Chapter books bridge the gap between beginning readers and middle grade. They are for children who are becoming fluent readers, but who aren’t ready for longer novels. Children this age want to read about characters who are like themselves, or who are in situations like theirs.
Writer Jennifer Jensen says, “The most successful chapter books let kids laugh, cheer or cry over characters doing things they can imagine. You can develop characters that stretch readers’ imaginations, but if they’re really off-beat, try leaving them in a familiar setting. But, if you have family relationships that your young readers can relate to, go ahead and set your story in outer space or some other exotic place.”
Here are guidelines to writing for this age group.
CHAPTER BOOKS are:
- Fast paced
- Interesting and lively writing
- Simple, clear plots
- Use lots of dialogue to show characterization
- Shorter sentences – leave out unnecessary words
- Short paragraphs
- Shorter chapters than middle grade novels
- Larger text
- Heavily illustrated
- Lengths range from 4,000 to 12,000 words. chapters run 400-1,000 words.
- Vocabulary is straightforward and the sentences are relatively short, but you can use words that are not from a grade-level spelling list.
- Vivid use of language is still important. Children will be able to sound out words they don’t recognize.
- Readers are typically 7-9 years old, but that can vary. A child who has grown up with books may be reading chapter books alone in first grade; there will also be children in third and fourth grade who are just moving up to chapter books.
- Leave the anthropomorphic stories (animals acting like people) for younger children.
- Writer Jennifer Jensen says, “Humor rules! Include adventures, mysteries, squabbles between family and friends.” Write about clever children who outwit blundering villains, or about clumsy dragons or smelly dogs and such, and make them laugh.
- Fantasy and science fiction at the lower levels must be very simple in structure. Younger readers have good imaginations, they can imagine a talking dog that they meet on the school grounds, but they don’t grab concepts of different worlds, alien societies and mythical creatures.
- Protagonists are usually “good.” They might be mischievous, and they make mistakes, but they shouldn’t be amoral. Grey areas are difficult for less sophisticated readers. If a protagonist does something wrong, like stealing, the reason for the theft should be clear. Seven-year-old readers will accept a child hero stealing food when he is hungry, but not one who steals to get someone else he envies in trouble. They might do something wrong themselves, but would mostly see it in fiction as your character being a villain.
- Again Jennifer Jensen says, “Events can be dramatic, but they should not be nightmarish.”
- Usually told through the viewpoint of a single character/or about the adventures of a single character who is generally around the same age as the reader, not younger. This is a basic rule that your characters’ ages should be older then themselves.
If you want to write chapter books, then go to the book store and read lots of them. Try to shoot for 100 chapter books. Make sure you start with the award winning books. Note, what you like and dislike with each book. Many chapter books, end up becoming a series, using the same characters, but not all publishers publish chapter books, so also check to see who published the books you like.
Here are some chapter books that Jennifer Jensen says you might want to read in your quest to reach 100 books.
- Junie B. Jones, by Barbara Park
- Ruby Lu, by Lenore Look
- Judy Moody, by Megan McDonald
- Mallory and Max, by Laurie B. Friedman
- Flower Fairies Friends, by Cicely Mary Barker
- The Magic Treehouse, by Mary Pope Osborne
- Fish Face (The Kids of the Polk Street School) by Patricia Reilly Giff and Blanche Sims
Jennifer Jensen has nearly 250 non-fiction articles in print publications, primarily in Indianapolis Monthly and the Indianapolis Star, plus more than 200 online articles. She has received two Indiana Arts Commission grants for her fiction, and has a few adult short stories and a dozen children’s short stories published, some internationally. She has an article you can read on this subject: http://suite101.com/article/chapter-book-basics-a17311
If you have suggestions for other chapter books, please let us know.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Kathy, useful, concise, insightful, accurate and easy-to-understand info—as always! Thank you 🙂
Donna
LikeLike
By: :Donna Marie on September 30, 2010
at 12:34 am
Thanks Kathy, you and Jennifer has common advise.
See http://jenniferjensen.suite101.com/chapter-book-basics-a17311
LikeLike
By: Zac on March 21, 2012
at 8:58 pm
Thanx I’m makeing a book called zasha (wolf book.) And I’m on page1and a halk
LikeLike
By: hailey on April 10, 2012
at 9:34 pm
Hailey,
Good luck. Just keep writing.
