Do we need a psychologist to check our writings?

Of course not.
For one, children are often sturdier than parents think they are.
Besides, if you want a story or a book published, you're usually going through agents and publishers who already know what is appropriate for the kids' age.

I just read a book in which the main character accidentally set a fire that killed about 20000 people, not to mention the fact that several of the MCs showed homicidal tendencies. It's part of a children's book series. I have yet to come across a single kid that was disturbed by it. They're devouring the books faster than the author can write them.

No, no, no. That's a bit like calling the doctor to change a nappy! Children's minds are NOT fragile. In fact, they're far more resilient than most of the grown-ups turned pop psychologists who constantly transfer their own fears and thoughts onto them.

Children love nothing better than to get their teeth into a good story. If you want to write for them, sit down, write, have lots of fun and enjoy it. Use your common sense. If you're talking sex and drugs, then it's probably not a children's picture book! If you're in doubt, you'll get plenty of help here by sharing a section and letting the experts have a look. Agents and publishers will also make sure you're pitching to the right age group so don't worry too much about it. Write what you think they'll enjoy, following all the same rules (if there's such a thing) as writing for adults - plot, conflict, resolution, etc. etc.

Good luck,
Symphony

You do realize many popular children's fiction stories involve some level of abuse, right?

Orphans, abandonment, death of parents...all popular story lines. Kid's aren't that fragile.

In several Disney stories, the mother dies.

As someone who's not only worked in picture book production for Scholastic but who's also worked in a mental health facility, I say let's please keep the two fields separate.

I'm tired of the didactic, take-your-morality-medicine picture books anyway. (And yet, when I go to conferences, that's all anybody seems to be writing!) My favorite contemporary PBs and early readers are the ones that make you feel good because they transport you to another world, are fun to read, and are just plain FUNNY. And, yes, I do think humor for kids can definitely include some off-the-wall and dark humor. I don't work with picture books anymore, but I keep a couple of my favorite ones at my desk at work for when I'm tired or annoyed and need a quick pick-me-up. Talk about good therapy.

Don't get me wrong... I think there's a small need for "issue" books out there. But I like to think that the people who get their issue books published have done the research (which sometimes includes talking to a psychologist) and buried it in the text in a way that the kids who read it don't feel like they're being coddled or getting a lecture.

But what if I WANT to warp little minds?


I mean that in the best possible way of course.

If you're wack and you're ideas are wack, and they'll be able to tell and your idea simply won't sell (though many crazies have been published in the past.) I think psychologists are screwed up in their own personal ways. Everyone has issues, some hide it better than others.

Yeah...and it's really up to the parents to judge what books they buy for their children. (Although...my mom didn't like me reading Harry Potter when I was a kid because it had the word "malicious" in it...)