How Long Are Children's Story Books

Anybody that is starting out for the first time will soon be hit by this very question. As an author, your book must be pre planned and the complete narrative is governed by some unwritten rules.

Clearly, the younger the audience the shorter children's story books become. But, children will follow the same rule of thumb as their reading skills develop which is that any children's story book must be readable in two or three sittings.

To achieve this, consider readers under 9 can read 10,000 words in three sittings, and children over 9 will read about 30,000 words in three sittings. These numbers change over time, so I recommend that before setting out on your own children's story book, do some research. Buy some of the best sellers, read them and analyse the following:

How many chapters are there? How many pages between chapters? How many plots? How many characters? This will give you a guide to the depth of your story book, how many chapters the story book should cover and the overall length.

If you do not follow the current book length trend dictated by publishers, you can assume your children's story book is headed for the trash can. Of course there are exceptions, but why take the risk?

For a detailed break down of story book lengths and how to pre-plan the structure, visit write for children which covers this issue as part of a complete course for the novice children's author.