We all know the importance of knowing your audience when crafting a story. But what if you are writing for children; how can you possibly relate? Well, the good news is that some of the most successful children’s book authors have analysed their experiences and have great advice to give. As it turns out, writing for kids is really not all that different from writing for older age groups. The key is respecting your readers, and writing something you would actually want to read!
C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)
“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”
Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time)
“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”
Beverly Cleary (Beezus and Ramona)
“As a child, I disliked books in which children learned to be ‘better’ children.”
H.A. Rey (Curious George)
“I know what I liked as a child, and I don’t do any book that I, as a child, wouldn’t have liked.”
Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking)
“I don’t want to write for adults. I want to write for readers who can perform miracles. Only children perform miracles when they read.”
Mark Haddon (Agent Z series)
“Writing for children is bloody difficult; books for children are as complex as their adult counterparts, and they should therefore be accorded the same respect.”
Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are)
“I don’t write for children. I write. And somebody says, that’s for children.”
Kate DiCamilla (Because of Winn-Dixie)
“Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.”
Judy Blume (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing)
“Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.”
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