Bedtime Stories

Write a children’s book – 5 Tips you NEED to know!

Are you in the progress of writing a children’s book? Have you thought about writing a nice little story that children and their caregivers would like to read? There is defiantly a need for more well written children’s books. Write a children’s book, you never know what might happen if you do!

Writing for children is a fun and creative and the stories you can write can be filled with excitement and imagination. Once you know what you’re doing; you could be asked to write books faster than you can come up with the ideas. Wouldn’t that be nice. You could be busy for quite awhile or choose to write whenever you want!

Before you start or if you already have, have a look at the following 5 best-kept secrets that you need to know when you write a children’s book! These guidelines will help you to make sure your children’s book is as great as it can be!

1. Research

Do your research. Research what you’re writing about. If your story idea is based on something you’re not exactly sure about or the story is unclear to you, your readers will probably pick up on this. When you write a children’s book ensure you do your research so your writing is clear and valuable to the reader. It is important to do your research so you’re knowledge of the situation is credible for the reader. The worst thing is leaving your reader thinking “What if….Be precise and straight to the point. Don’t ramble into too much detail; again, you will lose the interest of the reader.

2. Characters.

Have you made the big mistake a lot of writers of children’s books are making? Many beginner writers develop a wonderful story that they believe everyone will fall in love with then they try to fit the characters around this storyline. This can see you in a wee bit of trouble down the line. The best way to create realistic characters your readers will connect with and care about is to develop them first! Get to know everything about the characters you create. Know their physical characteristics, their personality traits, their background and emotions. The more you know about them the better off your story will be! This will show your readers you have passion toward them and will project through your writing. Therefore, your audience will want to find out what happens to them.

3. Mood of the story.

As most of us writers know, you rarely sit down and write a book cover to cover in one sitting right! Unless you don’t fancy sleeping, then you are the minority. The rest of us will write in sections or little bits here and there. Attempt to write when you are in the same mood you were in when you were last writing. Otherwise, you might have a situation where the readers emotions are up and down throughout the story. This can be quite upsetting for a young child. Another reason could be when the beginning is fulled of excitement, the middle is dull and the best is saved till last. You’ll probably end up with an uncomfortable read for your audience. Try to divide the drama throughout the story and keep the tone and mood steady. You don’t want to lose the reader before they get to the best part of the story.

4. The Plot

When you write a children’s book, as it is with all books, the plot is another important aspect to consider. Especially when writing for children. Children are more likely to look to the characters as role models. Therefore, when you are creating the plot for your children’s book, you need to keep your audience in mind. All great books have one thing in common, weather it’s for children or adults.It’s plot will have some sort of conflict! There are two types of conflict, internal and external. Internal conflict is when the main character has to deal with a conflict from within. For example, fear, insecurities or a struggle of right and wrong. External conflict is when the main character has a conflict to deal with outside of their control. For example other people, animals, or a situation where they have no control. Add some sort of conflict to the characters journey and you have a great story!

5. “show, don’t tell”

Have you heard about “show, don’t tell”? All modern day writers are now using the “show, don’t tell” way of writing. You can defiantly learn how to write in this style, and I strongly recommend that you do. But “show, don’t tell” is where you become a ’storyshower’ and not a Storyteller. What I am trying to explain here is, that even though writers are telling the story, you want to show your readers what is happening so they can create a picture in their mind. This can be done through description. Show your reader how the character is feeling, their actions, their physical reactions and body language, where they are in the story, etc. Add description of the surroundings and the feel of what’s happening around them so you reader feels like they are standing next to them. Show the reader through description as much as possible to add depth to the story. Imagine a movie; the director doesn’t put words up on screen when a character is sad, happy or excited. He instructs the actors to act a certain way and show through their faces and actions how they are feeling. This is the same with an author. You must give enough description to show your readers how the characters are feeling and the situation they are facing.

I hope you have found these 5 best-kept secrets helpful when you are planning how you will write a children’s book. Next comes editing, proofing and formatting. Remember to find out what individual publishers are looking for so you have the most success when submitting your manuscript. Don’t forget to check for grammar and spelling mistakes so you finished result will look professional.

