How To Write Books for Boys and Girls

(This post is being re-posted because The Management is all on vacation.  Enjoy!)

I found this 1954 article about Children’s Literature on a defunct website. Submitted for your edification and amusement.


"How To Write Books for Boys and Girls"

"Always portray the military, politicians and religious figures in a positive way. Remember, these responsible authority figures keep Americans safe against atheists, beatniks and Communists.

"The family in your story should consist of married parents. Divorce has no place in reading material of teens. Broken homes make them nervous and might put unnecessary worries in their heads about whether Mom and Dad are getting along. While many classic stories feature orphans, today’s modern family is more educated and healthy, and orphans are old fashioned characters.

"Dad should always work in an office or to a responsible job like a fireman or a policeman. Fathers should never be an unemployed loafer or a union organizer. Mothers should always be homemakers. Mother’s who work in offices set a bad example for impressionable girls.

"Boy characters should have healthy, manly hobbies like playing baseball, collecting bubble gum cards, and outdoor camping. Girls should like sewing, cooking and talking with other girls about like clothes and boys. Activities that keep boys inside like reading, writing or thinking are not suitable role models for young men. Those are girl activities. On the other hand, too much physical exercise by girl characters would be unrealistic and your reader would lose interest. If your story has a Tomboy, make sure she is not a major character. Make the Tomboy a supporting character who longs to act like a real girl.

"Dress your characters in appropriate clothing. Boys: short sleeve shirts (only puny boys who spend too much time reading in their rooms wear long sleeve shirts), loose, comfortable pants with pockets and Keds sneakers with tied laces.

"Girls: ankle-length skirts (absolute no pants), Mary Jane shoes (only girls with loose morals wear high heels unless attending special occasions like a funeral or a wedding), hair tied in a pony tail or neatly trimmed.

"Language is very important. As boys and girls are often not in control of their feelings, they make many exclamations of surprise.

"Appropriate phrases:
'Jeepers!'
'Golly!'
'Holy Moley!'

"Inappropriate phrases:
'Crazy man!'
'What a gasser!'
'Kookie!'

"Never show a boy and a girl holding hands unless accompanied by an adult or riding in a hay wagon with other boys and girls.

"Never have a girl romanced by a foreigner, especially greasers, scratch-backs, potatoes, pachucos, fruitpickers, or braceros.

"If your story is a crime mystery, make sure your youngsters deal with bunco artists, robbers, or counterfeiters. Never put your youngsters in peril with murderers or social deviants.

"Everybody likes a good ghost story, but stories with supernatural happenings should be confined to misunderstood blithe spirits, college fraternity pranks or escaped convicts in disguise.

"If you follow these tips, your story is sure to be a delight to boys and girls everywhere, and stand the test of time just like the classics you read as a youth.

"End your story with a good, hearty laugh at the dinner table. Perhaps, Skippy the family dog runs through the house chasing Fluffy, the neighbor’s cat.

"These are a few tips for a good writing and wholesome reading."

Dispatch #27: How to Start a Story...

by Lupe Fernandez

"Felson McGoo shot me with his Captain Norge X52 Dis-integrator and now I'm going to itch all recess. Today's playground forecast is 80% chance of Dimension X Spiders. Felson McGoo should've known better."

Wait?
What?
Some kid gets shot by a gun? Fantasy or not, school shootings are a serious business. I better try something else.

"I was in the back of Freddo's car with Lira Ballard watching Freddo make-out with his newest girlfriend Isela Lee. I figured Lira wanted the same so I kissed her with a lot of tongue action and put my hand up her blouse. Believe it or not, this was my first kiss."

Huh?
Heavy petting in the backseat of a car? On a first date? Reads like sexual harassment to me. I'd never get it past an agent. I'm probably get stamped as a perv author. Let's try dystopian.

"Holly Wa Ming stoops in the carbolic crop field, her boots hiss in the acid runoff. A countdown booms from the Balboa Missile Base across the marsh. She stands and stretches her numb back. Holly Wa shields her eyes from the light of the ascending war rocket. The exhaust flickers like a snake's tongue. The shock wave sends a ripple through the field, revealing the hundreds of other harvesters bend like rusty nails. Holly Wa dreams of catching the snake's tongue, riding the monster to its target and killing the enemy."

