Derek Mascarenhas is a graduate and Instructor at the University of Toronto SCS Creative Writing Program. His adult short story collection, Coconut Dreams, and the children’s picture books 100 Chapatis and The Mango Monster have been praised widely by The Globe and Mail, Kirkus Reviews, and CBC Kids Reads.

Writing (and Reading) for Children vs. Adults

Writing for both adults and children has been extremely rewarding for me. I started writing adult fiction but was always drawn to stories that can captivate any audience. Writing for children lets me tell different types of stories while challenging every aspect of my craft. Children’s books are often simple to read, and many folks assume they are easy to write. This has not been my experience. In fact, their brevity is part of what makes them so difficult. There’s a learning curve anytime one tries out a new genre.  For me, it’s often an untethered feeling. Like I don’t know what I’m doing. Like I’ve forgotten how to write. Reading the genre I’m hoping to write usually helps here. Immersing myself in the voices of those younger characters helps me return to that mind space we all have occupied at one point.

“Working” with illustrators has also been such a joy. Most times the writing and illustrating happen in two distinct phases and there is much less collaboration than folks think. However, seeing the illustrations for the first time is right up there in my favourite writer experiences. I’ve been fortunate to have my stories illustrated by two superb artists, Shantala Robinson, and Meneka Repka. Both elevated the words and brought their own unique visions to the stories. I couldn’t imagine the characters in my published picture books any other way now.

Reading and performing for children is one thing I’ve found quite different than for adults. While adult audiences will sit politely, even if they aren’t as engaged with the story, children will let you know if you’ve lost them (fidgeting, staring off, speaking out, picking their nose…I’ve seen it all!) The upside of this is when you do capture the attention of an audience of kids, they are oftentimes super focused on the story and react to each plot point fully and excitedly with all of their little hearts.

So, give yourself permission to experiment, to explore new ideas and new forms. Read widely. Take out kids books from the library! Read them as you would to an audience of children. It can be freeing, fulfilling, and fun 😊