ELMA SCHEMENAUER
ON WRITING FOR KIDS
Elma Schemenauer, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Author of 77 books, editor of many others, http://elmasalmanac.blogspot.ca , http://elmams.wix.com/elma , http://elmams.wix.com/sflwrs
Books classified by level and length
PICTURE BOOKS [books in which illustrations play a major role in conveying concepts; the top age for reading picture books is getting lower]
-ages 0-3: baby and toddler books [0-300 words] Sample topics: question & answer, finger plays, lullabies, animals, shapes, numbers, colors.
-ages 4-8: easy readers & early readers [1000-2000 words]
BOOKS FOR MORE EXPERIENCED READERS [may have illustrations but they don't play such a big role]
-ages 6-9: transition books [about 32 pp.] [multiple of 8 for printed books, but can be any number for electronic books]
-ages 7-10: chapter books [48-64 pp., this is the first level of books to be divided into chapters]
-ages 8-12: middle grade [96-152 pp.]
-ages 12 and older: young adult [128-192 pp.]
-hi-lo: high interest, low vocabulary for young adults and adults with limited reading ability [lengths vary]
Some book formats
-waterproof plastic book
-board book
-pop-up
-lift the flap
-book that makes sounds
-coloring book
-dot-to-dot book
-sticker book
-wipe-clean book [uses a special pen; pages wipe clean]
-audio book [sometimes in addition to print edition]
-media enhanced book. These have a web code that can be typed into a computer. Code leads to: video clips, audio clips, parts of pages read aloud, web links, etc.
-e-book. Text-heavy, image-light. Basically a digital picture of a book.
-enhanced e-book. Has multimedia and interactive features. Readers can highlight text, make notes, listen to accompanying music, click on links, etc.
-app [application] for kids to read on electronic devices such as tablet computers and smart phones. Invites the user to interact more. Crosses line from linear to non-linear delivery of content. Often have game-like aspects. There are also sticker-book apps with sound effects.
Me at the age when I especially enjoyed picture books of 1000-2000 words.
One of two values picture books I wrote. The other is What it means to be a friend. They were published by Grolier, now part of Scholastic.