What's a good kid's story? Good question - especially when we're looking for birthday gifts or Christmas presents for kids who like to read or who enjoy kids audio books.
There are three things people might want to know.
First, what are the names of some good kids books, so a book can be bought as a birthday gift, Christmas present, and so on, one that is likely to please? This is at the forefront for most people, when they ask the question.
Second, how to pick the right book.
Finally, what makes something a good kid's story? What are some of the ingredients?
I'll start with: what are some good kid's stories, sure to please?
The answer: talk to the kid, maybe talk to the parents. Ask. Find out what the kid likes - and give something along the same lines.
I could give 50 titles of kid stories, but each is likely to please some kids and make others shudder. Plus, if the person is a reader, you have to find out: have they read it?
So, no names of specific books.
Instead, does he or she love fantasy books, historical fiction? Are they engrossed in a series?
And now for the more general question, what are some of the ingredients of great kid stories?
First, there's whoever is at the center. Harry in Harry Potter. Alice in Alice in Wonderland. The horse in Black Beauty. The dog in Call of the Wild. To start with, a good kid's story has someone to root for and, often, identify with. Someone we care about. Someone we can imagine is us, or a best friend.
There's nothing boring about a good kid's story. If it's Little House in the Big Woods or The Wizard of Oz or The Narnia Tales, adventures are always happening in a good kid's story. They don't have to be big adventures. But it's something that matters. Will Clara learn to walk again? Will Dot and Bill become friends? Will the evil wizard destroy the world?
Many of the books are also friendship stories - like with Harry Potter and his friends, each different.
Often there's a mystery to be solved.
And often there's something mysterious. Ogres. Space aliens. The wardrobe that opens into Narnia.
Are ghosts real? Do strange creatures live deep in the forest and come alive only at night?
So many feelings get stirred. Anne of Green Gables - the outsider who starts off without a true family and without a friend. Harry Potter - the outcast who starts out in the closet under the stairs. We feel along with them - their pain, their shyness, their hurt, their anger, their hope and longing, their love.
The characters often live through hard stuff that many kids are going through. Bullying. Friends being mean. Parents fighting and getting divorced.
Sometimes there are magic abilities - as well as magic creatures. The magic abilities - often they're unexpected. The magic creatures - often grownups seem utterly unaware.
If it's kid's stories in print, or audio books for children, the ingredients are the same. Especially, characters who bring us into worlds where big stuff happens - even if it's little stuff to people on the outside.
For some children, there's also something else. Questions. Some books deal with the questions the kids are asking themselves. What is real? Are there ghosts? Is there any god? Is there magic? What do you do when someone you know is doing something you know is wrong?
What makes a great kid's story? Often it's something many grownups also enjoy - just think of Alice in Wonderland and the Harry Potter Books.
The world is often a bit simpler than in adult books - but all the emotions are there, often with even more urgency. There's also every plot - from the quest story (destroy the evil) to the love quest (find true love), even to the inner quest.
But how to get the best birthday gifts or Christmas presents for kids reading books? For that, we're back to, talk with the kid, maybe have the kind of conversation that brings you closer, about their favorite books and maybe also about yours.
Elsa Schieder, writer, blogger and poet, has recently written a kids story about a ghost dog Visit her full site that includes poetry, father and daughter stories and more at Elsas-Word-Story-Image-Idea-Music-Emporium.com/
