So here I am, a freshly-minted school librarian, lucky enough to be the first one to exist in our particular school, which serves children aged from 3 months to 18 years-old.
As a children's author, this also gives me a privileged insight into what kids go for, what's available and what we could really do with more of.
Looking at our shelves, during the cataloguing and mental TBR list-building, I can see that the upper age-range of MG fiction (8-12) is exceptionally well served, with more exciting titles coming out every month. Likewise, YA is a solid area, with plenty available to please the diversity of interests that sit in that age range. Some people in the fiction world think there's a lack of fiction that sits comfortably between MG and YA, but I think it's more that the age-range hasn't been officially delineated. The older end of MG and the younger end of YA covers the 12-14 age group pretty well in my opinion.
Toddlers and pre-readers have LOADS...quality picture books abound and there are always more coming out.
The area that seems lacking to me is material for the 7-10 year-old newly emerging/newly confident readers.
Too often, in my view, books for that group are too long, (or, indeed, too short. 15-20K is about right, especially for the newly confident group), part of reading schemes (which looks too much like a school-prescribed reading book); too often based on retellings of fairy tales (yawn); too formulaic (eg Rainbow Fairies et al....don't get me wrong, I often recommend these to newly confident readers, but they are teeth-grindingly dull for story-sharing parents...at this age, many books will still be read aloud to children by adults); pander to stereotypes (Rainbow Fairies et. al again. I don't like the girls book/boys book delineation, personally); don't convey positive messages about social interaction (Horrid Henry! My kids love the series and I think they're funny, but the obnoxious behaviour gets copied and then I have a sense of humour failure); underestimate children's intelligence or overestimate their sense of silliness (humour is important, but even children can overdose on farce).
There are classics for this age group and reading level - Roald Dahl, Dick King-Smith jump to mind. But as a mum and librarian I would love to have a great deal more to offer...especially as it's such a crucial age for getting children into reading. Competition from screens has never been greater, so I think we book-purveyors need to make more of the opportunity to delight our young ones with words and the power of good story telling...that they can read for themselves.
And yet, as a children's author, I see very few agents and publishers banging the drum for the 10K - 20K, 7-10 year-old readers.
(My fantasy series fits the bill perfectly, incidentally ;-) ) I notice Maverick Books is now specifically aiming for this section of the market, so maybe publishers are starting to try and fill the gap.... Perhaps @AgentPete has noticed something going on here? And let's face it, the newly-inspired child readers of today are the book buyers of the future.
So... that's my rant. What say you? Am I misconceiving the situation? Do you have children or young relatives in this age group whom you want to inspire with books, and if so, what would you get for them? Is the market missing a trick? Is this age-group particularly hard to write for?
Opinions (and recommendations!) welcome!
As a children's author, this also gives me a privileged insight into what kids go for, what's available and what we could really do with more of.
Looking at our shelves, during the cataloguing and mental TBR list-building, I can see that the upper age-range of MG fiction (8-12) is exceptionally well served, with more exciting titles coming out every month. Likewise, YA is a solid area, with plenty available to please the diversity of interests that sit in that age range. Some people in the fiction world think there's a lack of fiction that sits comfortably between MG and YA, but I think it's more that the age-range hasn't been officially delineated. The older end of MG and the younger end of YA covers the 12-14 age group pretty well in my opinion.
Toddlers and pre-readers have LOADS...quality picture books abound and there are always more coming out.
The area that seems lacking to me is material for the 7-10 year-old newly emerging/newly confident readers.
Too often, in my view, books for that group are too long, (or, indeed, too short. 15-20K is about right, especially for the newly confident group), part of reading schemes (which looks too much like a school-prescribed reading book); too often based on retellings of fairy tales (yawn); too formulaic (eg Rainbow Fairies et al....don't get me wrong, I often recommend these to newly confident readers, but they are teeth-grindingly dull for story-sharing parents...at this age, many books will still be read aloud to children by adults); pander to stereotypes (Rainbow Fairies et. al again. I don't like the girls book/boys book delineation, personally); don't convey positive messages about social interaction (Horrid Henry! My kids love the series and I think they're funny, but the obnoxious behaviour gets copied and then I have a sense of humour failure); underestimate children's intelligence or overestimate their sense of silliness (humour is important, but even children can overdose on farce).
There are classics for this age group and reading level - Roald Dahl, Dick King-Smith jump to mind. But as a mum and librarian I would love to have a great deal more to offer...especially as it's such a crucial age for getting children into reading. Competition from screens has never been greater, so I think we book-purveyors need to make more of the opportunity to delight our young ones with words and the power of good story telling...that they can read for themselves.
And yet, as a children's author, I see very few agents and publishers banging the drum for the 10K - 20K, 7-10 year-old readers.
(My fantasy series fits the bill perfectly, incidentally ;-) ) I notice Maverick Books is now specifically aiming for this section of the market, so maybe publishers are starting to try and fill the gap.... Perhaps @AgentPete has noticed something going on here? And let's face it, the newly-inspired child readers of today are the book buyers of the future.
So... that's my rant. What say you? Am I misconceiving the situation? Do you have children or young relatives in this age group whom you want to inspire with books, and if so, what would you get for them? Is the market missing a trick? Is this age-group particularly hard to write for?
Opinions (and recommendations!) welcome!