Harsh working conditions. Military action. Killing the...who? Enemy? Shouldn't she want peace and a better life? Too militaristic. Needs a handsome, brooding love interest. I can't write handsome, brooding love interest.

Okay. Paranormal. Romantic vampires. It's a sure thing.
"I vant to suck your bloodddd..."
Nope. Can't do it.

I keep wondering who will this piece offend? Will I shock parental sensibilities? Just because I'll read it don't mean the the words will past the proverbial editorial mustard. Second guess. Second guess. Triple guess. Quintuple guess.

I should stop reading so many "How To Write In 134 Easy Steps"  blogs and hermetically seal myself with my keyboard and type away.

The rest is chance and circumstance, and perhaps a good query letter.

Spilling Ink. How to get kids (and you) to write

by Hilde Garcia

Spilling Ink.

Seems easy. To simply let ink flow out on to paper as their ideas evolve. Not easy at all. But if you think it is hard for us, try teaching kids to do it?

Well, two amazing ladies created a fabulous handbook that makes this task extremely accessible- and forget the kids- I use the book too!

Their book titled Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook by Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer is fabulously written and kid friendly. I used it two years ago when I taught 6th grade how to write a novel and the project was a hit thanks to the handbook. Now, I am introducing it to my 4th and 5th grade class and now the rest of the upper grade staff wants to join in on the fun.

What’s the fun?

Let’s write a novel, kids. Yep, and then publish it.

A bit crazy to undertake the way today’s schools are set up, but I’m that kind of nut. I like the road bumpy all the way around.

I remember listening to Gordon Korman deliver a key note a few years ago at an SCBWI conference here in LA and he spoke of how he got his book published at the ripe old age of 12.

He had all twelve hundred of us dying when he said, “I simply sent it in with the Scholastic book order since I was the rep and had collected the money.” It was something he’d written during those long hours in English class when the “coach” teaching his class was simply “not” teaching.

And they called him to publish it. Yep.

My students went nuts.

“He was only 12?”

“That’s so cool?”

“Is it the same Gordan Korman from The 39 Clues and Ungifted?”

“You heard him speak?”

“He’s just a kid like me?”

Yes, I tell them, he was and still is, if you read his characters, full of warmth, quirkiness, honesty and yes, they still sound their age.

Now that I have hooked the class, I start reading from Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer’s amazing book Spilling Ink. I have the kids at hello. Right there, on page 1. Some of it I act out. Some of it they read out loud. Most of it they identified and laughed at, but most of them feel the same way. “Not me, I’m just a kid.”

And I am here to tell them that size matters not and neither does age. A story can be told by anyone, at any time, although it usually helps if you can write or talk.

Then I do the next coolest thing in this awesome book- I take my character to dinner. My students were like, “What?” I said, “Sure just ask them questions. And to warm you guys up, let’s see how well you know your pals.”

I assigned my students the 15 questions from the book, which I have included here, and told them, ok interview your pal.

1. What is your happiest memory?
2. What makes you laugh so hard soda shoots out of your nose?
3. What don’t you want anyone to find out about you?
4. What is the best part of your personality?
5. What shoes do you usually wear?
6. Name some things that you are not very good at.
7. How would your best friend describe how you look?
8. What irritates you (i. e., noises, bad habits, personality traits)?
9. What are you afraid of?
10. Tell me about your family.
11. What does your bedroom look like?
12. What do you think of yourself when you look in the mirror?
13. What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
14. Do you have a crush on anyone?
15. What do you really, REALLY want more than anything else in the world?

Now pay attention. Here is the number one most important question you can ask your character. Ready? (page turn)

What’s your heart’s desire?

Turns out they didn’t know their pals as well as they thought they did. They were truly aghast when friend A couldn’t tell friend B her favorite color and Friend C guessed the wrong team Friend D loved to watch play football.

And they have been in the same class for 4 years.

Over the winter break, their job will be to think of a character, real or imagined, they would like to tell a story about and then take them to dinner, using the 15 questions from Spilling Ink.

