I'm curious whether you find yourselves now drawn back to the childhood books that are in the same genre as you write today, i.e., #picturebooks, #middlegrade . . . ? #kidlitchat
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I loved fairy tales and as an adult I still seek out fairy tale retellings- middle grade and YA and adult. Karen Cushman, Gail Carson Levine, Jane Yolen, Donna Jo Napoli to name a few. #kidlitchat
I was more of a classic fantasy reader as a kid, but I've drifted toward more grounded, horror-ish contemporary fantasy as a writer! But my books always have magic and mysteries and strange creatures, which I loved. And they ARE middle grade, which my all-time favourites seem to be! #kidlitchat
#KidLitChat So... Verse Novels weren't really a thing at the time. Not so much for me. Unless you look at my love for American Girl books as bleeding into my love for middle grade historical fiction novel-in-verse. But I have so many kids book genres I love.
Ditto that, deprived child of the 80s that I was. But as a kid I was still really drawn to realistic fiction, lyrical language, wordplay, character-driven stories and strong voices--and that's definitely what I write.
I adore #picturebooks and will reread the ones I read as a child or just pick up a new one if I'm intrigued (like with Zen Panda.) #middlegrade--not so much. I write it, but I don't love reading it like I did when I was that age. #kidlitchat
Actually I take my previous reply back. Others in this chat reminded me of middle grade books I still love and read on occasion so yes to all! I love reading picture books, middle grade, and YA!
Am I the only one who doesn't know the names of the picture books I liked as child? There are ones that I loved and read so many times , but I would have to search my parents' attic to find the titles. Lots of little golden books
I definitely love the same genres as an adult. Pretty much everything I rite has a little bit of mystery, fantasy, and/or heart and is probably some kind of combination of those. #kidlitchat
Not really. I have different motivations when writing.
My PBs are full of dad jokes and my MG writing might as well be a script for a Don Bluth film. #KidLitChat
Definitely the Don Bluth correlations hit the kid me pretty accurately, the dad jokes however are a finely crafted, nuanced art form that develops over time like a fine cheese. #KidLitChat
I was an avid MG reader and assumed I'd write MG, but what seems to have happened is that I still read MG but keep writing PB instead. Definitely drawn back to PBs from my childhood when reading to my kids: The Curious Kitten, Noisy Nancy Norris, The Magic Schoolbus #kidlitchat
Absolutely! I always loved books and reading but I didn’t become a voracious reader until 4th/5th grade and then it was historical fiction that made me fall hard… so now I write mostly historical fiction for MG and adult. Totally makes sense! #kidlitchat
I definitely savor the picture books from my childhood and write picture books. I read a lot of middlegrade and YA too but more recent publications. But now that you say that, I was thinking mostly about picture books, but Anne of Green Gables (all 8) and American Girl books had a huge influence too
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My PBs are full of dad jokes and my MG writing might as well be a script for a Don Bluth film. #KidLitChat
I honestly can't recall what #picturebooks I had as a kid, but I definitely remember the ones that touched me and my kids
#kidlitchat