After meeting Mr. Singer I went on to write - so far - about 18 children??sbooks. I have published with major，mainstream，huge publishing houses as well aswith small，intimate presses. I have worked with and without agents，with new andwith most major editors，with first-time illustrators and with highly acclaimed,established ones. When I think of reviews and awards I??ve received and of the reasonswhy I write for children I think，first，of one review in particular . It didn??t appear ina U. S. journal and it wasn??t for a book that did particularly financially well or onethat even became well known - though perhaps it is in Canada，where it waspublished.
The review appeared in the respected Canadian journal，Quill and Quire，and itpraised one of my books for“ saving childhood for children rather than sendingchildren out to save the world. ” I??m proud of that. It reminds me of my ownfundamental purpose in writing for children. Childhood wasn??t a sweet or sentimentaltime for me. But it was a time and remains a time in which the imagination flourishedand the power of dream and wish are strong. I think that??s territory worth saving.So，find your purpose and let it inform your work. If it is to entertain，fine. If itis to empower，fine. If it is to have fun with words，bravo. If it is to pass on deeplessons，great. If it is to share a faith in childhood itself，in people，in animals，innature - terrific! This sense of purpose，this sense of your own delight - for it??s notgrim purpose，I hope - will extend into your writing，into the book，so that it lives.It makes your story the one that no one else but you could possibly write. As youclarify your purpose make sure you also take the time to make every page，everysentence ，every word count. ( And remember this is especially so in a children??s bookwhere you have only a relatively few words with which to do the job. )
It??s like poetry or a film. Ideally，every word must have a function and fulfill thatfunction well. A good idea won??t be enough. The road to hell is paved with them.
Indeed，the one negative review I ever got ( so far) ，nailed me on that. The reviewerfelt I talked about the subject rather than making the subject itself live. And that，too,I take to heart and pass on to you. The story lives sentence by sentence. It??s in thedetails that your purpose takes life. Be as specific as you can. Really see and really bewilling to feel what you??re writing about. Good children??s writing，like all goodwriting，creates specific and vivid images. Details reveal the depth and accuracy of theimagination.
This can be hard work，demanding work. Rewrites，re-visionings will abound.Clear your desk and be prepared. Children??s literature is a tough realm after all，andnot just - as we all know these days - a tough market. You can??t get by here just ongood intentions，good looks ( or illustrations) ，or good ideas. They will help. But it??sin the sentence-to-sentence work，the line-by-line work，the sounding out of wordsthemselves that your story comes alive. Someday，as you write with the effort，you??llwonder why or how you ever got into this. That??s the time to take out your list ofpurposes and review it. Of course you did remember to write it down.
1. The purpose that the writer wrote for children is .
A. to entertain B. to have fun with words
C. to share a faith in childhood D. all of the above
2. According to the author ，what is most important in children??s writing?
A. To tell a story.
B. To have a good idea.
C. To create specific and vivid images.
D. To pass on a deep lesson.
3. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Under the influence of I. B. Singer，the author wrote for children.
B. Childhood was sweet and sentimental for the author.
C. The author??s work has been translated into several languages.
D. Between 1998 and 2001，the author published many books.
4. The author mentioned writing for children is a hard，demanding work，because.
A. authors have to use simple sentence structure
B. authors must write and rewrite in detail
C. it needs good illustration
D. it demands good intentions
