KidLit Playground

[Akvranel]

Welcome! Whether we're on the the slides, swings or sandpit, here is a spot for us kidlit enjoyers to have fun and build community.

KidLit is such a diverse field, ranging from board books all the way up to middle grade (maybe even YA, depending on who shelved the book). Whether you write, illustrate, read, or just want to say "hi", come on over. The playground is for everyone!

 

[Akvranel]

Just to get things started - what's your favorite trope (or topic) to either read or write about in children's literature?

(and if you've got something else you want to discuss, go for it!)

 

[owlion]

Just to get things started - what's your favorite trope (or topic) to either read or write about in children's literature?

(and if you've got something else you want to discuss, go for it!)

Thanks for the new thread! I never get tired of reading stories featuring dragons or those told from a non-human perspective - and horror where the creepy thing is lurking (lurking always gets me). In terms of writing, I love stories which feature some kind of horrible creature at some point (even my MG fantasy stories feature at least one horrible creature). How about you?

 

[Akvranel]

Thanks for the new thread! I never get tired of reading stories featuring dragons

My newest WIP is a kid (secretly) taking his dragon to school (guess how well that goes?), so obviously a fan there. I'm currently in the market for good dragon-themed book recommendations if you've got any!

I need to read more horror. I've really liked the few ones I've picked up.

How about you?

Hmmm . . . maybe I should have thought of my response when I asked the question

It might be sappy, but I'm a really big fan of the "you were always enough" or "you're fine the way you are" story line. I also like how it works both in picture books where it's presented pretty simply, and in longer MG where a 250 page story is about the MC figuring it out.

As for writing, I love giving my protagonist some sort of sport or athletic activity they are involved in. That's a given for my Sports WIP, but I do it in the Fantasies, too.

 

[Unimportant]

I don't read kidlit/MG, but I too like the idea of books with a 'you're find the way you are' theme. It was distressing to read that this author's book might be on the to-be-banned list because it features a girl coming to grips with having freckles.

 

[Nether]

I need to read more horror. I've really liked the few ones I've picked up.

Name some reqs?

 

[Akvranel]

Name some reqs?

If you have some you liked, I'd love to hear it.

One of my favorite books in recent years is The Worlds We Leave Behind by A.F. Harrold. I read in 2023 and dang it was so good. Levi Pinfold illustrated and the visuals were so beautiful and unnerving at the same time. I read it in one sitting and it haunted me for a few days thereafter.

A few other horror I've read & liked were Peril at Price Manor by Laura Parnum (more of a spoof but still a ton of fun); Nightbooks by J.A. White (wasn't a fan of the ending, but it was really good and creepy pageturner until then); and What Lives in the Woods by Lindsay Currie (not too scary, but it was a genuinely solid paranormal mystery).

 

[Nether]

If you have some you liked, I'd love to hear it.

Not as many as you might hope or expect. A lot of what I've read has been more okay. The only one kinda worth mentioning is The Ash House, a kinda dark fantasy/horror/mystery which is basically Lord of the Flies meets The Life of Pi.

A few other horror I've read & liked were Peril at Price Manor by Laura Parnum (more of a spoof but still a ton of fun);

Amusingly enough, I'd seen that book a few times lately, including while checking out an agency.

Nightbooks by J.A. White (wasn't a fan of the ending, but it was really good and creepy pageturner until then);

How does it compare to the movie? I watched the adaptation on NF (featuring Kristin Ritter) a few years back, which was kinda neat.

and What Lives in the Woods by Lindsay Currie (not too scary, but it was a genuinely solid paranormal mystery).

Yeah, I probably liked that the most of Currie's books so far. Possibly because the ending bugged me less than either Scritch Scratch or He Found Us (and SS was great until the book hit the ghost's motivation, which felt kinda silly). And I'll be reading It's Watching as soon after I finish Natasha Preston's The Island (a YA thriller that I wouldn't really recommend).

 

[Lennoxlennox]

Yes, you can never have enough dragons! Fairies too!

 

[Akvranel]

How does it compare to the movie? I watched the adaptation on NF (featuring Kristin Ritter) a few years back, which was kinda neat.

I didn't know there was a movie, honestly. I glanced at the trailer & wikipedia summary for what that's worth, and it seemed to be matching the spirit & plot of the book.

 

[owlion]

My newest WIP is a kid (secretly) taking his dragon to school (guess how well that goes?), so obviously a fan there. I'm currently in the market for good dragon-themed book recommendations if you've got any!

I need to read more horror. I've really liked the few ones I've picked up.

Oh amazing, that sounds great! In terms of more recent books featuring dragons, there was some cool worldbuilding around them in The Heroes of Havensong by Megan Reyes, but I haven't actually seen too many books featuring dragons for a while . For horror, I like Phil Hickes' books, like The Haunting of Aveline Jones (it's pretty creepy), Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, the Lindsay Currie books, and a horror-adjacent(?) book, The Monsters of Rookhaven by Pádraig Kenny.

Hmmm . . . maybe I should have thought of my response when I asked the question

It might be sappy, but I'm a really big fan of the "you were always enough" or "you're fine the way you are" story line. I also like how it works both in picture books where it's presented pretty simply, and in longer MG where a 250 page story is about the MC figuring it out.

As for writing, I love giving my protagonist some sort of sport or athletic activity they are involved in. That's a given for my Sports WIP, but I do it in the Fantasies, too.

