And Now For Something Completely Different

Well, it is for me anyway. As is probably obvious from the title of my book, Safe Harbour, and, more particularly, its cover, I write contemporary romantic fiction. 

However, one of my greatest pleasures when my children were small was reading to them and with them. 

I know I’m not alone in this.You can see above the delight on all three faces so I thought I’d try to understand the appeal to the adult, other than the obvious one of spending quality time with little people. And therein I think lies part of the answer.

Having decided that writing for children was going to be my topic for the week, I stopped off at the library on my way home from my Tuesday morning writers’ group. I’m not even going to tell you how long it is since I last went there. Kindle has a lot to answer for and it isn’t just about holding a book in your hand. Aside from that there are shelves full of books in my home that are still waiting to be read so why go to the library? I found out why soon enough.

Our local library underwent a complete refurbishment a couple of years ago. While it still retains that wonderful hushed atmosphere that prevails in any of its counterparts that I’ve ever visited, it is sleek and modern with a huge computer area and just as large a children’s section, and it was to this latter that I gravitated. What a joy! There were armchairs – adult and child size; tables and books…lots and lots of books. I suppose it was mainly the pre-primary school section I looked at and I discovered almost immediately that I have for many years wrongly been under the impression that most of the illustrations in children’s books were done by the author. Not true, though some most certainly are. I am now given to understand that it is the publisher's job to find an illustrator and that indeed some are so well known that books are written around their pictures or, indeed, that illustrators supply their own words.This is where I admit to a long-held wish. I’d love to be able to write for this age group but, unable to fulfil the other half of the input, I’d rejected it as being out of reach. But if it's feasible to find an illustrator …could I, might I?

I’ve been told it’s hard to write for children. Far fewer words but every single one has to count. I chose six books from the hundreds available and brought them home. I’ve read them all; it didn’t take long; but I was taken back so many years to the excitement and complete suspension of disbelief I’d shared with my daughters. 

So what if a pig could talk or a little bull save the world? There was wonder and joy in all six volumes and each was, in its own way, a morality tale. And I enjoyed them. On my own. Without two small children sitting beside me in rapt attention. Aren't we all just big kids at heart? So isn't that another part of the answer? The child in each of us is just as capable to enjoying something 'aimed' at a four year old. All we have to do is use our imagination...and believe, just for a while anyway. A children's book well-written is suitable for any age group. 

Will I do it, write that book? Almost certainly not. I’ll leave it to the experts. But what a delight to go back in time to such innocence. Time travel. Hmm. Now that’s another genre I’d quite like to try.