Years ago, I hosted a monthly meeting for beginners interested in writing for children. It was an interesting group of people and, unfortunately, there were always some who viewed writing for children as an easy way to make a few bucks. One woman even announced that she had quit her job to become a children’s book author. The other members (and I!) sat in stunned silence after that pronouncement.
It was obvious that this person hadn’t done much research on the topic. I suspect she thought that cranking out a bunch of easy words with a moral at the end would result
in a quick book contract for the next Goodnight Moon. It doesn’t help when celebrities show up on talk shows pushing their latest kid’s book. Putting a famous name on the cover is guaranteed to sell copies—whether the book is any good or not.
Because the vocabulary in children’s books often seems simple, putting words together to create a viable story for kids is actually filled with rules that writers for adults don’t have to deal with.
First: who is my audience? Is it the one-year-old who needs lots of pictures and, perhaps, one word per page? Is it the preschooler who is learning to sit through a simple story? Is it the elementary student who loves to learn facts? The middle grader who favors chapter books? The young adult ready to tackle difficult concepts?
Second: what's the word count for this story? Publishers put a lot of emphasis on this stipulation. Sometimes it’s because a book series requires that the books be similar in length. Sometimes it’s meant to adjust to the fact that today’s children have shorter attention spans. Picture books that used to be 1000-1200 words are now more likely to be fewer than 900 words in length.
Under the same banner we might include: what’s the readability? Is the vocabulary decipherable by most of your intended readers?
A third requirement: is the topic age-appropriate? A children’s book about Benjamin Franklin will include his inventions and involvement in the creation of the United States. It won’t include his 1745 letter entitled “Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress.”
Children experience life in stages, in bits and pieces, and writers must be cognizant of that fact. Their books should reflect the same. It’s sometimes difficult for an author to think like a child or remember the child that they were. This concept can be especially true for writers for young adults. Laurie Halse Anderson, fabulous author of such books as Speak and Fever, once said, “There are plenty of adult books that have been written about teenagers, but the narrative voice betrays too much experience, the kind of perspective an adult has.”
A lot to think about but if you’re willing to tackle these rules and concepts, write there!
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