Yeah, I really like that kind of story - and when the MC isn't chosen or special etc. but achieves things because of their own efforts. Sports is a cool one, MCs having a specific hobby or interest is always fun

 

[Akvranel]

In terms of more recent books featuring dragons, there was some cool worldbuilding around them in The Heroes of Havensong by Megan Reyes

I've read book 1 & 2 and enjoyed both of them. It's a series I've recommend to quite a few people, especially authors who want to write multiple POV for MG because it's recent and it was Reyes' debut. I liked to describe it as "Wheel of Time for kids."

IMO the series is really what I want from High Fantasy - strong world building, a good magic system, and good narrative prose. I could listen to the character's talk about the phone book with each other, I enjoy them that much. The plot is pretty flimsy but, eh, I doesn't bother me.

Book 3 came out less than a month ago, so haven't read it, yet. Hopefully my library picks it up sometime soon as I'd like to see how it ends. I want the "good guys'" to apologize for turning a 12 y/o into a dragon against his will (that's not a spoiler - it's on the first book's cover blurb), but I have a feeling that won't happen.

 

[owlion]

I've read book 1 & 2 and enjoyed both of them. It's a series I've recommend to quite a few people, especially authors who want to write multiple POV for MG because it's recent and it was Reyes' debut. I liked to describe it as "Wheel of Time for kids."

IMO the series is really what I want from High Fantasy - strong world building, a good magic system, and good narrative prose. I could listen to the character's talk about the phone book with each other, I enjoy them that much. The plot is pretty flimsy but, eh, I doesn't bother me.

Book 3 came out less than a month ago, so haven't read it, yet. Hopefully my library picks it up sometime soon as I'd like to see how it ends. I want the "good guys'" to apologize for turning a 12 y/o into a dragon against his will (that's not a spoiler - it's on the first book's cover blurb), but I have a feeling that won't happen.

Oh nice! I've only read the first but really liked the worldbuilding especially - maybe I can pick up the others once the trilogy is all released I hope book 3 will have a good final resolution (I did feel so bad for the 12y/o who gets turned into a dragon)!

 

[Akvranel]

A bit of a random thought today, but I find it very interesting the care and effort that goes into illustrations, not just on the artistic level, but in terms of how it's geared to help a kid read the book.

Some books are clearly for the parent to read for the kid or for the kid to try to take steps into independent reading & the books benefit when the illustrations correspond to the words - where you can clearly point to the picture and then to the word to help the child figure it out.

And that's an interesting contrast with picture books or certain types of board books where the illustrations tell more of a story than the actual words. Those ones are interesting in how they encourage the reader to kind of tell their own story & let them figure it out the plot without knowing what the words say.

 

[Akvranel]

I attempted to ad-lib a unicorn story with my 5y/o son and 4y/o daughter at dinner and the results were . . . interesting. Condense/paraphrased:

Me: A unicorn lived on a horse farm, but the unicorn was different from the other horses. The horses had black, white, and brown coats, but the unicorns was:

Son: Pink!
(This was expected)

Me: The horses would be happy running and galloping across the field, but when the unicorn ran, he was:

Son: Hungry!
(Not exactly expected)

Me: Ok. . . um . . . the unicorn was galloping and got hungry when it saw:

Son: A tiger eating a burrito!
(Guess what we ate for dinner?)

Me: Sure . . . so the unicorn goes to the tiger and asks for a bite. The tiger is happy to share, and while unicorn is eating the tiger asks the unicorn why he has a different color coat than the other horse, gets hungry when he runs, and has a horn when the other horses don't. The unicorn says it doesn't know why it is different, and that makes him feel:

Son: Better!

Given that the unicorn had apparently completed it's journey of self-acceptance, I was unsure how to continue the story and told my son that he had solved the unicorn's problems and the story was over.

Any ideas for how this could have continued?

 

[Unimportant]

Any ideas for how this could have continued?

Since the unicorn was happy it was fed and unicorny, and the tiger was happy to share his burrito, they were happy! So they went running across the field! And the tiger, like the unicorn, got hungry while galloping. And the tiger started eyeing the unicorn's juicy, succulent rump....

Hmm. Possibly not suitable for young children?

 

[CMBright]

I attempted to ad-lib a unicorn story with my 5y/o son and 4y/o daughter at dinner and the results were . . . interesting. Condense/paraphrased:

Me: A unicorn lived on a horse farm, but the unicorn was different from the other horses. The horses had black, white, and brown coats, but the unicorns was:

Son: Pink!
(This was expected)

Me: The horses would be happy running and galloping across the field, but when the unicorn ran, he was:

Son: Hungry!
(Not exactly expected)

Me: Ok. . . um . . . the unicorn was galloping and got hungry when it saw:

Son: A tiger eating a burrito!
(Guess what we ate for dinner?)

Me: Sure . . . so the unicorn goes to the tiger and asks for a bite. The tiger is happy to share, and while unicorn is eating the tiger asks the unicorn why he has a different color coat than the other horse, gets hungry when he runs, and has a horn when the other horses don't. The unicorn says it doesn't know why it is different, and that makes him feel:

Son: Better!

Given that the unicorn had apparently completed it's journey of self-acceptance, I was unsure how to continue the story and told my son that he had solved the unicorn's problems and the story was over.

Any ideas for how this could have continued?

When our Kid was that age? It would probably involve raining ice cream somehow, if the Kiddo's knock knock jokes were any indication.

 

[Sage]

Start the next story? Or throw a curve ball. Suddenly, a pegasus came in for a crash landing. When the unicorn saw the pegasus's rainbow coat, it wondered...

My nieces (9 and 6) love a pass-along story at the dinner table. Usually the youngest asks for it. Vampires often get involved by her.