My six –year-old son recently read the beginning of an early phonics reader to me, only to stop halfway through the book, look up at me, and say,
”You know, this story isn’t really any good. I don’t think it’s very well written. The author could have done better. ”
This little “critique partner-in-training” went on to give me a full analysis of what this phonics reader truly needed in order to shine.
“Nothing’s happening, Mama. I hate books like that. Something needs to happen.”
He was absolutely right, of course. The phonics reader had no plot, bad rhyme, and rudimentary illustrations. But it was a book from his kindergarten class that he had to read, so read it we did.
Once again, he is six!
I realized then that my critique group had been rubbing off on him. Now I am not only raising a boy and future man, but creating a “mini-Scriva,” or, since he is a boy, a “mini-Scrivo,” as well. Not that there is anything wrong with this. He has been forming quite an opinion about his book tastes lately, tending to gravitate toward fantasy (first Harry Potter, Roald Dahl books), friendship books with unlikely, opposite characters (Frog and Toad, Mr. Putter and Tabby, A Visitor for Bear, Dodsworth in New York, etc.), mysteries (Nate the Great and Magic Tree House), funny picture books like Yes Day by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and science books like the Magic School Bus. Favorite early readers are Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series.
Though my current WIP is not up his alley (upper mid-grade, coming-of-age historical with a female protagonist), he does cartwheels over Scriva Liz’s volcanoes and Mars Rovers and Scriva Sabina’s The Impudent Rooster. He has listened to me “talk books” with many a Scriva, has watched over my shoulder as I critique someone’s manuscript, and has asked me questions about what I look for in a manuscript when I am critiquing it.
What can you take away from all this? A smile—a chuckle—and a reminder that a critique group can not only enhance your writing and your career, but also the literary life of your children as well. And how great is that?
Happy critiquing!
- Nicole Marie Schreiber
www.nicolemarieschreiber.com
http://nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com