And that will be our jumping board for starting our novel.

I love reading what they write and seeing how it evolves. There’s one more component of this amazing project. I put the students into critique groups. Yep, peer groups. They print their new pages. Then share them with each group member.

I tell my students when critiquing to use the compliment sandwich:

TOP BUN: “Hey, I like how much you wrote.” (something nice)

THE FILLING: “Maybe add a line to explain the joke.” (something to add)

BOTTOM BUN “But it certainly is funny. “ (something nice #2)

There you have it. A compliment sandwich. Works with adults too, I hear.


But of course, we still have to publish it don’t we?

There’s a great website that let’s you create book that you can then buy called Tikatok. It puts your students in the driver’s seat.

Of course, there is constant reading and editing to help the kids mold a story when many of them can’t write a successful paragraph.

But when the stakes are high and it’s something that matters like their idea, the kids really go the distance.

And subsequently, their writing improves by leaps and bounds.

It’s that easy. Stuck on starting a new project? Well….

Think of a character you’d like to write about.

Take your character to dinner.

You never know what they might order.

Thanks Ellen and Anne for such an amazing tool that parents, teachers and writers can use to continue writing stories that Scholastic and others might want to publish from the Scholastic Book order envelope. (I know! That still just cracks me up!)

You're Only As Good As Your Opening Line

by Susan J Berger

Richard Peck gave a workshop at the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference titled You're Only As Good As Your Opening Line.

Of course I had to attend. I felt so connected when I realized I had blogged many of the opening lines he mentioned.

Richard says he spends one day a week perusing the book stores looking for great openings. I've done that! But not once a week.

He gave us a ten point first impressions checklist: I emailed his agent, Linda Pratt, and asked if I could use it.

He said yes, so here goes:

1. Is the first sentence a line and a half long at the most?

2. Do we hear a young voice?

3. Is there a question?

4. Does it start with people, not place?

5. Is there color?

6. If it's not in first person, Why not?  (I write in third. sigh.)

7. How are adult characters kept off the page and off the stage?

8. Where are the unnecessary twenty words? (Richard believes one always has twenty unnecessary words. I think he was referring to the page and not the whole book.)

9. Is there plenty of white space?

Is there a good reason to turn the page?

I plan to use this checklist every time I write a first line...except for the First Person one. I still like Third.

 Richard Peck writes wonderful first lines. Here are three of my favorites.

If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it.

The Teacher’s Funeral.

Unless you never got out of grade school, you have noticed how life keeps making you start over.

The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp

1929

You wouldn't think we'd have to leave Chicago to see a dead body.

A Long Way from Chicago

My next post will be the lines Richard used as examples in his handout.

Happy Writing.

Dispatch #9: How is Wedding Planning Like Writing a Manuscript?

The Happy Couple

by Lupe Fernandez

Wedding planning and manuscript writing have items in common? Is this another excuse to post vacation images?

Yes.
No.

First there is the engagement, a proposal of commitment to start something with a goal in mind.

Kauai, North Shore

Then find a venue, a location. Where will all the characters meet? Who will be invited? What roles will the participants play?

Once the venue is found, how will it be decorated? The place needs a color scheme, a lighting design and furniture.

Will characters, participants be able to move around? How will they get to the venue? Will they come earlier or later in the event?

Bubba's Burgers

What will everyone eat? What kind of food to the characters like? Not everyone will be satisfied.

Everyone loves music. Live or recorded. What genre? What emotions will the music evoke?

There's a rehearsal dinner for the characters to practice. If something doesn't go right, then a change, a revision of action is required.

Rugged Adventure Garb

What will the main characters- the bride, the groom, maid of honor, best man - wear?

The actual wedding starts with the ceremony, the matrimonial inciting incident.

Other details like cake, invitations or flowers will come up as the planning/writing progresses. Will these items be the cause of "Oh My God How Will We Pay for This?" or "This detail needs to be included in the story."

Once the event occurs, the vows done and edits done, when the couple become newlyweds and the manuscript transforms into a book, will it last?

How many anniversaries will they celebrate? We all hope many years of productive and profitable years.

