow up.

Taylor said she liked to draw horses. She said her older brother, Brad, was a good illustrator.

She said her holiday story will be about Christmas. She wants the story to be located in a friend's house in Valley Park. But, she didn't have the whole plot line figured out yet.

Asked about her best writing assignment, she said it was about a blind person.

"A little girl who was blind had to go to a school for the blind. She learned how to read Braille," she said. Asked about the story's conclusion, Taylor said, "The blind girl becomes a doctor."

Nine-year-old Prem Vareedayah said the McKissacks taught him how to be more descriptive in his writing. The McKissacks used the example of how to use words to give readers a "clearer image" of a character or a situation.

Starting with the word "dog", the McKissacks asked the kids to tell readers more about the dog. When the kids got done, the dog was a "scrawny brown and white poodle that was doing somersaults on grass in the park."

Prem said when his team published its holiday book, he'd rather be the writer than the illustrator. "I'm not a very good drawer," he said.

Young Saint Louis.com is going to return to Ms. Evans' class on December 17. That's when the McKissacks will make another closed-circuit visit to the kids to see how their holiday writing assignments turned out.

Then, in the January, 2003, edition, we'll talk to some of the kids who published the best work. We'll also include samples of the best books, including their illustrations.

Earlier, YSL.com wrote stories about similar closed-circuit writing workshops the McKissacks did with other classes. To read the January, 2002, story, click here. For the second story in March, 2002, click here.