I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be here! As the YA specialist around these parts, I get to share with you more about my favorite area of writing – Writing for Kids. If you have questions about this particular area of writing that you’d like me to cover, please leave a comment! I want to make sure we cover as much as you’re aching to know.

First, a little about me. I have five YA novels with Moody Publishers (Becoming Beka) but I also have an education background and spent several years teaching in public schools. Oh, and I am passionate about children’s literature.

So why the quotes around “children”?

Well that’s because writing for children includes baby board books straight up through Young Adult. And if you’ve been around any pre-teens or teens lately, you’ll know that they don’t necessarily appreciate being called “children”.

But in the world of publishing, they tend to be all lumped together. Today we’ll parse out some of what makes up this distinctive market. Age ranges and word counts are all approximate, since there is a good bit of flexibility and overlap among these groups, and each publisher has their own set of guidelines. Never forget to check the guidelines.

Baby Books (0-12 months)

These are classic Board Books. They tend to be very durable, and contain either very simple stories, one or two words on a page, or just pictures. These are meant to be interactive between parent and child, but are also designed to be picked up and looked at (or chewed on) by the child alone.

Picture Books (1-8 years)

Picture books cover a wide range of styles. In general, they are designed to be read to the child and the pictures and text complement one another. They can be simple and fun (like Chicka Chicka Boom-Boom), historical (When Jessie Came Across the Sea), fantasy (The Rainbabies) or a contemporary story (Fancy Nancy). When you read picture books, notice the language and the pictures that are used. Listen for the rhythm of the story. Notice the ones where the pictures actually tell more of the story than the words (Officer Buckle & Gloria). Usually less than 1,000 words.

Early Readers (Leveled by Reading Ability)

These are typically soft cover and the “reading level” is listed prominently on the front. The exact guidelines (including vocabulary and sentence structure) that are used for the different reading levels vary by publisher. You’ll also notice that many of these books tend to “branded” and use familiar characters or stories that are re-tooled for this format. Up to 1,500 words

Early Chapter Books (ages 6-9)

These are transitional books for kids who are becoming better readers but aren’t quite ready for the more complex stories and length of the middle-grade novels. Take a look at the Junie B. Jones or The Magic Treehouse series for a good example of this. And yes, this is an area of publishing that is chock full of series. These range from 4,000 to 12,000 words

Middle-Grade Novels (ages 9 -12)

These are novels for kids and here again, much depends on the reading ability. An 8 year old who reads well would likely read out of this category as well. These are novels with compelling stories that feature a protagonist who is usually around 11-14 and takes place in the child’s world. Kids generally like to read about someone who is a bit older than they are. The full range of genres are represented in this category (fantasy, mystery, contemporary, historical, etc.) and they range from 30,000-45,000 words. Check out Andrew Clements, Lisa Yee, or Gail Carson Levine.

Young Adult Novels (or Teen) (ages 12 and up)

Some publishers have begun segmenting off an Upper YA group that is geared towards those that are 16-18, because what will appeal to a 12 year old isn’t the same as what would appeal to a 16 year old. Plus, many older teens are reading off of the adult shelves. Much of that comes down to marketing decisions. For our purposes though, YA encompasses every genre you would see on adult shelves. In general, they range from 50,000 to 75,000 words. Some are much longer. You can check out books by Sarah Dessen, Scott Westerfield, Mitlai Perkins and of course, the Twilight series (an example of a book that has crossed the YA boundaries in a big way). My latest favorite has been Thirteen reasons Why by Jay Asher – a stunning debut novel. And then there are my books:-)

So that’s a general breakdown. Next, we’ll spend some time looking at the three main categories that writers tend to focus on: Pictures Books, Middle Grade and Young Adult.