New Children's Book - What would you like to see?

amother

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 2:24 pm

Hi

Ive been toying with the idea of writing a children's book for a while now
And I think Im ready to give it a try

What sort of topics would you like to see covered in childrens books?
Whats missing on the bookshelf?

amother

Hyacinth

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 2:38 pm

Please don't write a book to educate or moralize. You can feel when a writer is writing for love or for a specific purpose.
What do you want to write about?
I feel like fantasy is a massive genre that is barely touched by jewish books and I think a lot of the best non jewish kids books are all fantasy based. But yes I know that much of fantasy isn't going to be published by jewish publishing houses.

amother

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:09 pm

amother [ Hyacinth ] wrote:

Are you saying that educational books are not in demand?

PinkFridge

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:10 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Are you saying that educational books are not in demand?

What's your goal? Is there a void you think needs filling or a message you want to share?
And if it's going to be in rhyme l'maan Hashem read every line out loud and make sure that it reads well and syllables fit and no tortured rhymes. ("So she did say.")
ETA: I see we cross-posted. So the rhyming's likely relevant.
Make it fun.

Last edited by PinkFridge on Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

kollel_wife

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:15 pm

(I don't know what age group you're gearing this for.) Living in a town where so many people learning Torah, so many schools for children, tons of school buses every day going to all different boys and girls schools, young and old. So many Jewish children, playing outside, day camps and babysitters, and men dropping off children before learning. Many Jewish stores for food, clothes, seforim, toys and books. Frum businesses where men start at 10 or 11, so they can learn, women working to support their husbands.

amother

Begonia

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:17 pm

amother [ Hyacinth ] wrote:

I could not agree more!
I teach all ages of preschool and find the books to be boring, lessons heavy, and children lose interest quickly.
There is nothing like the non-Jewish fantasy books that get a child's creative juices flowing and give her a love for the written word.
Write a Jewish version that excludes romance and I'll be your first customer!
Behatzlocha!

amother

Begonia

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:19 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Are you saying that educational books are not in demand?

No!!!!!
I educate through real live situations.
Not books!

GLUE

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:26 pm

Fiction or non-Fiction?

I don't think non-fiction is covered so much, you will not find one book only on Volcano's or flood's ect.. These topics get lumped together so if you have someone interested in them they get a bout one page per topic.

I have also seen a large gap in books about bridges if you have some one interested in that topic then good luck getting a Jewish book. If you dig as an adult you can find different bridges and how they have a history with Jews. For kids nothing.

One thing that bothers me, but maybe not anyone else, is when you read a historical fiction book by a non-Jewish author many times they will put in the back some historical data. I do not find this with Jewish children's historical fiction.

I see that wile I was typing this up you wrote it is for 4-7 year olds, I was thinking Pre teens.

amother

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:34 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

Thanks for your advice!
Poetry is my passion
Im young but Ive been writing poems since I learnt how to write!
I literally think in poetry
I write poems on a weekly basis - sometimes for for relatives or friends and sometimes for fun!
So I definitely understand what you mean by bad poetry
I truly believe that poetry is a talent totally separate from writing - the greatest writer could be the worst poet
My poems have rhymes with reason:)

amother

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:35 pm

amother [ Begonia ] wrote:

Hi!
As a pre-school teacher, I would love to hear what kind of fantasy would interest your students
Anything in specific?

dreamerforever

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:43 pm

Can you write a REAL book in which the kids find it hard to be good, and don't always do the right thing, but they still try- even when they fail many times? Even better if it's written subtly- in a fantasy setting Cool

There are too many books about good little girls and boys, and it's simply not true to life.

amother

Begonia

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 3:50 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Hi!
As a pre-school teacher, I would love to hear what kind of fantasy would interest your students
Anything in specific?

I can tell you the books we read again and again.
Books like caps for sale, Corduroy, labels for label, happy birthday moon, earl the squirrel etc
If you read them you will see they all are straightforward and clear, making it easy to understand, yet with a random or wacky element to it making it intriguing even with repetitive reading. There are always a couple of more challenging words which the educator can highlight to broaden their vocabulary.

amother

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 4:00 pm

amother [ Begonia ] wrote:

Thank you!
You listed some of my of my favorites:)