About the Author

Find free writing tips at http://www.learntowriteforchildren.com. You can also download a few children’s books right from the site for free. Get excellent help and support to write a children’s book with the best of success!

Fairy Tales – The Little Match Girl – Kids Animation

Just So Stories: For Little Children $9.59 The famous, funny and inspiring stories from one of the world’s greatest storytellers. From the ’satiable curiosity of the elephant’s child to the crab who played with the sea, from the ingenious invention of the alphabet to how the rhinoceros got his wrinkled skin, these stories of strange happenings in the High and Far-Off Times brim with life, humour and magic – a wonderful collection that will hold you spellbound!

Stories of Royal Children $28.56 1909. St. Nicholas was one of the first magazines for children. The magazine was composed of lively, wellwritten stories, poetry, and articles, aiming for the same high standards as the monthly which Scribners published for adults. Later, they took stories about a certain subject and reprinted them in a volume such as this one, Stories of Royal Children. Some of the articles contained in this volume include: Three Little Spanish Princesses by Isabel McDougall; The Babys Cap by N. Hudson Moore; The AnswerWhat? by Anne H. Woodruff; The Seven Kings by William Hale; and others. Author: Kessinger Publishing Company Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: 2004/07/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.48 inches

Nature Myths and Stories for Little Children $24.66 Author: Cooke, Flora J. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 108 Publication Date: 2006/05/01 Age Level: 04 08 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.26 inches

Bible Stories for Little Children (1871) $22.32 Author: Jones, M., PhD Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 64 Publication Date: 2009/01/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.13 inches

Animal Stories and Poems for Children $17.11 This is a collection of short stories and poems about animals. The author created these stories for parents and guardians to read to Little Ones and for older children to read by themselves. Hopefully the stories will stimulate imaginations and generate communication between children and readers and develop meaningful conversation. There are few things more rewarding than reading to a child and few things which will create more lasting memories. A child who is read to at bedtime goes to sleep happily and wakes happy What can be more fulfilling to a caretaker? Take the time, they grow up so fast Author: Salerno, Edward A. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 112 Publication Date: 2007/10/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.27 inches

Little Wizard Stories of Oz $19.45 Little Wizard Stories of Oz is a set of six short stories written for young children by L. Frank Baum, the creator of the Oz books. The six tales were published in separate small booklets, Oz books in miniature, in 1913, and then in a collected edition in 1914. Each booklet was 29 pages long, and printed in blue ink rather than black. Author: Baum, L. Frank Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 50 Publication Date: 2010/05/19 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.10 inches

A Story Garden for Little Children $20.44 Children delight in folktale and fairy lore, but the very little child loves best the story which mirrors the familiar. And it is for him, and for the mother who is striving in this age of profusion to guard the innate simplicity of her childs nature, that I have written my little stories. Maud Lindsay A Story Garden for Little Children is a collection of twenty short stories written by Maud Lindsay especially for very young children. Each beautifully illustrated story will hold your childs rapt attention and spark their vivid imagination. They will want to hear them time and time again. Author: Lindsay, Maud/ Young, Florence Liley Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 90 Publication Date: 2010/05/25 Language: English Dimensions: 7.52 x 9.25 x 0.19 inches

Front Cover from ‘Just So Stories for Little Children’ by Rudyard Kipling, 1951 $44.99 Joseph Rudyard Kipling Front Cover from ‘Just So Stories for Little Children’ by Rudyard Kipling, 1951 – Giclee Print

Little Gold in the Rainbow Stories $48.52 This is a collection of stories, as shared by our Elders. Some are highly imaginative, some are funny Some are based on true experiences All are the Elders Legacy for our Children. There are some drawings to be colored, in the first story. The rest are beautifully illustrated by our artist, Natalie Van Kirk Enjoy these stories, then have your child ask the Eldest in your family, to share a story from their youth As a child I enjoyed reading, Little Golden Books. Even at the age of one year, I was delighted with the tiny illustrations. This, then, is an expansion of those type of stories. They have emerged from our program, The Rainbow Connection by Jo Jo Gompers Author: Gompers, Gaye J. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 76 Publication Date: 2005/10/01 Language: English Dimensions: 8.50 x 8.50 x 0.20 inches