We'd like congratulate for Foreign Correspondent for his recent engagement and forth coming marriage. This in no way excuses him from writing posts for this blog.

Sincerely,

The Management

Dispatch #6 - Visit to SCRAP

by Lupe Fernandez

SCRAP Entrance

"Wow! Look at all this stuff!"

That was my first reaction when entering SCRAP (Scrounger’s Center for Reusable Art Parts). According to their website, "SCRAP is a non-profit creative reuse center, materials depot, and workshop space founded in 1976 in San Francisco, California."

Here's a meager list of things I had found:

SCRAP Interior

Gift Wrap Paper, Easter Grass, Wigs, Board Games, Computer Cases, Wall Paper, Sponges, Corks, Rolled Fabric, Stock Photos, Door Hardware, Small Interesting Shapes, Road Maps, CDs, Foam, Frame Glass, Tiles, Centra Board, Plastic Microscope Pieces, Buttons, Disco Balls, Chocolate Boxes (Just the boxes, no chocolate) and Gravel Trays of 1930 Union Oil Samples.

So what does this have to do with Children's Literature and/ or writing?

Cabinet

SCRAPS. Scraps. Bits and pieces seemingly discarded items that at one time served a purpose, each could be matched to a moment, a memory and mood. As a writer, I draw upon the smell of smoke, the sight of a cloud, the taste of an orange, the sound of a siren and the feel of skin. From these disparate elements, I form an idea, a word, a sentence, a paragraph and a story.

But don't take my word for it. Fellow SCBWI member, Katherine Taylor, Outreach Coordinator for SCRAP since September 2012, bought a thick book at the depot, found the images among the magazines and created a picture book for her three year old son.

He liked it.

36 Animals

Katherine, with a background in environmental science, works at obtaining donations for SCRAP from individuals and local businesses.

Katherine Taylor

"We are on the radar of places like the Moscone Center, Timbuk2, Marriott and other hotels, Levi's, and local museums."

SCRAP accepts manufactured and natural materials that can be used by artists and teachers. "We want things like office supplies, paper products, glass, wood, fabric, and metal parts. We like to get things in bulk for teachers to use in their classrooms. Check our website or e-mail us to make sure we accept what you have to donate."

On a board I saw a listing of some of the following Classroom Activity Projects: CD Tops, Testing Viscosity, Model Hermatocritt, Huchol Yarn Act and Game Lotto.

"We have big paper needs," Katherine says,
"Teachers don't get enough."

By the way, if you know a stockpile of telephone wire, Katherine wants to talk to you.

"Mixed-media artists can do a lot with it. They love wire. Also, it's good for kids' activities."

I recall a writing exercise where the instructor showed us an object and told the class to write for five uninterrupted minutes about said object.

What is it?

What did it mean? Did it conjure up a childhood memory? Could we imagine who might have owned it? Who was the cat flying the plane?

"What's the weirdest donation you ever received at SCRAP?" I asked Katherine.

Kat once picked up a "pregnant mannequin from the Gap." Such oddities go fast. Some days SCRAP has a pregnant mannequin and then the next, the mannequin is gone.

Scraps of characters, plot, themes can be donated into the depository of this writer's mind one bright windy day in San Francisco, and then disappear the next if I don't write them down.

Buttons. Sorry not actual gold.

As a writer, I must sift through mental shelves of discarded material, donated anonymously by time and circumstance, and find the gold.

While you browse through your own depot, I encourage you dear reader to visit SCRAP, either in person or via their website: http://www.scrap-sf.org/

******************
I'd like to thank Katherine for showing me around the SCRAP depot.

In honor of Earth Day, SCRAP will participate in the Night Life at the California Academy of Sciences on Thursday, April 25th.

Dispatch #4 - FFR: Fiction Fusion Reaction

Foreign Correspondent in Disguise

by Lupe Fernandez

In October, thanks to my various confidential contacts, I attended Family Day at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory here in Northern California. Formerly a Navy air station, the Lawrence Livermore Lab was founded in 1952 by physicist Ernest Lawrence for "strengthening the United States’ security through development and application of world-class science and technology..."

