Introduction: Why I love Kid Lit!

Hey there, reader!

My name is Adrianna Davis. I am in the creative writing program at my college. For one of my classes (Writing for Children) we are required to keep a blog and update it weekly. So that’s why I’m here.

In class, we are reading a really great book called “Writing Irresistible Kidlit” by Mary Kole. (You can get it here.) It’s a really good book so far and if you are really interested in writing for middle grade or young adults, I highly suggest it!.

In it, it talks about a book that changed writing for children. Harry Potter. That name didn’t change my life, it shaped it. I was five years old when Harry Potter came out and I grew up listening to the audio books and reading the series. That’s why I’m interested in writing for children, middle grade, and young adults. As an author that does that, you have the potential to change or to shape the life of a young person. Think back to books you loved as a child. “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” Dr. Seuss, “Where the Wild Things Are,”  “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”  Then you got older and graduated to chapter books. You went to school with Junie B. Jones. You traveled through time and space in the magic tree house. You saved the day with Captain Underpants. And then you got older still and you went to Hogwarts with Harry Potter. You went to Camp Half Blood and you went into the Hunger Games. You cried every time you read a Lurlene McDaniel book. And then finally, you grew up and you could start reading books with more adult content. And maybe you love them. But you keep re-reading or going back to those old books you once treasured. Or you had kids and they started reading the same books you used to hold so dear. The point in this whole long huge paragraph is: those books made an impact.

That’s why I want to write for children. We get to make a difference. I’m not saying you can’t change the life of an adult. It’s been said that “Fifty Shades” changed a life or two. But it’s more common with children. Why is that?

Kole talks in her book about this. To sum it up, children (18 years old and younger) read to read. They read because they like it. They devour books because they can. They have the time. Adults read whenever they get the chance. I remember my senior year of high school, I was doing a reading challenge over Christmas break. I tried to read 50 books in two and a half weeks. (I would have succeeded too, but something life changing happened. I met the man who would become my husband.) I don’t think I’ve read anywhere near 50 books in the last 4 years. Why? Because now I’m an adult. I have responsibilities. I go to school full time. (College is a whole other planet than high school.) I am married with two “bonus” (I hate the word ‘step’) babies, who are both in school. I work part time. When I’m not at school or at work, I’m at home cleaning and taking care of my kiddos. I don’t have the time to breathe, let alone read. It is absolutely true that children read a whole lot more than adults do.

I love kidlit because of the reach a kidlit author has. They can change kids.They can shape kids. They can make an impact because reading is so important to kids.

Wow, this got super long and it’s dinner time so as Tigger would say “TTFN.”

~Adrianna