The Little FigTree Stories $26.77 Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin Publication date: 1899 Subjects: Children Conduct of life Parent and child Grandfathers Childrens stories Family Author: Foote, Mary Hallock Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 68 Publication Date: 2009/12/17 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.16 inches

Annes Stories for Children of All Ages $22.92 Annes Stories For Children of all Ages is a book that is entertaining and also educational. Each story poem has a cute little animal and that animal tells a story. While funny, the book also teaches all of us lifes lessons. It encourages the use of imagination and participation. It is written in large print so it is easy to see and easy to read for all ages. Each little animal will have more stories to tell. You will love them and want to follow their adventures. Author: McMasters, Anne Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 24 Publication Date: 2008/10/01 Language: English Dimensions: 8.50 x 8.50 x 0.06 inches Large Print

Little Children $19.99 Little Children – Poster

Stories To Tell To Children $1.79 pubOne.info thank you for your continued support and wish to present you this new edition. Concerning the fundamental points of method in telling a story, I have little to add to the principles which I have already stated as necessary, in my opinion, in the book of which this is, in a way, the continuation. But in the two years which have passed since that book was written, I have had the happiness of working on stories and the telling of them, among teachers and students all over this country, and in that experience certain secondary points of method have come to seem more important, or at least more in need of emphasis, than they did before. As so often happens, I had assumed that "those things are taken for granted; " whereas, to the beginner or the teacher not naturally a story-teller, the secondary or implied technique is often of greater difficulty than the mastery of underlying principles. The few suggestions which follow are of this practical, obvious kind.

More Stories for Gramps Little Friends $36.87 More Stories for Gramps Little Friends, is the second childrens book written by Lloyd Wright. It is a book of love and caring containing twentyfive short stories. They were written for and read to his grandchildren when they came to visit. He also reads the stories to the kindergarten class for which he is a volunteer. There is a lesson of values entwined in each story and written to a level that children can understand.Some of the ideas for the stories came from the different subjects of Mrs. Finches kindergarten class in rural Arkansas. The authors stories promote good manners, love, laughter, sharing, safety, and especially friendship. The stories are enjoyable reading for all ages. Author: Wright, Lloyd Binding Type: Hardcover Number of Pages: 184 Publication Date: 2004/10/08 Age Level: 04 12 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.56 inches

How To Tell Stories To Children: And Some Stories To Tell $5.59 The great difference between telling and reading is that the teller is free; the reader is bound. The book in hand, or the wording of it in mind, binds the reader. The story-teller is bound by nothing; he stands or sits, free to watch his audience, free to follow or lead every changing mood, free to use body, eyes, voice, as aids in expression. Even his mind is unbound, because he lets the story come in the words of the moment, being so full of what he has to say. For this reason, a story told is more spontaneous than one read, however well read. And, consequently, the connection with the audience is closer, more electric, than is possible when the book or its wording intervenes. Beyond this advantage, is the added charm of the personal element in story-telling. When you make a story your own and tell it, the listener gets the story, plus your appreciation of it. It comes to him filtered through your own enjoyment. That is what makes the funny story thrice funnier on the lips of a jolly raconteur than in the pages of a memoir. It is the filter of personality. Everybody has something of the curiosity of the primitive man concerning his neighbour; what another has in his own person felt and done has an especial hold on each one of us. The most cultured of audiences will listen to the personal reminiscences of an explorer with a different tingle of interest from that which it feels for a scientific lecture on the results of the exploration. The longing for the personal in experience is a very human longing. And this instinct or longing is especially strong in children. It finds expression in their delight in tales of what father or mother did when they were little, of what happened to grandmother when she went on a journey, and so on, but it also extends to stories which are not in themselves personal. The greater ease in holding the attention of children is, for teachers, a sufficient practical reason for telling stories rather than reading them. It is incomparably easier to make the necessary exertion of "magnetism," or whatever it may be called, when nothing else distracts the attention. One's eyes meet the children's gaze naturally and constantly; one's expression responds to and initiates theirs without effort; the connection is immediate. For the ease of the teacher, then, no less than for the joy of the children, may the art of story-telling be urged as pre-eminent over the art of reading. It is a very old, a very beautiful art. Merely to think of it carries one's imaginary vision to scenes of glorious and touching antiquity. The tellers of the stories of which Homer's Iliad was compounded; the transmitters of the legend and history which make up the Gesta Romanorum; the travelling raconteurs whose brief heroic tales are woven into our own national epic; the grannies of age-old tradition whose stories are parts of Celtic folk-lore, of Germanic myth, of Asiatic wonder-tales, – these are bu

