Writing for Children

When I write stories for children I like be silly. Being silly is what I like the most because the world is already much too serious. Children read for fun and so do I! Children like a fun filled, silly, good adventure with concise, clearly worded expressions and colorful but simple pictures. Children have big imaginations. You will have a great audience and be in good company when you read to children.

Sometimes I forget that I'm writing for children, thus I end up writing for the child I once was. Matching and keeping the story line as well as using age appropriate words for the targeted age group can sometimes get tricky. Does a five-year-old know what a jujitsu wrestler in a jumble, in a tumble really looks like?  Probably not, so I'll need an illustration of what this craziness looks like. Can a five-year-old visualize what dazzling, brightly-blinking lights on spaceships hovering in the sky looks like? I definitely need a colorful illustration! I want the story to be interesting, enchanting, happy, thrilling, and most of all...silly! More importantly...I love silly rhyming picture books! 

I think books for children should educate and teach lessons. Rhyming is important for early childhood literacy development. All of those verses from your childhood songs, poems, books, and nursery rhymes really did matter and was part of your education.

A Few Reasons Why Rhyming Words Are So Important

1. Rhyming is fun
2. Rhyming improves language skills
3. Helps children create mental pictures
4. Expands the imagination
5. Helps children understand words with common sounds and 
    common letters. Example: Cat and Hat
6. Rhyming adds joy to learning to read
7. You can read rhyming picture books over and over again

Children are the audience that cares enough to read it over and   
over again, so rhyming must be important!  How many times can you read a silly rhyming book? I don't know about you but I have read that book with the cat with the silly hat...hundreds of times. You know what book I'm talking about...not mentioning any names.

I love to write stories that rhyme using short rhyming verses that  tell a silly story. I freehand draw cartoons and folk art type illustrations so I can draw my own art with my own words. If the pictures don't turn out right the first time then I can fix it or just start over again. Either way, it all turns out to be good fun as well as therapy for me. I write and draw in my spare time. 

Don't worry I'm not giving up my day job! Well...maybe I'll give up my day job if one of my books becomes a movie??? After all, there are plenty of movies that started out as books for children.  There is a book about a rabbit named Peter, there is a book about Alice, who fell down a rabbit hole, and the list goes on and on. There must be more than fifty movies based on books that were written for children.


Look for my book which will be available in early September...The Adventures of Firecracker Andy, "The Spirit of Ohio."   Come fly with Firecracker Andy and his awesome dog, Airedale Archie as they fly around Ohio in a little red airplane. 

 Come meet Firecracker Andy and his awesome dog, Airedale Archie. They like to go flying in a little red airplane.

Always flying all around to see what they can see:
above rooftops, around apple trees, and dodging angry honeybees.



                                     See you soon!