I attend lots of meetings and events for SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). I have noticed that people newer to writing for children don’t know all that much about children’s literature. This is my gift to SCBWI members.
In 2005, I co-authored a textbook on Children’s Literature with Pearson Education, which was moderately successful. So, using my knowledge, I have created here a presentation to fill you in, writers!
HERE GOES: What is children’s literature?
Children’s Literature (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, traditional literature) is roughly defined as preschool through about age 14 -ish. In schooling, that includes older preschool (3-5 year-olds); Elementary School, and Middle School (which can include Grade 8). Literature written for kids older than middle school is called “Young Adult.” YA is a bit more sophisticated, more complex, often contains more mature content (like romance, drugs, sex). It is important to understand however, that these divisions are somewhat artificial and approximate, because younger kids may get into YA books before they are 14 years old.
FIRST OF ALL – FICTION VS. NONFICTION
FICTION – A MADE-UP STORY, WRITTEN IN NARRATIVE (AS OPPOPSED TO EXPOSITORY) The confusing thing is that the word FICTION is also used to denote something untrue. Fiction, as the literary genre is not factual, but it is full of many truths. Fiction is sometimes called “Human Experience in Narrative.” I got that definition from Katherine Paterson. The lady us brilliant. In addition to her credible list of award-winning books, check out her essays, writers. THE GATES OF EXCELLENCE and THE SPYING HEART.
NONFICTION – Books that are factual, informational, generally written in expository text (as opposed to narrative). Nonfiction often includes things like: A Table of Contents, Chapter Headings, Subheadings, Index, Glossary, Bibliography (although some fiction has bibliographies)
Caption: Children’s Literature is not that old. Historically, publishers did no believe that books for children were a viable market. Exceptions were Beatrix Potter and her Peter Rabbit series, or A,A, Milne with this four books around a Winnie the Pooh toy bear. Theodore Geisel was hired by a company making reading textbooks for children to write for the “basal reader.” He instead published his creation as a trade book. The notion here was to write with a limited or controlled vocabulary to support developing readers. The field of children’s literature got a big boost from Dr. Seuss (Geisel). When this came out in the 1950’s, it sold very well.
Most books which have been written since the beginning of the printing press are NONFICTION. Library cataloguing systems are designed to organize and access nonfiction. There are SOOOO many categories such as:
- Books on a topic (any topic imaginable)
- Biographies
- Autobiographies, memoir
- Dictionaries and other reference books
- Cookbooks
- How-to books
- Atlases
- Encyclopedias
- Instructional textbooks
- Telephone directories (when that was a big deal)
- Any kind of directory
- Instructional manuals
- Photo Essay
This a bit confusing? When in doubt to determine if a book is nonfiction or fiction, go to the COPYRIGHT PAGE in the book where you find the date and all that, and it will tell you.
“Juvenile Literature” means nonfiction.
“Juvenile fiction” means fiction
Either may contain “keywords” that relate to content.
THESE AWARD-WINNING NOVELS ARE HISTORICAL FICTION, BASED ON THE AUTHOR’S FAMILY HISTORY, BUT THEY ARE STILL FICTION AS THEY PRIMARILY TELL A STORY.
Form vs. Genre
Genre is based on what the book is about. Nonfiction is a genre. Subgenres within nonfiction are biography, manuals, reference books, informational books, guides, etc.
Fiction is a genre with a bunch of subgenres. Contemporary Realistic fiction is set in the present. Historical fiction is set in the past (where that past begins depends on the age of the readers and the intent of the writer, and the age of the book. Little Women is now historical fiction because it’s been around so long, but it was contemporary fiction when Louisa May Alcott wrote it. Fantasy is a story containing magical or supernatural elements, such as magical objects, time travel – anything not possible in real life. Science Fiction is speculative imagining a scene, place, or future time with differing technologies or worlds. Science fiction MUST be rooted in sound and accepted scientific theory (or else it is fantasy). The generations of Star Trek on television is a common example of science fiction, as their ships, stories, and encounters have been theorized.
There are subgenres in adult fiction that do not appear in children’s literature: Romance, Horror, would be two examples.
FORM is how the book is presented. A novel is a FORM. Poetry is a FORM. A Pop-up book is a FORM. AND a PICTURE BOOK is a FORM.
A picture book could be POETRY if the text is one long poem.
A picture book could be Nonfiction biography is its about Nelson Mandela, or Barack Obama, or Florence Nightengale,
A picture book could be Traditional literature is it’s the retelling of an old folk tale, or other traditional story, such as The Three Little Pigs, or The Blind Man and the Elephant, or Brer Rabbit, or the Legend of the Bluebonnet (flower).
A picture book can be a Alphabet book, which is a nonfiction form. The topic of the alphabet book might vary greatly.
A picture book could be a charming made-up story, which many of them are, such as Strega Nona, or Click Clack Moo.
A picture book could be Historical fiction, loosely based on something real in history, such as Train to Somewhere.
MORE ABOUT THE FORM CALLED THE PICTURE BOOK
A true picture book has 32 pages. This is because it is comprised of to signatures of large paper that has been folded into 8ths, using both sides makes 16 pages, two signatures add up to 32 pages. This applies to hard over editions which generally have a sewn binding, a rigid spine, and endpapers. These features are lost in paperback editions, which accounts for the differences in price.
Endpapers are not counted in the 32 pages. One side of the endpaper is pasted into the front cover. Same in the back. Endpapers are normally a different kind of paper, and may be plain, or decorated to accompany the theme of the book.
Picture Books rarely have more than 1200 words. For younger readers, a few hundred words is common. There are exceptions.
Picture book are illustrated AND in a high quality picture book, the expectation is that the art and the text work together to create the nuance of this unique form.
It is common for picture book writers to submit their work, and for the editor at the publishing house to choose the illustrator. Often, authors do not see illustrations prior to publication. The illustrators are given license to bring their own creativity and expertise to the text – making the final product a unique collaboration.
Some folks are both authors and illustrators. Typically, the text of the book is accepted for publication without the illustrations, or with only a sample of the illustrations.
Caption: These are all picture books, but represent different genres in the writing. Planting the Tres of Kenya is nonfiction; Big Anthony is fiction – a charming made-up story; Same with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. While One Candle is historical, telling of memories of the holocaust; Willie and the All-stars is a story but Floyd Cooper tells about segregation in sports; The Greatest Power is an Asian folktale retold by Demi; Gingerbread Baby (Brett) builds on the folktale of the Gingerbread boy, but is a made up story. Picture Books have different trim sizes. Note several have “landscape orientation” and others have “portrait orientation.” These design decisions are generally made at the publishing house, along with the selection of paper, layout, etc.
Dr. Wendy C. Kasten, Writer 