Something for Newbie Children's Writers

If you've read this blog before, you know that I write for the adult fiction market. I know absolutely nothing about the children's market beyond having a love for the stories.

I had a friend years ago who collected children's books. Martha had a long hallway that stretched the length of her house with waist-high built-in bookshelves filled with her collection. Since she had owned an independent book chain, many of the books were signed first editions. One of my favorite things to do during a visit was to sit on the hardwood floor in the hall and read the children's books.

Two things happened today to make me want to devote a blog to children's writers. One was a plea on a loop I belong to, asking how to find a children's illustrator. The other was an article on the Writing World website (http://www.writing-world.com/) on the various ages of children's literature.

I don't know about you, but I'm in the habit of calling anything under the age of 12 children's lit and anything over the age of 12 young adult. Fortunately, Eugie Foster was out there to provide additional detail.

Eugie wrote an excellent article in which she breaks down the various ages of children as follows:

Pre-readers: These are infants through preschoolers
Emergent readers: These are 5- and 6-year-olds in kindergarten and first grade
Early readers: These are 6- and 7-year-olds in first and second grade
Fluent readers: These are 7- and 8-year-olds in the third and end of second grade
Middle-graders: These are the 8- to 12-year olds from third to sixth grade
Young adult: This is anything over age 12

If you're interested in children's literature, I urge you to read Eugie's article. She gives the characteristics of readers at each age and the things they are looking for when reading. The link to her article is: http://www.writing-world.com/children/stages.shtml.

For the writer seeking an illustrator, I emailed the loop with the one bit of solid information I had. That is, SCBWI or the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. There is a chapter near me in north Texas, and a number of writers I respect are members. SCBWI has chapters all over the country and are very pro-active in their field. Their website can be found at: http://www.scbwi.org/about.htm.

Now that I've done my good deed for the day, I'll bid you a great weekend.

Regards,

Maya