Kathy
LikeLike
By: Kathy Temean on July 23, 2014
at 12:13 pm
Just what I was looking for!
Thanks a bunch!
LikeLike
By: kokomachino on October 9, 2012
at 3:26 am
Natalie,
Your welcome! Hope you stop back.
Kathy
LikeLike
By: Kathy Temean on July 23, 2014
at 12:11 pm
Im writing chapter book called white pearl it has a large amount of drama action and soical classes. It is about these student one of students starts a revolution towards the government
LikeLike
By: asia latham on December 31, 2013
at 7:13 pm
Asia,
Good luck with your story.
Kathy
LikeLike
By: Kathy Temean on July 23, 2014
at 12:10 pm
I’m a retired newspaper/magazine writer and photographer who has also spent many summers entertaining children with a magic/puppet/storytelling show on the West Coast county fair circuit. Years ago some of my kid’s stories were published in My Weekly Reader and other magazines. When I started writing my chapter book, The Maccabee Kids, 10 years ago, I didn’t really know what age I was writing for. I just had a story to tell and started crafting the words. They just poured out. Now I volunteer at a local community center’s after-school program, and realize that the youngsters who gravitate toward my type of story are generally 7-9 years old – the age group you mention in this article. As I read your words, I visualized my group of Portland, Oregon, readers, getting excited over my adventure story. So, now I’m engaged in a steep learning curve to self publish the book. Thanks for clarifying the age question. Hopefully, you will soon see a blog, Facebook page and possibly a website devoted to my book. Keep your bits of information coming. This 71-year-old Maccabee Kid is hungry for more.
LikeLike
By: Neil Heilpern on July 23, 2014
at 4:39 am
Neil,
This is exciting. There is a lot to learn. You may want to read some of the archives for more information.
Good luck,
Kathy
LikeLike
By: Kathy Temean on July 23, 2014
at 12:09 pm
thanks Kathy. I just created both a Facebook Page and a Website for The Maccabee Kids. Hope you can find both.
Neil
LikeLike
By: Neil Heilpern on July 29, 2014
at 9:50 pm
Very insightful. I’ve finished my first chapter book and will say it’s the most difficult book I’ve tackled. Well worth it though, and now in the illustration stages. This piece of it seems just as important as the writing component here.
– Caroline
LikeLike
By: Caroline Robinson on January 27, 2015
at 3:13 pm
Thanks for this amazing article!!
LikeLike
By: lydialukidis on January 6, 2016
at 8:28 pm
Great Info here Kathy, thanks!!!
LikeLike
By: Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting & Writing on March 9, 2016
at 8:44 pm
Very interesting, thanks for this. Am struggling with the differences between early readers and chapter books.
LikeLike
By: Chez Shea on January 20, 2017
at 1:12 pm
Hi there, Chez Shea I too am struggling to find out the difference between early readers and chapter. No one seems to have a definitive answer. I wish I knew.
LikeLike
By: Joansloane@Fluffmonkey10 on March 22, 2021
at 7:00 pm
[…] blog about writing and illustrating for children, which was hugely helpful. I zeroed in on how to create compelling chapter books and focused on how to build plot […]
LikeLike
By: Self-editing, Round 1 – Ginny Kaczmarek on May 27, 2017
at 3:49 pm
Books take us to places we can only dream about, we find new friends in characters that we grow to love. Introducing children to chapter books at an early age can nurture a love of reading and help children on the road to becoming avid readers. Take advantage of the precious time you have with your children, enjoy good books, start great discussions and let their imaginations soar.
Thanks for the suggestions. I write for this genre so I’m always on the lookout for recommended early chapter books.
Happy Reading my friends 😉
http://www.libraryromp.com/
LikeLike
By: Coraline Grace (@LibraryRomp) on June 8, 2017
at 2:59 pm
Thank you for the information. We are trying to help a young woman in Cambodia. It is her desire to write informational books for children in teaching nutrition.
LikeLike
By: Carol Reinsma on May 31, 2018
at 12:37 pm
Your style is very unique in comparison to other folks I have read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this page.|
LikeLike
By: Joe Eliason on July 19, 2019
at 4:12 pm
Would you say first person or third person POV for most chapter books?
LikeLike
By: sloanejacobs on January 23, 2021
at 1:06 am