Everyone can identify a picture book and a middle-grade novel but what about a chapter book? This category of children’s literature doesn’t get as much love and attention from both readers and writers as it should, making it less well-known to the masses. Chapter books are also often overlooked in writing contests… but not anymore!
Searchlight Writing for Children Awards
Searchlight Writing for Children Awards has organised an exciting new competition for chapter books. They say, “With a desire to support more children’s authors, Searchlight has organised an exciting new competition – Best Chapter Book for 5-8-year-olds. Stories for this readership are often left out of prizes or are judged against middle-grade and young-adult fiction, so we asked the writing community on social media if they would like a chapter book competition. The response was an enormous ‘Yes, please’, with people commenting that chapter books ‘often get overlooked’ and ‘are hugely undervalued’. If we want children to become lifelong readers Searchlight believes they need fantastic early reader books.”
The competition, which will be judged by Katie Blagden of The Bright Agency, opens on 16th November 2023 and closes on 1st February 2024. Entries must be unpublished. Shortlisted stories will feature in Searchlight’s Agent/Publisher Pitch Book. First prize: £350 and a one-to-one call with our agent judge.
It’s time to buckle down and write a chapter book
I urge you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity as there aren’t a lot of them out there for chapter book writers. If you know your stuff, carry on. If you don’t, let’s have a look at what chapter books are all about:
Who are chapter books for? Chapter books are for children who are learning to read on their own. This means that the age group is normally from 6-10 years old. Children’s books are divided up into the following categories:
- board books: very basic books that deal with concepts like colours or body parts for 0-2 years of age
- picture books: books with pictures that adults or older children read out loud to young children from 3-8
- easy readers: short, illustrated books with simple sentences, controlled vocabulary and no chapters for children who are beginning to read but who do so with the help of an adult
- chapter books: the first books with chapters that children read all by themselves
- middle-grade: novels for children between 8-12 from 15,000 to 70,000 words
How are chapter books different to other children’s books? They are different to picture books and easy readers in that they are longer, more complex and look and feel more “grown up” because they have chapters. The fact that children are reading a book with chapters by themselves is exciting for a young child. Chapter books are also often published as a series, although this isn’t a hard rule.
An article in Publishers Weekly, written in 2018 by Sue Corbett, outlines just how important chapter books are to bridging the gap between picture books and early readers on one side and the more sophisticated middle-grade novel on the other. In it, Corbett says, “… a good chapter book is a bit of genius. With easy-on-the-eyes design, heavy use of illustrations, and a focus on universal themes, the best of these books bridge a gap that would otherwise allow some readers to fall into a dangerous crevasse: illiteracy.”
What is the structure of a chapter book? Each chapter is made up of short paragraphs of about 2-4 sentences. The book will have between 4,000 and 12,000 words and should be between 40 and 60 pages long. Each chapter is between 400 and 1,000 words long. They may or may not be illustrated, but when they are, the pictures are normally in black and white. There should be a lot of dialogue that shows character and keeps the action moving forwards. The plot of a chapter book is very clear, action-driven and simple. Each and every sentence must be short and tight and the language must be vivid. The vocabulary in easy readers is controlled, but you have a little more leeway with chapter books. This means that you can use vocabulary that is above the reader’s level but don’t forget that, if you do so, the meaning of the word must be clear from the context and you must do so sparingly.
Are there different levels of chapter books? Yes, there are:
- Early chapter books range from 2,500 to 7/8,000 words
- Later chapter books range from 6/7,000 words to 12,000 words
Why are there so many different categories for children’s books?
Children’s book categories exist and follow some strict ‘rules’ because these elements are what work best for children at different stages of their development and have been proven time and again to do so. All writers need to remember their audience but this is even more important for writers of children’s literature as a two-year-old can’t process the same information as a five-year-old.
Some popular chapter books
I’m a huge fan of chapter books, and two of my favourites are the older publications Gone Fishing and Gone Camping by Tamera Will Wissinger. They’re verse novel chapter books written–yup–in verse. Check them out if you’re a fan of poetry for children.
Elizabeth James, author and illustrator, of the popular Pippa Potter, President’s Daughter chapter book series has written a fantastic list of 15 Educational Fiction Series Every Parent Should Know on her blog that is well worth the read. And if you want more inspiration, here’s a small list of popular chapter books you can take out at the library or buy from your local indie bookshop (but there are so many, many more):
- Eerie Elementary: The School is Alive! by Jack Chabert
- Yours sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa
- Sofia Martinez: My Family Adventure by Jacqueline Jules
- Dog Man by Dave Pikey
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
- The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
- The Last Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
- My Pet Slime by Courtney Sheinmel
If you’d like more writing opportunities like this one, join us in The Kidlitter Letter where I share an actionable publishing event every ten days. Bonus: we’re a super warm and supportive community!
