Children's literature

[Snicklefritz]

Is anyone else writing children's stories/books? I suggest that most stories for children are fantasy, and therefore Chrons is an appropriate forum for a discussion. Any thoughts?

 

[Astro Pen]

According to Scientific American two thirds of American children are unable to read proficiently

Two Thirds of American Kids Can't Read Fluently

Phonics may be a popular way to teach reading, but it fails too many children

www.scientificamerican.com

So I think that if you are writing for kids you probably need to consider delivery methods beyond text. Readers on phones for example. And Maybe how far you want to segue into graphic novels.
I remember here, even in more literate days, we had Rupert the Bear books which presented story at I think 4 different levels, on each page. From graphics and a singe line, to rhyming couplets and full story text. It was a discrete approach which I hadn't noticed the significance of at the time.
When I am a bit older I may venture down from the pictures and couplets into full text like a grown up

 

[ColGray]

Is anyone else writing children's stories/books? I suggest that most stories for children are fantasy, and therefore Chrons is an appropriate forum for a discussion. Any thoughts?

Kid lit and pre-MG is definitely heavy on the fantasy. Big picture books are heavy on the fantastical, but early readers (grades 1-3) could be described as the most gentle urban fantasy imaginable (though, i joke with my wife that most of these books, especially classic ones, are about much darker topics)

1. Goodnight Moon
   1. A mouse says goodnight to each object in their room
   2. Dark Take: Anxiety riddled vermin subjects readers to their nightly OCD ritual.
2. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
   1. A Boy's pet mouse eats a cookie and sets out on a day of escalating adventure
   2. Dark Take: Controlled by vermin, a boy is taught a lesson in greed.
3. Charlotte's Web
   1. When a pig befriends a spider, the spider weaves words into a web to save the pig's life.
   2. Dark Take: Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad, Eight Legs Martyr
4. Stuart Little
   1. A family has a son who's a mouse, and the mouse son goes on an adventure where he dates a human woman.
   2. Dark Take: After refusing to accept their son's death, a family forces a mouse into a suit so he participate in their bestial rites.
5. Magic Treehouse
   1. Brother and Sister Jack ,10, and Annie, 8, find a treehouse in the woods and go on magical adventures as they aid Merlin and Morgan.
   2. Dark Take: Brother and Sister Jack and Annie discover an abandoned drug lab in a tree and repeatedly trip. It's 11pm: do you know where your children are?

 

[msstice]

Anthromorphism is so common and ancient that I don't know if it's truly fantasy.

 

[Steve Harrison]

Is anyone else writing children's stories/books? I suggest that most stories for children are fantasy, and therefore Chrons is an appropriate forum for a discussion. Any thoughts?

I've only written one, a picture book many years ago, about the adventures of a couple of kids and a Poo Monster (don't ask!). It was the first of a proposed series.

My daughter and her kindy friends loved it back then (any story with bodily functions had them rolling on the floor with laughter), but I've tried a few times over the years and never been able to get any publishers or agents interested.

Thanks for reminding me to give it another go!

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

Anthromorphism is so common and ancient that I don't know if it's truly fantasy.

As I'm fond of telling people, the earliest known statue in the entire world is a "furry": the Paleolithic-era Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel. Lion-man - Wikipedia

 

[THX1138]

I wrote a very short kids story for our disabled family member that my wife would like me to publish. I need to do some reworking on it and separate it out into panels for artwork. Finding a good and reasonable artist is the difficult part I'm having as most children illustrators tend towards the adult eye in overcomplicating their artwork.

 

[Mans]

I sometimes try to write short stories for children, though I have not published yet. I used to mix my stories with some humor (depending on the story background). I also sometimes write fables.