CUTV News Radio spotlights children’s author Natalie Wade

Paris, TN – There is a perception that writing children’s books is easy because the words and stories are simple. The truth is writing a book for children is actually more difficult than writing a novel. A children's author must take into consideration the development of the child they are writing for. 

“Kids are tough customers,” says children’s author Natalie Wade. “They like what they like. And if they don't like it, they don't like it.”

Natalie Wade is the acclaimed author of the popular series of Lily books: Lily's Feather Kite (2013); Lily's Flower Igloo (2014); Lily's Three-Layer Mud Cake (2015) and Lily's Castle Float (2016). She has also written The Adventures of Polliwog Pond: The Tale of a Late-Bloomer (2016) and her forthcoming book The Tale of the Great Pout (2017). The Trials of Otto (2014) is a standalone book about bullying.

“A big reason I wrote the books is because of my work as a preschool teacher,” says Wade. "I get my ideas from the kids. I'll be going through the day and something will happen. I’ll think, 'Oh, that will make a good story.'"

To write an effective children’s book for this age group, Wade says you have to have a concept you know will relate to children. You also have to be very concise; a children's book, must have a beginning, middle and end and you have to get it all within 500 to 1000 words.

“It needs to have an engaging story,” says Wade. “If you can do that, they will learn the lessons without even realizing they’ve learned something.”

Natalie Wade’s books are available on Amazon.