Comments on: What makes a good children’s book?

By: Fiona

Fiona — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:36:59 +0000

Thanks David. Now we can look out for it.

By: David Walters

David Walters — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:31:43 +0000

Sally was talking about “The Book of Funtastic Adventures”

By: Fiona

Fiona — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:35:13 +0000

What is the book called Sally? I don’t mind you ‘namedropping’ sites if you’ve got something to add to the discussion.

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:56:40 +0000

I agree! Thanks for the sharing! There’s a great one my kids love that I found at wwww.funtasypublications.com about all sorts of adventures. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to read Enid Blyton books.

By: Fiona Veitch Smith

Fiona Veitch Smith — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:42:53 +0000

Hi Stephen,

I read and critique children’s books and stories to make my living – as well as writing and editing them. If you would like my professional opinion please visit my services page http://www.thecraftywriter.com/services/#critiquing

Good luck with the books and thanks for visiting,

Fiona

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:00:32 +0000

Fiona,
Your commentary on what makes a good children’s book, particularly a Christian children’s book, is of great interest to me. I have recently written and illustrated 2 such books. I wrote these stories because there is such a lack of uplifting and encouraging entertainment in our country.

I was wondering if you would visit my web site http://www.postikit.com and give me your opinion of my stories.

The first is called “Mrs. Postikit and the Waffle Emergencies” and can be read here
http://www.postikit.com/waffle/waffle.html

The other is called “Mr. Postikit and the Mouse in the Wall” and can be read here:

http://www.postikit.com/mouse/mouse.html

Thanks.
Stephen

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:00:03 +0000

I know what you mean about illustrations being wonderful, but not being able to carry a picture book. The text matters, a lot. Our family has a wide range of books, and it’s interesting how a few stand out from the others. Of course we have character books, some are very painful to read. We also have some that are wonderful and enjoyable for both me and the kids! (And I’ve started raving about them in our blog.)

By: Talking Animal Stories - Wind in the Willows MK II? at The Crafty Writer

Talking Animal Stories - Wind in the Willows MK II? at The Crafty Writer — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:27:24 +0000

[...] What makes a good children’s book? [...]

By: Fiona Veitch Smith

Fiona Veitch Smith — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:29:10 +0000

Hi Duncan. Couldn’t agree with you more about the ’substitute religion’ thing. Alistair McGrath deals with that very well in his book the Dawkins Delusion http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dawkins-Delusion-Atheist-Fundamentalism-Denial/dp/0281059276
It’s great to hear an atheist like yourself acknowledging it.

Back to Pullman though, he really is a master story teller and craftsman – what that man does with a semi-colon makes me quiver! Have you read any of his other books? I can recommend The Ruby and the Smoke and the Butterfly Tatoo.

Thanks for visiting. Hope to hear from you again.

Fiona

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:16:51 +0000

hmm, an impressive list indeed. I know what you mean about the His Dark Materials trilogy, it does get a bit preachy, and I completely agree with your comment that if it was a Christian book it would be condemned for being too proselytising…it’s annoying on two counts – one because it falls in to that Dawkins/Hitchens trap of being so aggressively negative about religion per se that you get the feeling that their atheism is a substitute religion, the passion they put into it (should clarify that I am an atheist too, by the way). Secondly because it gets in the way of a really good book – I thought that Northern Lights was excellent, a completely spellbinding adventure, and though I liked the other two, by book three I did think it had kind of got carried away with it’s own point of view and the drama suffered…