Writing books for preschoolers

Writing books for preschoolers presents more challenges than you might think. These books may seem easy to make because the writing style is simplistic, but achieving that simplicity can be difficult. Consider the way you normally write or speak. Naturally, he uses complex sentence structures and vocabulary that is too advanced for preschool-age children. To write a book that a preschooler will enjoy, you must write consciously, clearly, brevity, and imaginatively. Here are some tips on how to write well for this level of reader.

The use of language. Preschoolers are just beginning to understand letters and learn new words. Your use of language can help them discover more about these important concepts. When writing for this age group, it’s important to remember that these stories will be read aloud. The following guidelines will help you write in such a way that preschoolers can follow the story and learn new words. Some of the suggestions offered will improve the readability of your story, making it a joy to read for young people.

• TO. Use short declarative sentences in the simple present tense. (“I see white clouds” instead of “I see white clouds”). golden past tense (“I saw white clouds.” as opposed to “I have seen white clouds”.). Preschoolers do not have a sophisticated understanding of time. The brain develops the ability to grasp concepts of time around 5 or 6 years of age.
• b. Use words with fewer than three syllables. The average child entering kindergarten has a working vocabulary of between 500 and 1,000 words. Its vocabulary consists largely of the most common one- and two-syllable words in the English language. To learn these words, the child has to hear them many times. Kindergartners with larger-than-average vocabulary tend to be those who have been read to consistently throughout their preschool years.
• against Use simple punctuation. Skip sentence structures that require hyphens, hyphens, semicolons, and colons. Use commands only in the case of designating dialog.
• d. Repeat sentences, words, or story points on purpose. This helps the child learn words and reinforces a point from the story. An example of a repeating story point accompanied by a repeating phrase is in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. As Goldilocks moves around the house and tries out the chairs, porridge, and beds, he finds that the parent items are unsatisfactory, but the bear items are “Perfect!” Children also enjoy these repetitive phrases because they can soon say them along with the reader.
• my. Use rhymes. Rhyming sentences tend to hold the child’s attention. The rhyme can be read with rhythm, which helps children learn new words.
• F. Use alliteration. Using the same first letter repeatedly for a few words in succession makes for compelling reading. Think of tongue twisters that are simply long alliterative sentences. “Peter Piper” and “Sally Sells Seashells” capture both the imagination and the tongue when you try to say them quickly three times. You’ll find alliterative phrases in songs, poems, and stories geared toward the younger crowd. Part of the attraction is how well these sentences roll off the tongue and the rhythm they create as you read them out loud.
• gram. Spell the contractions. Preschool readers are learning to distinguish letters, associate sounds with letters, and identify groups of letters that correspond to a word. Contractions have two characteristics that confuse the beginning reader. They combine two words into one and remove one letter and replace it with an apostrophe. Although commonly used in everyday speech and informal writing, contractions are considered a higher level reading skill. Contractions do not appear in school curricula until the second or third grade.
• h. Use simple numbers and colors (ie green instead of celadon). The numbers from one to ten and the names of the colors in a rainbow are part of the knowledge set that a child should possess before starting kindergarten.

Book design considerations. As an author, you don’t have to worry about designing the layout of the book. Most publishers will take care of that. However, as you write his book, it’s important that you keep in mind the overall presentation of the story and an idea of ​​what the final product might look like. To make it attractive to the publisher, it’s helpful to imagine a book that has:

• -up to three sentences per page. Children this age have a limited attention span. They will be interested in the reader’s voice, snuggling with their mom or dad, playing with their toes, looking at the pictures, and oh, so many other things in their new world. It helps to focus attention on the book when there is a reason to turn the page and find something new.
• -between 20 and 52 pages. This is a general rule for picture books. It mostly goes back to attention span, but page count also affects production costs. The page count includes all material on the front and back covers, so the story must fit on a smaller page count than the page count of the entire book.

Let the editor handle the illustrations. Most publishers prefer to work directly with illustrators because they can control the technical aspects of submitted artwork, negotiate publishing rights with the artist, and create a consistent look and feel that fits their publishing schedule.

Themes of preschool children. When preschoolers begin to explore the world, they begin with themselves. They continue to explore the people and animals they live with, their home, their neighborhoods, gradually working outward. Your interests naturally focus on these areas. Your story will be relevant and interesting to preschoolers when it is based on things they see, hear, touch, know, do, or feel. These are some of the most popular themes in children’s literature.

• TO. animals Children are very interested in animals in books, especially ones that talk, interact with humans, or display other human characteristics.
• b. Children. If you’ve ever seen a two-year-old see a baby, you know what I mean. Children are fascinated by other children.
• against Daily activities. Activities like getting ready for bedtime, getting dressed, mealtime, snowy days, looking out the window at a busy street, and working on the farm are all good topics for preschool books.
• d. scary things The things that go bump in the night, what lurks under the bed: Addressing children’s fears helps children deal with frightening situations.
• my. Vocabulary manuals with pictures. Many successful books for preschoolers are not stories at all, but rather introductions to a category of words (parts of the body, clothing, farm animals, fruits and vegetables, rooms in a house, or colors).
• F. Holiday stories. Christmas is number one of all holiday themes, but all holidays have retellable stories that they are based on.
• gram. Transport methods. Trains, fire trucks, buses, cars, tractors, airplanes, heavy construction equipment, and other forms of transportation can be used as the basis for a fascinating story.
• h. Humor makes reading fun. Whether the humor is the tummy-holding, rolling-on-the-floor kind or the gentle kind that crowns a face with a smile, preschoolers appreciate funny things.

Any story can be written for various levels of readers. When writing for preschool-age children, care must be taken to keep the prose within the intended reading level. When reviewing manuscripts from authors hoping to publish preschool level books, I often come across writing that is too advanced for the reading level of the intended audience.

Expert authors work hard to submit a manuscript that publishers can easily envision as a good fit for their book product line. This is determined by the structure of the sentence, the number of words, the vocabulary choices, the use of punctuation; in fact, all of the guidelines mentioned in this article. Employing them will increase your chances of being selected by the editor, reduce the number of rewrites, and increase your chances of having your book grabbed into the happy hands of wide-eyed preschoolers.