Taking it to the masses
Apologies for my silence since last Monday! I was announcing the winners of another giveaway and then dealing with that the rest of the week! Now we are caught up.
I had previously recounted that only one kid—Daniel, who was out of my targeted age range—had read the book thus far. I could no longer put off that I needed to test drive my book on actual 3-7 year old kids.
In May 2013, I read Centipede Dragon A Benevolent Creature to 21 kindergarteners. Ms. Danielle, their teacher, had prepped them for my visit so that on the day when I walked into their classroom, there was a sudden whoosh! as they quickly assembled in front of me.
In my opinion, the true test for anything in life is to vet it through a 5-year old, if you can manage it. Kids this age see the world with a clarity not clouded by personal experience. They keenly observe and fiercely question. They laser-point out a hole in your plot because to them it is oh-so obvious. They are not concerned with filling in the blanks as adults often do. A kid will tell you what s/he wants to see changed in your book. Nothing personal, rather, it’s what s/he is thinking at that particular moment. The next moment will be snack time, and the next, nap time.
Ms. Danielle then asked her students to draw pics that describe their favorite part in the book, or, ask a question. The feedback from that one school visit was so laser-sharp insightful, that in many future posts you’ll see how they influenced and improved the book.
Here’s a brilliant pic by Gigi. In the next post, you will read what Gigi’s question was, and my response!
I had previously recounted that only one kid—Daniel, who was out of my targeted age range—had read the book thus far. I could no longer put off that I needed to test drive my book on actual 3-7 year old kids.
In May 2013, I read Centipede Dragon A Benevolent Creature to 21 kindergarteners. Ms. Danielle, their teacher, had prepped them for my visit so that on the day when I walked into their classroom, there was a sudden whoosh! as they quickly assembled in front of me.
In my opinion, the true test for anything in life is to vet it through a 5-year old, if you can manage it. Kids this age see the world with a clarity not clouded by personal experience. They keenly observe and fiercely question. They laser-point out a hole in your plot because to them it is oh-so obvious. They are not concerned with filling in the blanks as adults often do. A kid will tell you what s/he wants to see changed in your book. Nothing personal, rather, it’s what s/he is thinking at that particular moment. The next moment will be snack time, and the next, nap time.
Ms. Danielle then asked her students to draw pics that describe their favorite part in the book, or, ask a question. The feedback from that one school visit was so laser-sharp insightful, that in many future posts you’ll see how they influenced and improved the book.
Here’s a brilliant pic by Gigi. In the next post, you will read what Gigi’s question was, and my response!
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