The Sun

One facility that intrigued me was the National Ignition Facility. No, it's not used to develop a better cigarette lighter, but to create a self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction - the power of the sun.

Official Sticker

Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed on the lab property, so this foreign correspondent had to smuggle out a technical drawing.

Top Secret Diagram of NIF Device

The design of the NIF brought to mind the various elements required to be targeted to create literary chain reaction.

The Lawrence Livermore Lab has yet to create a fusion reaction, imitating the nuclear furnace of the stars. But the writer must target various elements toward a common goal of creating a manuscript, and then, if a literary chain-reaction occurs, a successful novel.

Hypothetical Literary Fusion Diagram

As the NIF calibrates and tests its lasers to fuse hydrogen atoms into helium atoms, thus liberating energy, what other artistic beams must the writer aim, calibrate, test, dismantle, fund, construction, calculate and ponder to fuse such different literary elements into a a stellar novel?

This writer would like to think X. Xxxxx and X. Xxxxxxxx (names obfuscated for national security) for allowing me access to the lab.

Divorce – Critique Group Style

by Lupe Fernandez

Almost three years ago I joined a writing group with Teri Fox. There were four of us, but now there is only Teri and I. Teri Fox writes YA. She lives in cool house in the San Fernando Valley. We meet once or twice a month on Saturdays. She always has cookies and or fruit. The house is quiet, no screaming kids or barking dogs or jetliners roaring overhead, her house does not require satellite triangulation to find.

Teri, a former journalist for the Los Angeles Times, is a meticulous editor. My YA story is a better manuscript thanks to her efforts. She devotes the same attention to her own manuscript, scrutinizing each word and fearless in her rewrites.

Adjectives, adverts and clichés: Beware of Teri’s mighty pen. She takes no prisoners, and she’s usually right.

Here’s what Pen & Ink’s own Susan Berger has to day about Teri:

“Teri and I were in the same critique group for three years. In 2009, we lost a member which led us to put up a notice on Critique connection. We received so many replies that we ended up having a large group meeting at Hilde's house. At the end of the meeting Teri chose to go with a the newly forming YA critique group and Channe and I went to a picture book group. I knew I would miss Teri's critiques, this group meeting yielded enough writers to form a YA group and that's where Teri belonged. Hilde said she needed a Tuesday night group and I also joined that group. The four of us became Pen and Ink. I know Teri will be an asset to any group she joins. I really enjoyed working with her.”

With such a great writing partner, what’s with the divorce? The only reason I ever do anything drastic is because of a woman. In July, I’m leaving Los Angeles and moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, the land of my birth. So I will be unable to continue my writing relationship with Teri, hence the divorce. It’s an amiable divorce. Teri gets to keep her house. I get to keep my manuscript. Teri isn’t letting mourning our separation, she always looking to start a new writing group. But don’t take my word for it.

Teri, what did you to at the Los Angeles Times? 

In Los Angeles Times' glory days I produced feature articles on contemporary products and modern architecture. I designed sets, directed photographers and wrote the copy. 'Home Magazine' under Otis Chandler. It paid well. 

What are you look for in a writing critique group?

I want to be critiqued by YA writers who kill cliches in their work and bomb all adverbs. Most commas can die. 

What will other writers benefit from working with you?

Short sentences and chapters require sharp word choices. I help writers express their deepest intentions. 

What are you working on now? 

My YA novel is an historic adventure. Nineteen-year-old Jacob, a New York stage actor, struggles for his lead in D. W. Griffith's first silent western.

How do potential critique mates get in touch with you?
I would like to do an online YA Critique of four members. Reach me at Foxystory@aol.com

Anything else, you’d like to say? 

Thank you Lupe. Keep up your good work! 

I’d like to say, it’s been a pleasure to work with you, and eat your cookies and assorted sliced fruit. I enjoyed washing my hands in the sink full of rocks.
---
No, no. don’t worry about me, gentle reader.
I’ll be fine…sniffle, sniffle.

