Customer Reviews

The Only Writing Series You'll Ever Need: Writing Children's Books

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I found this book to be very informative. Granted, I am new to the field, but information was given in a manner that was not intimidating or overwhelming. Subjects were broken down into easily digested parts. I would say this is a very good book to introduce one to the industry in a friendly and helpful way.

This book is not very helpful when compared to the many other excellent books on the subject of children's writing. There are many generalities without examples and only 18 pages (out of 186) that discuss actual writing & revision. On page 179 the authors tell us "there are hundreds" of children's magazines for authors to submit to, but they don't mention any, don't list any in the appendix, or tell the reader where to get the information.

Are you hoping to write for children? If so, then reading Lesley Bolton's and Lea Wait's little book, Writing Children's Books, is a pretty good place to start your career. The book is chock-full of information, and is quite fun to read. Both authors are active children's book authors, and it shows. The book is fun!

The first thing you notice is the size and structure of the book. Normally, I wouldn't focus so much on these in a how-to. They usually look pretty much the same. This book is the size and shape of a baby board book, and has a really cute cover. Okay, okay, you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, right? In this case...wrong. You'll really enjoy this little book. It's easy to read, and very well organized.

Bolton and Wait begin with a short history of the development of children's literature. You might not be interested, but I'm an historian. I found it engaging. This first chapter helps to lay a foundation on which to show how the various book types fit. Picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle school, and YA. Then they discuss researching and writing for the younger set. It's a bit different from what you'd do for adults. For instance, you have to decide whether to illustrate your book. They don't go into this aspect in any detail, however, they point out why you might not want to do so. Getting a publisher may be significantly tougher.

Interested in writing for children? I definitely recommend checking out this book.