Little Lessons Learned: Stories for Children from the Bible $20.95 “no description”

Little Jim Crow and Other Stories of Children (1899) $30.12 Author: Morris, Clara Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 238 Publication Date: 2008/10/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.51 inches

Natural History in Stories: For Little Children (1854) $37.66 Author: Claude, Mary S. Binding Type: Hardcover Number of Pages: 112 Publication Date: 2009/03/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.44 inches

The Parents Assistant or Stories for Children $40 Contents: The Orphans; Lazy Lawrence; The False Key; Simple Susan; The White Pigeon; The Birthday Present; Eton Montem; Forgive and Forget; Waste Not, Want Not; or, Two Strings to Your Bow; Old Poz; The Mimic; The Barring Out; or, Party Spirit; The Bracelets; The Little Merchants; Tarlton; and The Basket Woman. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. Author: Edgeworth, Maria/ Fraser, F. A. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 456 Publication Date: 2005/04/01 Age Level: 09 12 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 1.02 inches

Chicken Soup For The Little Souls: 3 Colorful Stories To Warm The Hearts Of Children $8.59 As an original hardcover, each of these books sold over 150,000 copies. Due to frequent requests, HCI is now re-releasing the stories in one paperback, complete with a Chicken Soup for the Soul look and size. Each offers a lesson on how to make the world a better place. These inspirational stories are sure to put smiles on the faces of children everywhere. In "The Goodness Gorillas," the friends of the Goodness Gorilla Club have lots of great plans! But what will they do about Todd, the meanest kid in the class? In "The Best Night Out with Dad," Danny has a new friend, and an important decision to make. Will he get to see the circus after all? In "The Never-Forgotten Doll," Ellie want s to give a special gift to Miss Maggie, the best babysitter in the world. But everything is going wrong! How will she show Miss Maggie how much she loves her?

Children’s Stories $6.99 “Looked up to and loved by children in his congregation, J.C Ryle took their spiritual lives very seriously. Here is a collection of stories for children by this great communicator including ‘The two bears’. J. C Ryle encourages us to teach the whole Scripture to children and not just parts of it.”

Treasury Of Best Loved Children’s Stories (Library Classics) $8.99 This beautifully illustrated treasury features 16 stories, including: The Ant and the Grasshopper; The Twelve Dancing Princesses; The Brave Little Tailor; Demeter and Persephone; Thumbelina; and more!

Star Stories for Little Folks $25.99 Still one of the most enchanting astronomy books for children, this 1918 work frames the addictive habit of gazing at the night sky as a series of brief storylessons given by Doctor Lorry to young Helen, who wants nothing more than to learn the names of all the beautiful stars in the firmament. Complete with simple illustrations that beginning stargazers of all ages will appreciate, this is an informative and entertaining introduction to the wonders of the celestial realms. American author GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER (18901979) is best remembered for The Boxcar Children, her series of books for young readers. Author: Warner, Gertrude Chandler Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 76 Publication Date: 2006/11/01 Age Level: 09 12 Language: English Dimensions: 8.00 x 5.00 x 0.18 inches