3 Mentor Texts For Persuasive Writing

It’s NAPLAN season, which means it’s the time of year when teachers start reaching for the same old, tired, persuasive writing mentor texts.  

You know the ones: Hey, Little Ant, I Wanna Iguana, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Day the Crayons Quit, etc. 

BREAKING NEWS: I have finally located some persuasive writing mentor texts that are a) high quality and b) mostly Australian!  

In this post, I share three quality (and little-known) mentor texts that you can use to help teach persuasive writing to your students. 

Two Sides to Every Story. By Beck and Robin Feiner  

This Australian text follows a young boy named Oscar who likes to weigh up the perspectives from both sides before making decisions. When deciding what to eat for breakfast, for example, he weighs up the pros and cons of having his eggs cooked googy vs fried: 

‘Googy-eggs are more fun to eat. And they’re healthier, too. But fried eggs are deliciously crispy. And look so nice on a plate.’ 

He goes through his day weighing up the pros and cons of things such as carnivores vs. vegetarians, going to the museum vs. the Mosh Pit, living in the city versus the country, and visiting the beach versus the pool. 

This is a great text for introducing the concept of multiple perspectives in an argument and the importance of considering all sides. It also introduces important language to persuasive writing, such as: but, after considering both sides, on the other hand, while, plus and on the flip side. 

A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Pet. By Ali Rutstein and Tommy Doyle  

This funny Australian text presents a range of animals and explains why each one would or wouldn’t make a perfect family pet. The author announces a new animal on each page and then provides reasons for or against the animal as a family pet. (i.e. A statement is made and then backed up with specific reasons).  

The reasons presented for each animal are quite hilarious and are sure to have your students laughing and questioning the author’s recommendations:  

‘Rhinos, on the other hand, are fabulous beasts. They have a sweet, earthy aroma to match their gentle temperament. And their horn is perfect for your bag, hat or jumper.’ 

You could use this text to practice developing supporting reasons for your students’ arguments. Read the text and then collaboratively create a list of reasons why other pets would be more suitable than the ones suggested. 

All You Need to Know About Dogs. By Fred Blunt (UK) 

STOP THE PRESS! Someone actually found a useful reason for writing about cats versus dogs! 

This hilarious book is written from the perspective of a cat who suggests that all dogs are stupid. Once the cat states his position, he then provides a bunch of examples to prove that this statement is true. (E.g. They jump in muddy ponds, they roll in poo, they chase their own tail.)  

In between the negatives, the cat also provides some positives about dogs, although he quickly (and cleverly) turns these into negatives as well: 

“Surprisingly, they have an amazing sense of smell… …but just look how they use it!” 

Use this book to help students examine arguments both in favour of and against a topic. Find -and then list- every argument presented in the text and add it to a positive or negative column on a chart. 

Students could also try rewriting the book from the dog’s perspective, this time arguing either that dogs are NOT stupid or that cats are stupid. Brainstorm some examples with students first, and then support them to expand these reasons into a text.  

I hope you find these mentor texts useful for your persuasive writing instruction. Let me know how your lessons go over on the Oz Lit Teacher Facebook group. 

Also, keep an eye out for my weekly mentor text reviews. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing teaching recommendations for each of these texts. 

Related Blog Posts 

• The Problem with Mentor Texts 

• 5 Quick Tips For Using Mentor Texts 

• What Are Mentor Texts?