Editor's Hint #7: Children's Books

Several people have asked for some hints about writing children's books. So here goes:

Writing a book for children is not as easy as it might appear. For one thing, it's really difficult to get objective feedback. I had a fellow editor tell me a person's children would love it if she read the phone book to them! It's not what you read, it's the fact that you're spending the time with them that matters most. Anyway, we get tons of manuscripts that are prefaced with the comment, "My kids beg me ...