Text Holders for Writers

by Lupe Fernandez

In March, I attended an SCBWI seminar on graphic novels. Among the many facets I learned about graphic novels, I learned illustrators used different kinds of balloons for speech . Here are some examples:

Standard Text Balloons

What if we writers had our own balloons, balloons that would appear while we work, to hold the words that frequently spring from our minds? Here are some examples:

And some extreme examples...

...which I'm sure none of our readers would ever think:

How about you, dear reader?
What kind of balloons do you imagine holding your mental text?

Rejection Junction What’s Your Function?Picking Up Authors and Writers and Clauses…

by Hilde Garcia

What to do while I wait for a reply or a contract or a rejection letter?

1. Eat chocolate
2. Clean your garage
3. Organize the sock drawer
4. Stalk your editor on Facebook- no wait, only in my dreams
5. Post on your blog
6. Eat more chocolate
7. Watch a movie
8. Pretend not to care
9. Look in my mailbox every day, every hour, (not my real mailbox, the electronic one)
10. Relax and start a new project- hah, easier said than done.

So, the hard part about waiting is waiting.  It makes no sense, but my mind won’t let go of all the expectations I have for that manuscript once it left my hot little computer. 

I fantasize about what might happen, the famous people I will meet, the loads of money that I will earn.  I hope I am like a breakout author who has instant success.  I dread rejection, I mean, how dare anyone say something is wrong with my work.

Maybe I should occupy my waiting time with writing?

Jane Yolen said it best when she says rule number one is “B. I. C. - butt in chair.”

There is nothing I can do, no amount of hoping that will make the process go faster or change the outcome of my project.  I find that after I sent out my story, feeling confident I will get a quick reply- (it’s been 3 months, should I worry?)- I can’t even think of another story.

It’s like my mind is stuck on the one I sent out because I haven’t had closure with it yet.  How can another idea pop into my head with that open wound?  I say wound because until it is published and making me money, it won’t seem like it’s healed.

The hard part for me is the idea. This was my first novel, my first attempt at writing and even being part of a blog and a critique group.  I had a solid and great idea.  I turned it into a book with my group’s help. I got people interested in it and sent it off as requested.

I felt bold.  And boom, now what?  I got nothing.  Will my group think I am a fraud? A one hit wonder?

So, what to do when you send the manuscript out? 

Write, write and write! 

Even if it never sees the light of day, if I keep putting one word in front of the other, something good is bound to develop. (Right? Someone please tell me this is true.)

In the meantime, I will eat chocolate and organize my sock drawer (and yeah, keep writing.)

Desk Cat: The Ultimate in Writing Accessories

by Kris Kahrs

Fashionable trends rarely escape our notice here at The Pen and Ink Blog and when we were recently gifted with a store model of the hottest new thing to hit the writing world since the pencil sharpener – well, we could hardly hold our water.  (Except for Lupe, of course, who realizes these breathy pieces are his cross to bear.)  Dear Reader, I am talking about the Desk Cat, of course!

These fabulous pieces of four-footed, furry, feline fun come in a multitude of designer colors, shapes and sizes. I am told by the Desk Cat manufacturer, Cat In A Box Inc. that we have Jimmy Choo to thank for the stunning compact shape.  I also understand that the company’s goal this year is to put a Desk Cat on every writer’s desk by the end of 2012.  An ambitious goal indeed, considering the piles of manuscripts, books and computer hardware that clutter up our writing areas on a daily basis.

The company’s claims about the Desk Cat seem almost too good to be true.  They claim that Desk Cat can relieve stress, act as a paperweight and reduce your heating bill.  This consumer reporter admits to being a bit skeptical after hearing all of the product’s claims.  After all, how many products designed for writers can provide health benefits, be an office supply and be ‘green’ at the same time?  So, when we received our free sample, Pickles, naturally I wanted to be the first to try the product out and I am thrilled to report to our writing brethren that the Desk Cat product actually does perform as advertised.

