SCIENCE WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

by Evelyn B. Kelly

When scientist Leroy Hood’s children were young, they were tucked in bed each night along with elaborate, thought-provoking stories Hood created featuring a character named Harry Golden. Harry found himself in scientific predicaments, such as being on a planet where everything was ice. Hood’s son and daughter had to use the scientific method to solve Harry’s problems. Hood’s dream upon retiring from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, is to write children’s books based on the Harry Golden model that will engage kids in inquiry-based thinking.

Like Hood, many scientists and science writers are challenged to fan the fires of scientific thinking for children and young adults. The idea appeals to our proclivity for generativity-giving something to the next generation. At a luncheon table on Children’s Writing at the 2004 NASW conference in Seattle, enthusiastic writers asked how they might get started in this interesting field. Many of their questions are answered in Children’s Writer: Newsletter of Writing and Publishing Trends, a publication designed for those who have thought, “Some day I would like to write for children.”

What does writing for children mean?

Like many fields of writing, the children’s market is diverse. There are general categories that may overlap, but most can be separated as follows:

• Ages 0-3. Books and magazines for this group are harder to write than a treatise on the taxonomy of dinoflagellates. Magazines and picture books have one-line or simple texts. These board books, so called because they are printed on sturdy cardboard, introduce children to the look, taste, feel, smell, and the sound of books, and these books can literally be chewed. Books like Denise Fleming’s Barnyard Banter look easy to write, but every word must count.
• Ages 4-7. Preschool and primary grades love animals, simple “experiments,” and interesting stories. But stay away from talking animals and stories in which animals have anthropomorphic thoughts and/or characteristics. At present, this is a no-no in the children’s market. I think this is too bad because many of our great classics like Henny Penny and Aesop’s Fables have memorable talking animals. But in this age of realism, the stories must be real with a neat twist. An example is Melissa Stewart’s Maggots, Grubs, and More: Secret Lives of Young Insects. Stewart looks at what insects were like when they were little kids.
• Ages 8-11. Children in this age group are concrete thinkers and like writing with a sense of wonder and fascinating facts. Many science books target this market, but writing must still be simple, clear, concise, and interesting. For example, the magazine Odyssey targets middle-grade students with ideas related to math, science, and technology. Each issue focuses on a single theme. In a recent issue on smell, two articles were “Bean Me Up, Smell-ie!,” on the chemistry of smell, and “A Big Fat Italian Dinner,” on the ways taste and smell are related. Brief items included smell of air bags, sock odor, and the smell of war.

When writing for children, it’s important to know what subjects are being taught in school at a specific grade level. Science textbooks are famous for being blah and boring. Teachers supplement science especially with books, but they must match the standards. These standards vary state by state, so if you are interested in this market, find out what the grade level expectations are for science. In my state (Florida) fifth-grade students (10-year-olds) are tested in science. The difficult test demands more than factual knowledge, but features scientific thinking and problem solving. Biographies of scientists are important in this age group.

• Ages 12-18 (young adult market). Parents of this age group may be surprised at the designation of young adult for this market. However, these students are beginning to think abstractly, just like adults. Writing for the young adult market also has many things in common with writing for adults-primarily, good writing; however, this market demands things that are “neat” and have a sense of humor and fun.

What are the kinds of children’s writing?

Magazines. The 2004 Children’s Market Magazine (Institute of Children’s Literature, West Redding, CT) lists 655 magazine markets for children with 101 publications that want science. Many of these magazines are unknown to most of us. For example, I went to two national chain bookstores in my city and found only five magazines for children. The public library had a few more, but many children’s magazines are out there-somewhere. Once you find the name of a magazine, use Google to find writers’ guidelines and sample articles to study for style.

Books. Books run the gamut from picture books to trade books for children. Children like writing that has both facts and fun. Author Seymour Simon has written more than 200 books on science topics, including Animals Nobody Loves. He combines fiction and science in his mystery series Einstein Anderson, Science Detective. Trade books are for interest and information although they may tie into science curriculum. For example, Harper Collins Read and Find Out series covers everything from astronomy to zoology.

Older students like books that jazz up the subjects. Vicki Cobb’s titles excite the imagination. Her latest is Bangs and Twangs: Fun With Sound. She also has Experiments You Can Eat.

Reference books. These books target children, but must present information in a lively style. Almost every state has demanded writing as part of their testing. Children are writing papers and are sent to books that are timely and interesting. These are not the old encyclopedias. An example is Albert Stwertka’s A Guide to the Elements. Many book publishers ask for resumŽs that include the author’s background and interests. For example, Oxford University Press publishes for middle grades and young adults and works only with authors who have scholarly credentials. Like many presses, Millbrook Press focuses on biographies for middle grades; the stories of unsung heroes of science need to be heralded to children, along with those of Michael Jordan and sports greats.

Specialty markets. There are other markets, such as writing for children’s museums, educational textbooks, e-books, CDs, videos, etc.

How do I get started?

Read, read, read. Look in bookstores and children’s sections of the library. The Internet is a great source for marketing and research without investing an arm and leg. Plug “children’s writing” into any search engine and several helpful articles will appear. Many Web sites have current issues for your study.

Study the market. Many books are out there on writing for children. In addition to Children’s Writer, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Bulletin is excellent. This group also has a fine conference-this year in Los Angeles (August 6-9).

Write, write, write. Keep your antennae up for ideas with primary sources. Andy Boyles, NASW member and science editor for Highlights for Children, wants 800-word articles that use interview and primary sources. Forget the encyclopedia ring. First-account reports from experts may come from journals, reports, recordings, archives, etc. Who better than a science writer or PIO to interpret difficult science material for the public and create concrete picture or metaphors to get the point across.

Enter contests. These are non-threatening ways to get a manuscript ready. For a list on contests, go to www.writers-editors.com, site of the Freelance Writers Association.

There are ups and downs to writing for children. The down side is that it is difficult to do and the pay is abysmal. Sheila Foard, children’s writer and teacher of writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature, says, “It’s not easy to write for the very young and please science editors, too. The magazines like personal-experience science pieces as well as expert interview science pieces. Science writers who can write for kids are always in demand.”

But the up side is the feeling of sharing your talent in a new way with an interesting twist. The motivation of generativity is powerful. Fred Bortz earned a Ph.D. in physics from Carnegie Mellon University at the age of 26. He then discovered his talent and ability for writing. Writing for his two children led him to become one of the leading writers of science and technology for young people. Writing for children and young adults is certainly challenging, but in so doing we can be satisfied that we are giving of our gift-that we are fanning the fires of science.

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Evelyn Kelly is a freelance writer and professor at Saint Leo University, in Florida. Her latest book is The Skeletal System (Greenwood Press), part of the Human Body series for young adults.