Beyond Picture Books

Finding Your Place in Children’s Literature

Picture books are only one small part of the enormous field of children’s literature. There are so many more opportunities for independent and small press publishers. The key to success in both creating and selling in this market is understanding the age and reading levels and the requirements of each category.

Children come in many sizes, shapes and ages, all with different needs, likes, and dislikes. Let’s take a quick look at the possibilities to see what kind of children’s books you might want to create.

Baby Books

Parents are introducing their children to books at an earlier and earlier age. Baby books are used with infants as young as six months, toddlers, and children up to two or three years old. They include board, cloth, pop-up, flap, and touch and feel books.

A child this age is just starting to reach out to the world around him. He is exploring his own fingers and toes, toys, pets, family and home. His attention span may range from a few seconds to a few minutes. Keep the concept simple for a baby book. Use shapes, toys, foods, or other familiar objects. One or two words per page helps the child who is first learning words. Keep it realistic, safe, and never scary.

Baby books can be made of cardboard, cloth, or sturdy paper. They may have touch and feel places, flaps, or pop-ups. They may include zippers to zip, Velcro to fasten, and strings to tie.

A good example is Pat The Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhardt. Since parents who patted the bunny when they were young are now using this book with their children, this classic is introducing a second generation of babies to books. Where’s Spot by Eric Hill has been such a popular flap book, that there is now a whole series of Spot books.

Look for baby books in bookstores and early childhood toy catalogs.

Picture Books

A true picture book uses both text and pictures to tell the story. Without pictures, this book would have no meaning. These books are read to children three to six years of age. They usually have 32 pages.

This age child is starting to explore beyond himself, home, and family. He is interested in the neighborhood, in stores, and what he sees out the car window. He is able to appreciate humor and fantasy. Most important, he is beginning to understand story.

Harold and The Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson, is a favorite with toddlers. Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, is popular with older preschoolers.

Nonfiction books for this age group can deal with such subjects as trucks and construction, bugs and butterflies, sand and snow castles, animals, signs and symbols, holidays, and simple crafts.

Picture Story Books

In a picture story book, illustrations enhance the story, but the text could stand alone. It could be read over the radio and be understood.

Picture story books are used with the same ages as picture books, are the same length, and cover a wide range of topics. The form is close to that of a short story.

Some good examples are The Little Engine That Could, by WattyPiper, and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton.

To understand the variety of picture and picture story books, check your local public library for some of the following titles. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst, The Biggest Bear, by Lynd Ward, Corduroy, by Don Freeman, Curious George, by H. A. Rey, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, by Laura Numeroff, The Legend of the Bluebonnet, retold by Tomie de Paola, Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle.

The writing style of most picture books is almost poetic in a free verse style. Every word in a picture or picture story book has more than one function, is very important, and should be carefully selected. For this reason picture books are one of the hardest children’s books to write.

Beginning-to-read Books

Somewhere between ages four and seven, youngsters start learning to read. Beginning-to-read books provide the practice young readers need while showing that fun, ideas, and information can be found in books. Most books are 32 to 48 pages.

For more than a generation, children have been learning reading skills with enjoy-able Dr Suess titles such as The Cat In The Hat, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and Green Eggs and Ham. Another favorite is Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman.

Some series you may want to study are the “I Can Read” series published by Harper Collins, “Beginner Books,” by Random House, “Get Ready, Get Set, Read,” by Barron’s Educational Series, and “All About Reading,” by Grosset and Dunlap.

Beginning-to-read books may have controlled vocabulary (from word lists) and will depend on short, simple sentences, usually in the active tense. They can be the same length as a picture book or a little longer. They may be one continuous story or a story divided into chapters.

Chapter Books

Chapter books are usually read by third graders, but can be used in grades one through four with children age seven to nine. They are a bridge between the beginning-to-read and the middle grade novel.

Because picture books and early readers are often one continuous story while middle grade novels have chapters, third graders want chapters in books to make them feel more grown-up. However, they still have limited reading and comprehension skills. Therefore chapters in these books are short and stories are simple and straight-forward. The reading level is easy, with the vocabulary and subject slanted to a third grader’s understanding. Books are 40 to 60 pages with chapters of four to six pages.

Chapter book series, such as the Kids of the Polk Street School, by Patricia Reilly Giff, are quite popular. Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan is a Newberry Award winning book.

Middle Grade Readers

Boys and girls, age nine to twelve, have acquired competent skills and are avid readers. They cannot get enough books.

Middle grade novels are reflections of adult books. They require strong main characters, fast action, and realistic dialogue. Plots can be complex and include subplots.

They cover any topic that appeals to fourth through seventh graders. They can be contemporary or historical, school-based or adventure related, humorous and wacky or scary and serious.

Some favorites are Lassie-Come-Home, by Eric Knight, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis, Tales of A Fourth-Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume, Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, The Wizard Of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, and Words by Heart, by Ouida Sebastyen.

In nonfiction, these kids want everything. They like to draw, make puppets and models, love masks and magic, are curious about holidays, and are intrigued with technology and exploring space.

Books usually run 60 to 100 pages but can be as long as 150 pages.

Young Adult Novels

Young adult novels were originally designed for teens who had adult reading skills but might not be ready for adult topics. They turned into significant first-experience books, a teen-ager’s first experience with love, death, relations, and values.

These books have provided a good opportunity for writers of adult fiction to break into the children’s field. Many stories could treat the same subjects, using a teenage main character and telling it from a teen’s point of view.

Will Hobbs has written some fine examples in Downriver, Bearstone, and Beardance. Richard Newton Peck’s A Day No Pigs Would Die is also a good example.

These young people are beginning to think about careers but are also developing some lifetime hobbies and skills. Some non-fiction for this age group deals with self help topics such as coping with trouble at home.

Books run from 100 to 200 pages

Opportunities in Fiction and Nonfiction

Almost every kind of book that exists in adult literature has a counterpart in the children’s field. Almost every genre in fiction—fantasy, science fiction, sports, adventure, historical fiction, folk tales, myths, legends, humor, animal stories and even romance– can be adapted to fit any age level.

Almost any subject area in nonfiction—arts and crafts, biographies, career, community living, cooking, health, history, holidays, hobbies, music, nature and environment, religion, science, self help, social issues, and sports—can be adapted to each reading level.

If you have already published an adult nonfiction book, consider the opportunities and challenges of adapting your research and information into an appropriate book for 9-12 year-old readers or young adults.

The opportunities in children’s literature are endless.