: Re: Books for children: complexity I am wondering how complex the story can be so that small children can understand it (younger than eight). Are there any rules of thumb of how many characters

@Fox6458700

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In addition to academic knowledge about child development, there's nothing like experiencing real children and seeing how they respond to books. If you don't have young children in your life, I'd suggest "borrowing" some who are within your target age-range and willing to help. See if they understand your story (ask them to explain it-- they may have reached very different conclusions than you intended). See if they like it. Talk to them and find out what their interests are, and what other books they like. Possible ways to find these small workshoppers:

Contact a local teacher or librarian and see if they would be interested in hosting a "meet an aspiring author" session. You could offer to talk about how to write a story as well as sharing your own.
See if any neighbor families would be willing to read your story and give feedback. Kids usually like helping and might feel rather important in this role.
Mail a copy to any young relations and see if they will tell you how they like it (especially if your story is for slighter older/more independent readers).

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