Kids Book Help?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m writing and illustrating a book for my daughter for her 3rd birthday in late May. I’ll probably publish via blurb.com or something similar.

I think that a good children’s book is entertaining for both the child and the adult (that might be reading it to them). I also think that the book should not “talk down” to the child. In my experience, kids are smart.

So, I hope my book satisfies both of those requirements: it is enjoyable for children and adults, and is clever.

The book stars my daughters 3 favorite stuffed animals: Stella (a bunny), Kitty, and Monkey. At a high level, the plot is: Stella, Kitty, and Monkey are bored. Stella has an idea - something they can do - but it is a surprise and they must go and get it. So, they all go on an adventure/journey to get the surprise. Along the way they encounter may locations, characters, and situations. Many of these encounters have a problem or an obstacle that must be overcome. In the end, the surprise is the very book that they are in.

I tried to think of ways that each of the problems and obstacles they encounter might be solved using “silly” or “kid” logic.

But, after thinking up a lot of these solutions, I wondered if they were “too smart” for a 3-5 year old?

So, I’d like your advice. Below are many of the problems and solutions. Are they appropriate for a 3-5 year old? Would a 3-5 year old child understand (or at least enjoy) them? Would a parent?

Along the journey, Stella and friends encounter…

[ul]
[li]a character that is “too hot”. Stella tells the character to “stand in their own shadow” for cool shade.[/li][li]a character that is wearing a jacket but is still “too cold”. Stella recommends that the character remove the jacket. Then the character is even colder! Stella then tells the character to put the jacket back on. Now they are warmer than before! [/li][li]a character that is lost. Stella draws an X on the ground. She then draws on X on a piece of paper with the words, “you are here”. The character is no longer lost![/li][li] -OR…the character does not know what’s ahead, but they do know what’s behind. So, Stella recommends that they turn around and walk backwards so they know where they’re going.[/li][li] -OR…the character knows where the start is, but not the end. So, Stella switches the start and end since the character knows how to get to the start.[/li][li] -OR…Stella points out that the character is not “over there”, so they must be “right here” and are no longer lost.[/li][li]a character that is lonely. They give him a mirror so they have some “company”.[/li][li] -OR…Stella tells the character to talk to themselves.[/li][li]a character that is scared of the dark. They recommend that he close his eyes so he can’t see the dark and is no longer scared.[/li][li] -OR…Stella has an idea which causes a light bulb to appear above her head. She then uses the bulb to illuminate the dark.[/li][li]a character that is tired, but doesn’t want to sleep because of (reason I haven’t figured out yet). Stella recommends that the character close one eye and half-sleep.[/li][li]a character with an empty plate that is hungry. Stella reasons that if your plate is full, you haven’t eaten yet and are hungry. But, if your plate is empty, you’ve already eaten, and aren’t hungry. The character agrees and is no longer hungry.[/li][li]a character that is thirsty. Stella tries to think of an idea, making a “thought cloud”. The cloud makes rain, which the character drinks.[/li][li] -OR…being thirsty makes that character sad and they cry. They collect the tears and drink them.[/li][li]a character that is sad. Stella simply “turns their frown upside-down” and the character is now happy.[/li][li]a character that is sick. Stella studies, goes to school, graduates, sets up a family practice, and then gives medicine to the character.[/li][li] -OR…Stella and friends tickle the character since “laughter is the best medicine”.[/li][li]a river they must cross. They wait until winter when it freezes so they can walk across.[/li][li]a mountain they must cross. It is too big up close. But far away it looks small, and can me stepped over easily.[/li][li]a canyon they must cross. None of them can jump all the way across, but each can jump part way. So, Stella jumps the first part, Kitty the middle part, and Monkey the last part, and they cross successfully.[/li][li]a large desert (or other expanse of land) they must cross. They won’t be to the other side until “3 o’clock”. So, they set their clocks ahead to 3 and are on the other side.[/li][li] -OR…they turn the clock upside down to read the appropriate time.[/li][/ul]
One other key note: the book is a “choose your own adventure”. That is, at various points in the story, the child can choose which path to follow (ex: go to the canyon, river, or mountain), resulting in a different story each time.

What are your thoughts about the problems and solutions? Also, what other “obstacles” or “problems” might make sense to a young child?

Thanks…!

2

I like the idea of a character being sad and turning their frown upside down. Perhaps it could be a Mr. Potato Head, especially if your child has one.

3

Most of the concepts required to get the jokes would be beyond the average three-year-old. I think a bright five-year-old who had plenty of experience with books and cartoons could appreciate many of them, especially if the book was read interactively with a parent or older child.

4

You really need a developmental psych or an early childhood ed person in this thread.

