Gives lists of words introduced at each of seven reading levels, plus a thesaurus, advice, tips, and samples for writers of children's books.

In this revised and expanded 2nd edition, Children's Writer's Word Book helps you immediately determine if you're using the right vocabulary and language for your audience. With its intuitive organization, you'll easily find appropriate words for children of various ages, and discover substitute words that might work even better. This comprehensive resource keeps you in touch with reading levels for today's kids, and saves you valuable research time by putting all the information you need in one volume. You'll find: • Lists of specific words that are introduced at seven key reading levels (kindergarten through sixth grade) • A thesaurus of those words with synonyms, annotated with reading levels • Detailed guidelines for sentence length, word usage, and themes at each reading level • A thorough explanation of guidelines for national standards on reading This new edition also addresses important timely topics of the day, such as disability issues and sensitivity to race, religion, and culture. Other new additions relate to divorce, the concept of death, space exploration, the internet, fantasy and science fiction, ethnic and cultural pride, and much more. With Children's Writer's Word Book, 2nd edition, you can rest assured you'll be able to address your young audience with a vocabulary and style they'll understand and enjoy—and improve your chances with children's publishers.

If you dream of writing and illustrating a children's book - and getting it published - you're not alone. You want to know what it is that successfully published illustrators do that gets them the top authors and books. This book will help you see what the difference is. It displays, in full color, the very best in contemporary American children's book illustration as selected by the Society of Illustrators for The Original Art Exhibition 1992. More than 500 of the best children's book illustrators and publishers submit newly published children's books to a jury of respected experts such as Alan Cober, Charles Santore, Ted Lewin and Joanna Long.

This master class in writing children’s and young adult novels will teach you everything you need to know to write and publish a great book. The best children’s and young adult novels take readers on wonderful outward adventures and stirring inward journeys. In The Magic Words, editor Cheryl B. Klein guides writers on an enjoyable and practical-minded voyage of their own, from developing a saleable premise for a novel to finding a dream agent. She delves deep into the major elements of fiction—intention, character, plot, and voice—while addressing important topics like diversity, world-building, and the differences between middle-grade and YA novels. In addition, the book’s exercises, questions, and straightforward rules of thumb help writers apply these insights to their own creative works. With its generous tone and useful tools for story analysis and revision, The Magic Words is an essential handbook for writers of children’s and young adult fiction.

An Alternate Selection of the Literary Guild Here is everything the aspiring children's author needs to know about the five essential steps to publication: researching the current marketplace, developing story ideas, strengthening writing skills and improving work habits, submitting proposals and manuscripts to agents and publishers, and becoming part of the writing community. What's more, this revised and expanded edition contains updated reading lists and organizational references, as well as the latest information on word processing and illustrating with computers. There's also a new chapter on writing plays for children, and innovative suggestions for handling difficult contemporary issues such as AIDS. From character sketches to bound books, author/editor Barbara Seuling shows how to get involved and work toward success in today's world of children's literature.

A day at preschool has leaping frogs, dancing ponies, flapping wings, eating like tigers, and all the things that children can dream.

Discusses what editors expect from children's book authors and offers advice on writing and submitting a manuscript, marketing and publicizing one's own work, and dealing with agents, contracts, and writers' rights.