Obviously this is a very important question to answer before you decide to write for children. However you also have to consider that for younger children especially the adult in their lives will be who you must appeal to.
Can you go back to your childhood and draw on, not the stories you read but your experiences, your adventures and what you thought about them, how you reacted to them? You must enter the mind of the child and not write from the perspective of the adult.
Children want adventure, mystery, obstacles to overcome, they want to be frightened and then reach a successful outcome. The childrens book must have its focus on the child. Children don’t want to read what an adult thinks or feels as much as they are interested in the childs adventure, challenges and resolutions.
Getting to know what children are reading involves research. Spend as much time as it takes to familiarise yourself with what is currently selling. Visit libraries, read children’s and parenting magazines, examine children’s television programming can you find a common theme running through the different mediums.
Don’t forget to take into account age appropriate material and whether what you are considering meets with your purpose. Are you wanting to write humourous, adventure or life experience stories? To determine what children are reading and how you can meet that demand requires you to do your research and keep up with what the current trends are in each age group.
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