The Pickles model came in a bold orange-y color and while not the color I would have chosen for myself, did coordinate nicely with my iphone case. Pickles issued a pleasing, whirring sound which I could not locate until I checked the user manual and found out that our model came with a ‘purring box’ already installed.  I couldn’t find the batteries so how it works is anyone’s guess. Immediately upon opening the box, Pickles promptly jumped on my desk and proceeded to hold down every available bit of paper! In the interest of disclosure, we did receive the newest and largest – 20 lb.—size.  However, no one will be able to find fault with the sheer enthusiasm with which Pickles engaged in his duties. As for the cost savings to be captured in heating, I can honestly say that with Pickles on my lap, I felt a good 10 degrees or so warmer.  I was astounded at the heat production and still can’t find where the battery compartment is located.

So, there you have it SCBWI confreres.  We highly recommend the Desk Cat for writers as the latest desk accessory that will add pleasure and style to your working environment.

Who Are You Writing For?

by Susan Berger

As a child, I loved to read, but I rarely wanted to read award winning books. They were books grownups thought I should enjoy.   They didn’t feel like they were written for me. 

Now I am a grownup and a writer and I still love to read kids’ books.  Sometimes I don’t know whether it’s the grown up in me that likes the book or my inner self which never did grow up.
For example: In January I checked out a book from The Kailua library – that’s right, I was in Hawaii -  called The Cheshire Cheese Cat, A Dickens of a Tale   It was on the 2011 Cybil’s finalist list for midgrade Fantasy/ sciencefiction.

I loved it.  But I couldn’t figure out whether it was my grownup self who love it or my kid self.  I checked the front of the book. (Kailua library still stamps due dates on the inside cover.) I was the second person to have read the book.  My grownup self loved that book.  So did the Cybil judges.  It was a winner.

 Then I picked up two picture books highly recommended by the Librarian: 

ThirteenWords, by Lemony Snicket

Oh migosh, you have to read this book!

Ten Birds by Michelle Young 

Really clever.

I loved them both, but I wasn’t sure whether kids would love them as much as I did.  I took them out and read them to five year old Livy and eight year Ka’ula.  Neither girl asked to have them read a second time.  I asked if they thought they were funny.  They each said, "Yes."  Neither of them looked amused. Both immediately reached for another book.

Then there was Lane Smith’s It’s a Book.

I thought it was hilarious, but I couldn’t get any of the kids I read to interested in it.  They nodded and said, "Next."

On the other hand, when I read them Rhyming Dust Bunnies  They wanted to read it again....and again.

The question which surfaced in my mind, was who are the authors writing for?  Who am I writing for?  I am sure we are all trying to keep our audience in mind, but are we managing it? 

I think the minds of the children I know and the minds of those voting on the prestigious awards don’t seem to have a lot in common.

Here is the list of the Newbery Award Winners 2012-1922
I don’t see Judy Blume on there. I see one Beverly Cleary. I see Gary Pausen’s Hatchet. That was one of my son’s favorites. How many of these books did you read as a child?

Here is the list of Caldecott Winners from 1938 -2012
I own a few of these. How many of these have stood the test of time in your house? I notice Dr Seuss and Margaret Wise Brown are not listed, nor do I see Mo Willems.

Then I looked through the books nominated for the 2012 Nene Awards

I don't think many of these titles are on any prestigious award list.  But kids are reading these books.
Here are  the NY times best seller lists from March 25, 2012:

Chapter Books

Picture Books

Here is this year’s Cybil finalist list .   I've read a few of these:

Just Grace and the Double Surprise.

 Clementine and theFamily Meeting

Clementine and Just Grace are very popular with the 6-8 set and deservedly so. My inner kid and my grownup self loved these.

The Friendship Doll

I think the grown up in me liked this one. I don’t think it will be a favorite with kids.  It seemed "teachy."

Warp Speed

Warp Speed satisfied my inner geek and I will reread this. 

Finally here are the Cybil Winners for 2011 

I plan to read a few more on the Cybil list. I may or may not dip into the NY Times list. The NY Times and I rarely like the same things.

So my questions to you are:
As a parent, how do you choose your children’s books?

As a writer, who are you writing for?  When we labor over our wondrous first paragraph, whom are we trying to impress?  The editor? The agent?  Our target audience??

Tell me what do you think?
Disclaimer: I used Amazon links because I can find the pictures and titles in the same place which makes it easier to do the linking.  All of these books are available at your Independent book stores  or at your local library.