Word processors and desk-top publishing have opened the door
for many people to try their hand at writing and publishing
books. It is easy to tell a story to a child so it is
tempting to regard writing books for children as an easy way
to become an accomplished author.
However, writing for children requires more skill and
responsibility than writing for adults. Even for adults, the
printed word seems to be more authoritative than the spoken
word. The opportunity to read and re- read allows information
to be read repeatedly and therefore internalized more
deeply.
Children are also more vulnerable to misinformation and bad
hashkofa because they lack the built-in filters which
an adult has acquired. A child can take irony and satire at
face value and not realize that the author expects the reader
to understand that he does not mean what he writes. The
writer might include a disclaimer and even preface sections
with explanation to help the reader understand the upcoming
text. But the young reader probably does not know what a
disclaimer is and if he misunderstands the preface, he might
become seriously misinformed.
Writing for children requires more literary skill than
writing for adults because the writer needs to come down to
the level of his audience. He needs to know how the child is
going to react to his words and what message he is going to
get from it.
He also needs to relate to the literary limitations of his
audience.
His readership is both intellectually immature, simplistic
and lacking in vocabulary. If in a crucial part of the text
the writer used a word which his reader does not know, he
will lose his reader.
Introducing new words to the reader will help him develop his
vocabulary, but the writer needs to use the word in such a
way that the reader will understand its meaning from the
context. He can do this by using the new, complex word and
then repeating the concept using simple words. Or he can
follow it with a simply- expressed contrasting sentence so
that the reader can get some idea of the meaning of the word
from its opposite.
So, for example, if the author wants to use a phrase
containing a long, unwieldy pantechnion word, then he can
follow it with one or more simple phrases, saying the same
idea but using short, familiar words.
Of course, from this example, the reader will not learn that
a pantechnion is an oversized furniture van, but he will
learn that it describes something large and cumbersome.
The writer needs to wield his pen like a paintbrush, painting
verbal pictures which the child can see with his mind's eye.
The pictures need to be clearer, more detailed and more
explicit than might be necessary for an adult, because the
child does not have the experience of an adult. Furthermore,
we should use terms which are familiar to the child. Children
are growing up in a world radically different to that of the
previous generation, so they might not relate to cliches as
we do. The meanings of many words change rapidly and may
carry subtle innuendos.
The classic way to develop writing skills is by translating
texts. Translating is more challenging than freestyle writing
because the translator is forced to search for suitable words
and develop the phraseology which will present the ideas
expressed by the author.
Another exercise is to write poetry -- classic rhyming,
metered poetry -- selecting the tempo and coloration of words
to express a variety of emotions.
Children are particularly sensitive to the tempo of sentences
and the coloration of words and can enjoy repeating words
just because of the exciting physical stimulation they
provide.
Writing a story requires different skills than telling a
story. The reader cannot hear the expression and emotion
which the story teller can incorporate into his telling of
the story. Therefore, the writer needs to use words which
will impart the necessary feelings. This is particularly
challenging when writing for children, since a child has only
a limited vocabulary.
There is more to perfecting a book than running it through a
spell-checker and grammar-checker. The writer of a book can
expect to have to rewrite his book at least four or five
times. A writer can come to loathe his book because he had to
rewrite it so often -- and then have someone point out a
fault which requires him to rewrite it again!
Some writers have been introduced to various cultures or
fields of expertise and they feel that they can use their
experiences to provide authentic backgrounds to their
stories. However, they need to verify that their writings are
wholesome and contribute to their readers' development in
Torah and yiras shomayim.
Other writers interlace a basically unsuitable plot with
generous servings of hashkofa. However, those parts
might be less interesting than the basic plot, and written in
more sophisticated vocabulary, so a young reader might simply
skip the serious parts and enjoy the adventurous exploits of
the main plot.
Books for children who are just beginning to learn to read
are usually printed in large letters. However, once the child
begins to read fluently, smaller letters facilitate easier
scanning of the whole word. Spacing the letters and words
helps the child identify each letter and differentiate the
letters of one word from the letters of the adjacent words.
It is better to use a smaller letter and space out the
letters and words slightly and increase the distance between
the lines than to use a larger letter and cram the words and
lines.
The style of letter (font) should be one which is easily
readable. Some fonts are decorative but difficult to read.
Other fonts are very legible when of a large size but become
illegible when small. A useful test is to print out a text in
a variety of fonts and ask children which they find easiest
to read.
Be careful when illustrating for children, because we
interpret many expressions as a result of the conventions of
the society we grew up in. For example, a young child might
understand a picture of a person with a question mark over
his head as showing a man hanging by a hook.
When a child has finished reading a book, he should come away
with a clear message. He should feel good and clean. And he
should want to read the book again. Excitement does not have
to come through descriptions of unsavory behavior. Even if an
author wants to develop a gripping plot, he should avoid
introducing the reader to lifestyles and manners of behavior
which the young reader does not need to know about.
