Appropriate for Children?

There are stories that children enjoy that doesn't have children as main characters (for example, the King Arthur stories, or Robin Hood) or that only have animals as characters. I recently wrote one that only had unnamed "children" in the story.

And you could always edit your stories so that they're more appropriate for children. The biggest problem I see that you might have is the vocabulary you used since most picture books are targeted for a fairly young age group. You might have to go through your stories and substitute easier words. You could also have a problem with word count. How long are these stories?

I'd say with a little editing, your stories could certainly also work for children and also as an adult series. Remove things like the sexual innuendos, simplify the words a bit (as alleycat has recommended), and even add a moral to the story so the children can learn something positive and your writing will be taken as parent-approved.

Good luck!

What if you just made your adult characters into young adults or older teenagers and made them YA? Then they'd still be targeting an older group but be age-appropriate. I suppose it's up to you.

Beach Bunny said:

Yes, I know. There are no rules for writing. You can pretty much do whatever you want. Does this hold true for children's stories?

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Yep, there are rules. You just have to know them before you go and try breaking them. And that's not always a good idea.

Now, your characters are adult. Your storyline is more adult. Those are hard things to change. You're told though, that it reads like a children's story. That tells me that possibly your sentences are short, your choice of wording is on a, say, second grade level, but most likely the manner in which you're relating the story is as if you're writing it for a child.

When I first started writing, the above tripped me up on a few of my essays. They were targeted for adults, yet the way I expressed myself was as if they were geared for a child.

Put it aside for a week or so, then go back and reread it out loud. That might help you to see how you can rewrite it.

Nicki B said:

.... even add a moral to the story so the children can learn something positive and your writing will be taken as parent-approved.

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Please, no!

Unless it is a humorous moral that can't possibly be taken seriously.

Otherwise, nothing kills a story faster than using it to try to teach something!

Re: "The biggest problem I see that you might have is the vocabulary you used since most picture books are targeted for a fairly young age group."

But why??!!! Why, why, why do "picture books' have to be targeted to "a fairly young age group?" I can remember buying a copy of Madeline and the Bad Hat in college. If I had been able to buy a Madeline and the Bad Hat t-shirt, keyring, etc back then, I would have. I also bought an illustrated Alice in Wonderland, as well as at the Salvation Army, some vintage '60s poetry books with collages + brief poems (okay, so the poems weren't so good - but why not put some great poems together with the collages)? I also found a Peter Max book recently, which I gave as a gift to my "emo" musician nephew AND HE LOVED IT!!!! (10 points if you know what emo means - trust me, my nephew had to explain it to me, 'cause I didn't know). So I think there is a market there for YA "picture books" - I don't mean "graphic novels," I mean books which are picture books, 200-800 words in length, with artwork.

Anyway, I will step down from my soapbox now. But if I see teens walking around in "Elvis in Las Vegas" belts (i.e., retro hipster clothing), I think (I KNOW) some of them would be open to retro-kitschy-vintage picture books as fashion accessory/statement.

Okay, I REALLY am off my soapbox now!

I vote for posting it in SYW. That's the only way to tell.

Much of what is considered Classic Children's Lit are books that were never intended for children. Robin Hood, Kidnapped, Little Women--they were just books. Most fairytales fall into that category, and that is quite possibly what makes your readers feel they sound like kid's stories.

However, there's a huge difference between a classic fairytale and what gets accepted for publication as a picture book these days. If you have a 1000 word story with 50-cent vocabulary, you'll find the picture book market is pretty closed. Fractured fairytales that play on classics that kids are familiar with, those do sell well. But original fantasy/fairytales, even for kids, tend to sell only if they are novel length. So I'm not sure where your stories would fit.