What Makes a Children's Book Good?
The answer to this question is directly dependable on the kids' age. For instance, board books for very small children must have pictures with bright colors with very few written parts, while a book destined for an older kid, like for instance for a ten year old one, would require quite a lot of words and would not necessarily include any pictures; well, yet a picture here and there in enjoyable at any age...a picture is more than a thousand words.
At any rate, these days, there are two type of children: those who love to read and those who hate reading and would rather play computer games or watch TV. Before choosing a book, or even writing one for little ones, there are a few things to consider. First of all, it should have an intriguing plot, making it interesting for young readers. It would also have a rather rapid sequence of events. The characters in the book should also be very well-defined, and credible for kids. Their problems should be similar to those that children of their age may encounter. Humor is also essential for arousing their interest, be it from the dialogs, humorous situations, puns, and so on. The chapters in the book should be organized in a way that makes it easy to read.
The letters should have the very form that children are familiar with at the age of the target readers. This is meant to help kids understand and recognize words better.
The book is advisable to start with just a little information, just the essential elements, something about the main characters, their names, their setting, without to many details that may discourage kids to go on reading, as they get frustrated by their lack of understanding the whole point of the writing. Also, the ending of the book is extremely important-the plot should be entirely solved, and it is very desirable for the book to end happily, especially if the book is meant for rather young readers.
As far as the number of pages is concerned, there are some more tips. Thus, books with pictures in them should be about 25-34 pages long, and baby board books for younger children should be around16 pages long.
Thick-paged books are likely to enjoy a longer life in the hands of restless little creatures, and round corners will prevent them from breaking up, and will prevent kids from hurting themselves.
A psychological truth about children is that they seem to belong to two different universes. One is the outside world, what happens in the real world, and the other world belongs to their inner, emotional life, together with their thoughts and perceptions. Books with pictures in them may refer to both of these parallel universes. Because kids' inner dimensions are hard to reach and therefore depict, employing elements of their daily life can help get into their inner, hidden universe.
Children are likely to prefer fiction literature to nonfiction, because they are generally crazy about story-telling and its charming flavor. They love fictional characters and events, anything that makes them fully use and enjoy their imagination, curiosity and taste for the mysteries of this world.
In order to possess quality, literature should have a strong teaching element. Good children's books should teach them moral issues, ethics, cultural and religious values. It has become a clich that the future of our culture highly depends on the kids of our time. To make a bright, happy future, kids should learn about the power of love, about honesty, courage, justice, sympathy towards the others, choosing good over evil.
The themes of the writings should be very well-chosen and should be also entirely credible. They should focus on people, not on social issues and problems to have a positive impact and to be of good quality.
Great children's books should have characters that are to be followed, that can out pass hardships and have the courage to live and act according to healthy principles. Books should also keep their curiosity aroused. Kids may be willing to read books for laughter, fun, and because of that Good stories books contain heroes and role models to imitate. These stories should be full of imagination and don't need to make much sense, if they are likely to entertain the young readers and bring cheer to their world.
