What makes your book appeal to children?
You may of heard this saying before it applies to most genres of writing . But in children writing you need to make sure you nail this one.To some children the sheer size of a book can scare them away pages and pages of complicated words never go well in this genre.Look at Cressida Cowell for example she has big books but she makes them look interesting with illustrations and different fonts. I'm not saying to do this all the time but keep in mind that pages and pages of words can be quite daunting.For some children they prefer lots of writing. Make sure all your words are concise and if a sentence doesn't affect your writing get rid of it.No point having trillions of adverbs and adjectives without strong verbs and nouns. Make every word count.
Example: She slowly opened the door with her tired hands and went inside then went and sat in a chair .
She trudged inside and sat.
As you can see this incredibly shortens your sentence this is what you need.
If a child opens a book and the first pages are full of description they will probably drop it. Description slows done your story that not saying don't add description just embed it with your action and dialogue. Lots of description in a children's book can seem quite boring most children want to get on with it see what's so big that they have to spend half an hour reading about. Everyone has an imagination let them use it give them clues and ideas then leave it to them to create the rest.
Children have a smaller vocabulary range than adults if they come across lots of confusing words they won't carry on reading. A few here and there are fine books are were they learn most of their vocabulary. But keep that in mind also don't start using plain, bland words because they are children. Keep your plot simple as well having a plot that twist and turns constantly to the point you don't know which characters is which will confuse most adults so think about how much it will confuse children. Again don't make your plot so straight forward otherwise you will end up with a short story or a very dragged out novel.
You could say this is an obvious question when writing a children's s book. But do your characters act or think like a child. Do they ask questions or become extremely energetic maybe they are a bit naive? Are they too child like? When reading some children's books you will find that they're characters seem to childish. In a child's point of view they aren't childish or naive. But they do make mistakes. They do ask questions alot. They are energetic. So if you were to write in first person for a children's book you have to think about how they feel how they see the world. Ask children questions about it or think back to when you were a child. If you look at Enid Blyton you can see how the children in her books feel really well they are childish but they aren't over the top. Children would want books they can see there selves in.
Children see the world differently so when writing your novel you have to think about it from a child's point of view. Children aren't going to understand politics or their families financial situations. They might not be as confident as an adult or they could be even braver. Children have imagination let that come into play with your novel. Children often see the world orbiting them they can often be quite self centred. But not all. How does this affect their behaviour. They often don't know their place in the world yet so could that be a challenge they face? A lot of children are care free and optimistic could the children you write about turn from an innocent person to a sad, lonely child.
I don't usually like too much humour in a book but in some famous books such as David Walliams uses humour in a way to get children interested they often want some entertainment. Children often prefer books they can relate to so humour is a good way to do that.
Another note I can't speak for all children as we are all different though I've talked to a lot of children about books.
This is my first ever blog so thank you for reading tell me what you think!