posted
I'm trying to write a childrens story for my girlfriends almost-three-year-old niece. I was originally trying to scale down/simplify my yet to be written fantasy story ideas, namely one about a mermaid, for it. I went to the library and asked a librarian what length books 3 year olds read. I showed her a range of different lengths from the beginners section, the shortest of which being a Dr. Suess story. She said the Suess story (Inside Outside Upside Down) was the kind of length her five-year-old son was reading, but also that girls tend to read way earlier than boys.
The problem is, I don't know if I can write a story that simple that still leaves enough interest to draw a picture for every 5-10 words. So basically, I need advice writing a childrens story for a beginner reader. She's already started but we're not completely sure if she actually understands by herself or just flicks through the pages looking at the pictures.
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
My advice would be to spend the afternoon in the children's section of a library or bookstore, looking at picture books. You can learn a lot about how stories are told in them, how to let a lot of the narrative be told by the pictures themselves, and that sort of thing by doing that.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Noemon - You're not kidding! I just looked in my copy of Inside Outside Upside Down and it does exactly that. Literally, all the words are doing is, well, putting the pictures into words. But then you knew that. Thanks for that advice, it's made a huge difference already. But I'm going to be busy sailing today and the Library won't be open before or afterwards, so I'll have to leave the afternoon in the Library until tomorrow. So I'll tell you how it goes afterwards.
posted
I've found that reading theseMr.Rogersbooks really has helped me learn how to talk to or tell a story to preschoolers. (They're serious books, but the kind of language they are written in and their format can teach you a lot. These are books that would usually be read to a preschooler, not read alone by most preschoolers, although I could read them alone by the time I was 4-- taught myself to read at 3.)
(Actually, we're getting a copy of that first one for our two-year-old. She's a little young and squirmy to sit still for all the words, but she likes to look at the pictures and hear a "just the important parts" version of the text and talk about it. My mom's copy is mildewed-- it has my name in it from when I was 3 and has been in the garage-- so we're getting a new copy. Mr. Rogers was so awesome, he really had a way of communicating with children.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
When my kid was little, I used to write stories for him. Sometimes I would read him a book that was too hard for him to read himself, so I would write a simpler story that he could handle. Or, if he loved a book or author, and had read it all, I would make another book (or series) in that style. I recall writing him his own "Amelia Bedelia" books, because he loved those and he had read all that the library had to offer. I would leave blank pages in the text for him to make his own illustrations.
For an almost-three-year-old, the pictures can tell as much or more of the story than the text.
You know what you can do that would be really cool? You can co-author the book with the little girl. You can set a scene or introduce a character and ask your coauthor what the character would say or do, or what would happen in the scene. You can ask her to draw a picture (say, of a mermaid) and tell you about what is going on in the picture, and then you can write the text based on her narration.
posted
I've heard of a grandmother that did something like what you suggest Tante, but she and her grandchild wrote a story via email. One would start the story and then send it to the other to add to and then back and forth. Such a great idea with fun potential and great meaning for all involved.
Obviously a 3 yr old wouldn't be able to do this but my daughter used to tell me stories, I'd write them down in a picture book format and she'd draw the pictures. She is 10 now and it's fun to watch her when she reads her early writing.
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
A four-year-old named Harrison engaged me in the library today while Sophie and I were playing with crayons. As he doodled, he narrated the following (and note that I asked very few questions; most of this was stream-of-consciousness from him):
"This is Sam. He's a sea monster. But don't be scared. He's nice. He doesn't yell and he only eats the fish who go around eating other fish. He has six mouths, but he lives underwater, so he doesn't talk. But he uses sign language a lot. He has three arms, see, so he can hold things while he talks.
"It takes him a long time to brush all his teeth, especially if he's talking to Ernie. This is Ernie. He's a sea monster, too, like Sam. They're both sea monsters. They're babies. They're little. But you know how some things can open their mouth real wide to eat things that are bigger? You know, like snakes? Like that. So they don't have a big sister anymore. And they can eat all the bad fish.
"Yeah, they're really good. They're magic sea monsters. They can bring back the good fish from the dead and give them back their skins. Everyone likes them.
"They like to go out to the park together. And play. They play games, like Candy Land and baseball. Underwater, but they can go above water too for when they want to hang out. Because they're magic. And here are their toes, for walking. They like to walk.
"Okay, this is when Sam and Ernie came home. This is their house. It's kind of weird and made of stuff. Now I'm going to sign the picture. I make all the letters, except I think this one is a 'y' or an 'i' or a....No, no, I don't really know what it is. My name's Harrison, so that's what I wrote. These letters say 'aitch-ay-arr-arr,' and this letter says 'iss-uhn.' Because."
I absolutely love kids. They can bring back the good fish from the dead and give them back their skins.Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Thanks for that advice, it's made a huge difference already. But I'm going to be busy sailing today and the Library won't be open before or afterwards, so I'll have to leave the afternoon in the Library until tomorrow. So I'll tell you how it goes afterwards.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Glad I could help! Hope the trip to the library is productive.