I know bits and pieces because that’s my preferred age-group when I do programming at the library, but I can start by agreeing with what **cher3 **said - most of that is going to go right over the head of a little kid. It isn’t a question of how SMART they are, it’s a question of their life experiences so far.

What I can tell you is that if you’re planning to include ALL of those situations in one book, the book is way way way way way too long for even a 5 year old to sit through.

Also, the idea of a “choose your own adventure” plotline will go over like a lead balloon with this age-group. They desire and NEED things that are repetitive and consistent for their brains to develop correctly. If the adult reads them a book where it changes each time they read it, that’s not going to be enjoyable for the child, that’s going to be frustrating for them because they are expecting it to be the same, and then it isn’t.
For a 3-4 year old, you need a very simple plotline and a very simple journey. You’re talking 5 minutes of book time MAX, and that’s with the kid and the adult taking time to talk about the pictures and digress on the storyline and meander and wiggle a bit.

Look at some books aimed at young kids to get an idea of how short and simple they are.

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills
I Miss You Mouse by Greg Foley (really any of his)
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems
Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly
Red Rubber Boot Day, by Mary Lyn Ray

All of these I use regularly in my preschool storytime, and they keep the kids’ attention while still being enjoyable for the adults.

If you really want to use all of your ideas, then if you’re self-publishing, why not take one idea and expand it out into a kid-friendly 16 page book about that one idea and why it might work (or not work).

Then do the next on the list, then the next, introducing the concepts through repetition and straightforward storylines.

5

Thank you all for the feedback! Unfortunately, it is confirming my suspicions: the book may be too advanced for a 3-year old.

However…as I read, digested, and questioned the replies, I realized that I’d made a mistake: I asked (and you all answered) “Is this book appropriate for a 3 year old?” In fact, what I was really interested in was, “Is this book appropriate for my specific 3 year old?”, which is impossible for any of you to answer.

As I read some of the replies, I found myself disagreeing. Then I realized that I was disagreeing because of my skewed view and tiny data set: my daughter.

Anyway, I thought I’d still provide my thoughts on your feedback, in case anyone has any more insight…

Thanks! She does have a Mr. Potato Head, and I like the idea. However, I was purposely shying away from using any trademarked, recognizable characters in the story. Not sure why. Maybe I’ll revisit that idea.

Based on the feedback, I may hold this book idea until my daughter gets older. My backup book idea was one that could explain the scientific method simply to a 3-year old.

I agree, that would be a huge help.

Good point. Certainly some of the scenarios depend on the fact that the child already knows about the concept at play (like using perspective to cross a mountain). But, I wonder… a) couldn’t the book itself (with an adults help) be the method by which the child learns about the concept?, and b) even if the child doesn’t understand or learn the concept, might they still enjoy and be engaged by the imagery and story?

This is one of those cases where the feedback was valid for “the average 3 year old” but maybe not for “my 3 year old”… When forming the idea for the book, I’d often test it on my daughter. Each day during car rides I would tell her the “same” story. Except, at certain points I would give her options to choose from. “Stella and her friends see… What do they see? A mountain, a river, or a canyon?” The first few times I told the story, she made the same choices. But, after a few iterations, she began to vary the story. Little by little, she began to make different choices. Eventually, each time I told the “same” story, she would consciously pick different paths. This is why I thought that the “choose your own adventure” concept might work.

Let’s say that I came up with 15 total, unique situations. Let’s say that each situation could be told in 2 pages. There would be (at least) 30 physical pages in the book. But, if I put the 15 situations into groups of 3, then there are only 5 “situation groups” (or “decision points”). So, although the book may have 30+ pages, each “story” might only have 10-12, which I think is a reasonable length.

I checked out all of the book in your list. I’ve no doubt that my daughter would enjoy each of them (and will probably go buy a few of them – thanks!). She already has quite a collection of books. My wife and I have read to hear nearly every day since she was 3-4 months old. Now, she often sits alone and “reads” books aloud. Although she cannot “read”, she knows the plotlines of each book and paraphrases the dialog and story on each page pretty well. Here are a few of the books that she enjoys:

Curious George at the Fire Station – H. A. Rey
My Mommy Hung the Moon – Jamie Lee Curtis
Lena’s Sleep Sheep – Anita Lobel
Arthur’s New Baby Book – Marc Brown
Little Blue Truck – Schertle and McElmurry
Pinkalicious: Pink or Treat – Kictoria Kahn

So, based on books she already enjoys, I suspect that the level and complexity of my proposed book might (might! – hence this thread) be appropriate, for her. Or maybe not…

Anyway, thanks again to those that responded! I’m not quite sure what answers I was looking for. Alas, I’m still not sure what to do about this book…