My daughter: I don’t have any new books to read. I guess I’ll start Twilight again.
Me: How many times have you read those books?
My daughter: Four.
Me: Oh, we can’t have that. Here, take my Kindle and read the book I wrote. If it’s too hard for you, or if you don’t like it, you can quit. Just tell me what page you stopped on.
The next day:
My daughter: I’m on chapter eleven and I really like it. I keep forgetting that you wrote it and then I remember and I go, “Whoa! My mom wrote this.”
The next day:
My daughter: I’m just at the part where he told her he’s going to rescue her. (laugh) I loved the one line when she counted her buttons. “One, two, three. All packed.”
Me: I laughed when she said that, too.
Two weeks later, after a long Christmas vacation that saw my poor book utterly ignored (my daughter is not a natural born book lover–she only reads on school days) :
My daughter: I finished the book, Mom. I loved it. I cried.
Me: Did you cry, cry, or just mist up?
My daughter: I was bawling. I’ve never cried over a book before.
Me: Why were you crying? Didn’t you hear me talking about the book with your aunt? Didn’t you know how it ended?
My daughter: I cried first because I was so sad, and then I cried again because I was so happy.
Sigh. I don’t care if I ever sell the book. My little girl loved it. That’s got to be better than the Newbery. I understand why agents and editors say, “Don’t tell me your mother loved the book. Mothers can’t judge. They always love their children’s books.” But in the end I don’t care nearly as much about what strangers think of my book as I care about what the people I love think. They are the ones that matter to me.
No, I didn’t ask my daughter if she liked my book better than Twilight. And, NO, I especially didn’t ask her if she thought it was better than Hunger Games. I’m not crazy.
And I don’t have to have her idolize me. I don’t need her to think I’m the best writer ever. To have made her cry for sorrow and then again for joy is more than enough for me.
Sally,
I thought this was so, so sweet! It must have made your heart soar.
I stopped by your blog because I saw you leave a couple of comments on Books and Such, and it interested me that you write children’s books. I’ve got a historical fiction novel coming out this fall, but I’m also trying my hand at a children’s chapter book. Haven’t found as much out there for writers of children’s books. So pleased to have found your blog. I see you have a list of writing helps in this genre, so I’ll check them out. Thanks so much!
Thanks for commenting, April.
Congratulations on the book coming out!
I’m not sure my writing tips will be much help, but I hope they aren’t a complete waste of time. I usually write about something I’m struggling to learn or something I’ve read that bugs me. But I don’t have much aimed at pb’s and chapter books because I’ve been gravitating toward YA in my reading and writing.
Let me know if you have any specific questions, though, because I have studied children’s book writing for a loooonnnnggg time and I may be able to steer you in the right direction to find an answer, even if I don’t know the answer myself.