6 Of Our Favourite Children’s Writers
If you love children’s books, you’ll love this post on six of our favourite children’s writers.
It’s a well-known fact that children love having a parent read to them. And every parent knows they may have to read the same book a gazillion times. So, you’d better have some excellent books on hand!
10 Things that make books ‘good children’s books’!
There are many age groups covered by the word, ‘children’. Without knowing why, children like picture books that:
- Teach great life lessons without being preachy.
- Spark their imagination.
- Have an engaging story, whether it’s about adults, children, or creatures.
- If they have ‘creatures’, these can be real or imaginary.
- Have plots which are easy to follow.
- They help them make sense of the world.
- Have fun, and colourful illustrations.
- Introduce children to new words and their meanings, how language is used, how sentences are formed, and the structure of stories, without being a ‘lesson’.
- Create great bonding moments with their parent. Which is often why they like hearing the same story over and over. They want that moment repeated as it makes them feel safe.
- Build within them a love for bonding moments with their parent that demands nothing of the child, except to snuggle and be swept up in the story. These reading-before-lights-out-moments also create a wonderful nighttime routine that prepare the child for sleep, calms them down, teaches them to love books.
6 Of Our Favourite Children’s Writers
- Dick King-Smith
A soldier, a farmer, a family man, a primary school teacher and finally, thank goodness, a best-selling children’s author. King-Smith was fifty-six, when his first book, The Fox Busters, was published. In 1983, he published, The Sheep-Pig. It was a ‘guess the weight of the pig’ stall at a summer fête that sparked the idea. Not only was this to become his most famous book, but also became the hugely successful film, Babe. Dick King-Smith wrote over one hundred books. He once said, “Writing my books is like handing out presents. Giving children pleasure gives you a wonderful sort of Father Christmassy feeling.”
The Sheep-pig
For children aged 7-9
Having trained as an opera singer, taken time out to raise her family, and then falling ill, Jill Tomlinson needed to find a new outlet for her creativity. She began a journalism course and almost immediately knew it wasn’t for her. Instead, she wanted to write for children. Her stories included delightful tales such as, The Hen Who Wouldn’t Look Up, The Penguin Who Wanted To Find Out and The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark which is so good that clinicians have recommended it for children who are afraid of the dark.
The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark
For children aged 3+
“Mr and Mrs Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform…” And so began the phenomenon that became Paddington Bear. Bond wrote 29 Paddington books. He was a prolific writer with an extra 21 books about a character called Monsieur Pamplemousse, 14 books about Olga De Polga – a guineapig with a penchant for telling tall tales, and 18 other books which included picture books, factual books, and books for adults.
Paddington
For children aged 1-3+
- Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola
Rocket Says Look Up! launched British actor and writer, Nathan Bryon, and British-Nigerian illustrator and designer, Dapo Adeola into household name status when it became the UK’s number one debut picture book of 2019. It also won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in the same year. This award-winning duo’s books delight in main characters who, in engaging and lively stories, give children a positive outlook for their futures, while at the same time talking about important issues such as science, the environment, and how to make a difference. In Rocket Says Look Up!, Rocket, a young girl obsessed with the stars, wants to see the Pheonix meteor shower with her older brother. She ends up bringing her whole community together. “You can’t visualise yourself in a role in this life, in this world, unless you see a representation of yourself in said role.” – Dapo Adeola.
Rocket Says Look Up!
For children aged 3-7
Despite being the founder and curator of Allida Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, serving on the advisory boards of We Need Diverse Books, and the Rabbit hOle Museum Project, and created kibooka.com, not to mention serving as a panelist for the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, the PEN Naylor grant, and the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, Park has won the 2002 Newberry Medal and been a NYTimes bestselling author for her children’s books.
Reading stories to our children set in different countries, or among other communities, as well as other times, is an excellent way to teach them history in a fun way, as well as teaching them about the world, and build empathy, and acceptance. Park’s picture book, The Firekeeper’s Son, is set in Korea in the early 1800s. Sang-hee, son of the village firekeeper, has to keep the fire alight or the king will send soldiers to discover why the fire is unlit. Sang-hee has to juggle responsibility with a desire to see the soldiers.
The Firekeeper’s Son
For children aged 4-7
Four of DiCamillo’s books have been made into films: Because of Winn-Dixie, Tiger Rising, The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, and Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.
Among the host of awards and honours, including many from the National Book Foundation, DiCamillo has also received the Geisel Award, and two Newbery Medal Awards. She has written picture books, early chapter books, and novels for children of all ages, as well as novels for adults. “It is the sacred duty of the writer to pay attention, to see the world…I can pay attention. I can make an effort to see. ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’ is the result of that effort. It is a book populated with stray dogs and strange musicians, lonely children and lonelier adults.” – Kate Dicamillo.
It is that ability ‘to see the world’ that makes DiCamillo’s books so wonderful.
Because Of Winn-Dixie
For children aged 8-11
Apart from instilling a love for books and storytelling into a child, books are a wonderful way to expand their horizons, inspire their imagination, and teach them great life lessons.
The Last Word
If you’d like to write for children, young adults, or adults, why not sign up for one of the rich and in-depth courses that Writers Write offers to learn how to write the best book you possibly can.
by Elaine Dodge. Author of The Harcourts of Canada series and The Device Hunter, Elaine trained as a graphic designer, then worked in design, advertising, and broadcast television. She now creates content, mostly in written form, including ghost writing business books, for clients across the globe, but would much rather be drafting her books and short stories.
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