Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth. They accept, almost without question, anything you present them with, as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly, and clearly. I handed them, against the advice of experts, a mouse-boy, and they accepted it without a quiver. In Charlotte’s Web, I gave them a literate spider, and they took that.
E.B. White (author of – among other things – Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little and The Elements of Style, the bible of good writing for many Americans)
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© Bridget Whelan
If you want to use any of this material contact me and there is a very good chance I will say YES.
However, if you just cut and paste into your own blog or whatever and pass it off as your own then there's a very good chance I will find out. Don't fall into the trap of thinking the internet is so vast and expanding so fast (note the fancy internal rhyme)] that no one will know.
This is very true. Shared on Facebook @SirChocolateBooks
Thanks for sharing. The advice that you should write up for children struck a chord with me. I’d add to his list of characteristics that children also have an innate sense of justice. Don’t cheat them…
E.B. White is spot on. May I also add, never read down to children, always read up. And that is why I read Charlotte’s Web to my preschool class. It has been the favorite for years and years.
Absolutely!
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