Hmmm, you know after I thought about it I realized the books I like are ridiculous, funny and sort of uplifting for the kids. But not uplifting in a w@nky sorta moral high horse politically correct way.
We have hundred and hundreds of books and when I look at the ones the kids are drawn to - Pamela Allen for example. When you look at what she has done, you can see she...well she can't sort of help being so wonderful. You can tell she writes from her bones or something - its HER that make the story so delicious. And as a parent I know any book she writes I will love for lots of reasons.
SO what I am trying to say is although researching the market is a good move, don't let that dictate too much. Write from your heart, apprentice yourself to your own child and see things through her eyes as she grows. Go to book childrens book readings and launches (advertised in the weekend papers) and suck in the feelings the room generates. A good childrens writer is an artist first and foremost, I think the 'brand' (for want of a better word) will follow from that. xoxoxoxoxo
Just my 200 cents! Its just my kids were given quite a few books recently and some of them are total crap. They are sort of clinical somehow and all moral and correct, it really feels like 'story lite', they have no guts, really hollow. I didn't think it would be easy to get kids books wrong until now!
DD1 adored the ones like Where is the Green Sheep and The Very Hungry Caterpiller when she was younger - she is now getting into the Dr Seuss and some more complex books. She loves the ones that she can memorise and "read along" with mummy so if she can predict the words from the pictures and/or the rhyme she enjoys them more.
So I guess
- an interesting/funny story or one that she can relate to
- simple words with or without a rhyme depending on the pictures
- pictures that relate to the story
Theo turned 3 in march and has always had the patience to sit through a long story (probably from me reading my mills and blooms out loud to hi whilst BFing heehee)
He loves Rhyming books (Fox in Sox and Cat in Hat 1&2 are his FAVOURITE!!!) and he loves excietment and sillyness (like Lulu we like rediculous ones lacking any boring Moral message, thats just not imprtant to us).
For me as a parent i look for bright contrasting pictures and ones that really tell the story or the action being described so that as Theo learns to read he can make up the story from the pictures first (like he is doing now with We're going on a Bear Hunt). Repetitiveness is also really good for him (again with Bear Hunt)
And i recently borrowed a book from the library and of course i can't remember what its called but it was in the learn to read sectoin so it had small clear sentences but one thing i loved about the publishing was that the key/hard words like FRIENDLY or JUMPING/SKIPPING/RUNNING were all done in a larger font to stand out on the page.
Really depends who and what you want to write for? but also like lulu said i really think you can tell when someone has written from their heart.....and for us silliness reigns supremem when it comes to books!
Nothing like a cuddle from DD after a hard day's work!
Oct 2007
in my own world
3,267
DD loves books too since we introduced her to books when she was only a few months old. She loves the touch and feel ones and the pop-up ones (she's 13mths now and still love those most)
She doesnt like books with lots of words because she only spends like a few secs on each page.
DS is a book worm! He likes funny ones or books that are very far fetched. Some of his favorites are:
Horton hears a who
Peter Pan
Possum Magic
Horton hatches the egg
He will sit through a whole story with a lot of words and one main picture.
When buying a book, i look for quality, like i think about how my son will throw it around and things like that. Whether it will last or not. I also like books that have a meaning behind the story.
You girls are all so wonderful, thankyou for your suggestions and advice.
I have started writing.
I have ideas for two boks, both completely different to each other.
Without giving to much away, one book is about a mother and their child. I am aiming this to be a feel good bedtime book between mother and baby/small child. (Sort of the same market that the book "Guess how much I love you" is aimed at). So what I am wondering is, do you think it best to use animals as characters or people? If animals I am open to suggestions.
Thanks for all your help. It is great to run things by people and get other great opinions
Hmm, I like animals because then you don't wander into the 'stereotype' territory IYKWIM... a panda is a panda, theres no mistaking it, and a child can relate to the mum-child relationship instead of possible being drawn to the differences between themselves and that child (I'm talking ethnicity etc).
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