sense of whimsy and fun, and an understanding of how to keep plot, pacing, and character development on the move with the turn of each page. We go more into the latter elements of writing in Part 3. But if you want to write well in this format, you have to research the style, tone, and contents of each publisher’s early reader series and then practice. You also more often than not have to adhere to vocabulary lists. If you want to submit a book to a particular publisher, most publishers offer guidelines for their programs on their websites.
Early readers can be fiction or nonfiction and cover topics that are often found in the curriculum taught in school for particular age ranges. As nationwide testing in reading comprehension and reading skills becomes more prevalent, starting at the earliest grades, we expect even more curriculum-based reading programs to surface, supplementing what teachers are presenting in the classrooms.
First chapter books
A first chapter book is often a child’s first real foray into reading books that don’t have full-color illustrations (see Figure 2-10). In this exciting time in a child’s life, they get to go the section in the bookstore or library that houses the big-girl and big-boy books. First chapter books discuss more mature subject matter and have more complex stories than board books and picture books, as well as more complex characters and relationships with one another.
From Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth, Book 1, reprinted courtesy of HarperCollins Children’s Books. Text © 2012 by Jane O’Connor. Illustrations © 2012 by Robin Preiss Glasser.
FIGURE 2-10: Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth, Book 1, a first chapter book.
Most first chapter books, if they have illustrations at all, contain a few black-and-white images scattered randomly throughout. The authors of first chapter books maintain the pacing directly through story developments and conflict, rather than through illustration or subtle suggestion. Some popular first chapter book series include the My Weird School and the My Weirder School series by Dan Gutman and Jim Paillot (HarperCollins) and Annie Barrows’s and Sophie Blackall’s Ivy + Bean series (Chronicle Books).
Focusing on the basics of first chapter books
When a child moves from early readers to first chapter books, the books are longer, the illustrations switch from color to black and white, and the stories and vocabulary generally progress in complexity. Kids in the 7-to-10 age range generally read first chapter books. With approximately 128 pages, first chapter books come in hardcover or softcover digest size, which is usually around 5½ x 8½ inches. They typically contain about eight to ten chapters of about eight to ten pages each.
Writing first chapter books
Like with any other format, writing good first chapter books requires skill, and practice helps you develop that skill. First, you must read, read, read examples of the format so that you get a feel for the ways in which authors develop the characters, create and flesh out the story, use vocabulary in both speech and narrative, progress the plot, and maintain the pacing and interest at steady levels. You need an appreciation for children in the target age group of 7 to 10 years old (what they like, what they don’t like, what they glom onto, and what they’re likely to reject). We reveal how to figure out the inner workings of a child’s mind in Chapter 7.
Middle-grade books
You probably remember reading middle-grade fiction and nonfiction books in your childhood. These books were long, detailed, and relatively complex, and they dealt with subject matter that was much more intriguing (and potentially much more divisive) than most children’s picture books. Some classic middle-grade books deal with some weighty issues:
Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White (HarperCollins): The farmer is about to kill Wilbur, a runt of a pig, before the farmer’s daughter saves him. Wilbur doesn’t get lost, or hidden, or given away, but almost killed! This is big-kid stuff.
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (HarperCollins): Delves into death and sickness (physical and emotional), not to mention social class discrepancies.
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster (Penguin Random House): Filled with word play and complex relationships.
Middle-grade books are often a child’s first peek into the real world in which people die, are irredeemably bad, have to solve real problems, and even fail.
Getting down to the middle-grade basics
With an average page count that’s anywhere from 96 to 156 pages, middle-grade books target 8- to 12-year-olds, and they normally come in the small 5½-x-8½ size. They can be hardcover or softcover. Many get developed into series, such as the A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins), but just as many are stand-alones (meaning they’re solo titles and never get developed into series).
Author Gary Paulsen’s popular fiction titles, including Hatchet (Simon & Schuster) and Nightjohn (Random House Children’s Books), provide good examples of the fluidity of age levels and labeling. Although many bookstores categorize his fiction in the young adult section of the store, many other bookstores shelve his books with the middle-grade books. So which format do his books fall into — young adult novels or middle-grade fiction? The answer is up for grabs. In the end, it just opens up books to more readers. The books in Figure 2-11 also offer good examples of middle-grade novels that skew toward the upper-middle grades but might not appeal as much to young adults (14 years old and older).
a) Talk of the Town: The Jessie Files, Book 1, and b) The Friendship Feature: The Jessie Files, Book 2, by Stacia Deutsch. Jacket art copyright © 2022 by Albert Whitman & Company.
FIGURE 2-11: Example middle-grade novels.
Writing for the middle grades
When you write middle-grade books, you can’t rely on a lot of photographs or illustrations to help tell your story. Most children become aware of this distinguishing factor while they master this format: These books have few or no interior illustrations. If the book includes illustrations at all, they’re often limited to black-and-white sketches at chapter breaks.
Want to break into writing for this age group? What makes good middle-grade fiction also makes good YA novels (not to mention good grown-up books):
Characters:
