The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children

Nancy Lamb is the author of the "Which Way Books"!!!!This books explores most if not all facets of writing with a focus on children stories. Very dense, her book offers enough information in each topic to get you started writing and to understand story structure. An excellent primer for beginners, the book serves well for experienced writers as a refresher. Lots of golden nuggets in each page. It is a book that will not remain on your shelf collecting dust. It's not the end all book on writing but will save you time and money from buying poor quality how to books on writing. Her style is very straightforward. She offers good examples to make her point as well as exercises at the end of each chapter geared to either the writing of your story or an element that raises your awareness to good writing. Buy the book. You won't be sorry.Also, Check out her new book "The Art and Craft of Storytelling"!!!!

I've always dreamed of writing a book for children, but wasn't sure where to start. For years, I've only written nonfiction and wanted a primer on creative writing for children. Ms. Lamb's book was wonderful - well-written, concise, easy to read, and it covered all aspects of writing for children (dialogue, character, plot, etc.) in a memorable and easy-to-digest fashion. A pleasure to read! I learned more from this book than in my college class on creative writing. I can't wait to get started after reading her book :) Thanks, Ms. Lamb!

Got so much great information from this book. If you want to write for children...begin here!

Awesome resource with plenty of fun exercises for a writer!

I've been a writer all of my life but took five years off to get fat, dumb and pregnant -- over and over and over again. Well, those days are done and while I dwindle down to my pre-pregnancy size with a few extra sags and stretch marks, it's time to raise my kids and get back to writing. Needless to say, I needed a darn-good refresher course. After considering a $600 class, I decided against it and bought this book instead. For once, I made a great decision (and my pocket book agrees). This book was perfect in getting me back up to speed! It freshened up my creative skills, got me motivated to write again, and had all the necessary components needed to refreshen my skills. Best yet, at the end of each chapter there was an excercise to make sure I understood what I read. It was the best course in a book I could ask for. Nancy Lamb, you are the best! That was the best "slap in the creative juices" I could ask for!

Very happy with my book!

I thought the writing prompts and ideas where fresh and useful. Not as deep as I was hoping, but it did provide some inspiration and helped get me past a few writers block moments. I would recommend it for people new to writing for children as opposed to the more experienced. The author provides helpful advice and tips as well as useful examples and tools for growing as a writer.

I feel the author exceeded her claim; I found it useful crafting stories in general.For those who want more complex opinions on writing fiction there are many noted authors who wrote excellent texts on what in their opinion is excellent literature.The author fulfilled her pact with this very pleased reader and reviewer.

But I felt it was not for me, because I read it from cover to cover when what I should have done is to dip in an out when I need it.I also wish more advice was given on how to write for smaller children. Not how to write a novel. I was looking for advice on how to write books on the same vein as the Astrosaurs or Rainbow Fairies, not a Nancy Drew type of book.But this is one book I would recommend to it anyone who wants to start writing longer work for older children. The advice is solid and sound.As with every theory book, it may take the spontaneity out of writing if you stick it to religiously, so be aware of that. Also, the author is American, I think, so, it is worth to remember that as sometimes they do not have the same turn of phrases as in the UK.I will keep it on my desk and use it as a reference book.At £13.00, it is a bit pricey and if you are on a tighter budget, I would really suggest to check out forums for new or would be authors, blogs about writing, they are quite a lot out there, and you would get the same good advice, and sometimes, personalised advice, for free.

This is a good book, practical, intelligent and informative.However, the title is slightly misleading: 'Writing Stories for Children' means writing *novels* for children.I had hoped, and expected, that it would cover short stories as well as full-length novels. But it's all about novels.Also, I had expected it to be about writing for children, yet a lot of space is devoted to writing for young adults (teenagers).A more appropriate title would be 'Writing novels for children and teens'.If you're looking for advice on how to write novels for a young audience, I recommend this book. But if you want to write short stories, this book may not be the best choice.

Make no mistake, Nancy Lamb knows what she's talking about. I should know - I'm a children's author too, and have also worked in the publishing and bookselling industries. Ms Lamb writes in a light, easy to read tone, and the book is broken up into useful sections on such things as voice, character, plot, exposition etcetera. I kept wanting to punch the air and shout 'Yes! That's exactly how it is!"I bought the book as an aide-memoire to help me construct an adult workshop on writing for children. While I've taught many children about writing in a school environment, an adult workshop needs a different slant. I'm so grateful to Ms Lamb for reminding me what I should be putting into it, and for the many useful tips she gives. I shall be crediting her fully, and recommending this book to all my students. My workshop will only be for a day, but this book has enough material to fuel a lifetime of writing. My only caveat would be that UK readers may not be familiar with most of the books and authors Ms Lamb uses as examples. However, it shouldn't be a problem to get hold of them via Amazon or AbeBooks. Just see this as a whole load of fine discoveries to make for your future reading pleasure. If you really want to be a children's writier, buy it and use it. You absolutely can't go wrong. Definitely the best of those currently on the market.

Having purchased this book based on the Amazon reviews, I was somewhat worried that it wouldn't live up to the hype. It did, and more. I've been writing for thirty something years and have many books on writing, some inspiring, some perfect descriptions of how not to!Nancy Lamb's Guide is one of the best in my opinion,simply top notch. Written in a natural, reader friendly style, this really is a must have book for anyone wishing to write. Lamb's use of modern examples to illustrate elements of structure, plotting and characterisation is excellent, with something here for writers of all levels.Having read it cover to cover at the first sitting I've revisited various sections of the book again and again, and I think any writer would do the same.Whether writing for children, young adults or adults, this book should be on your shelf.

One of the best books on writing for children I've read. Don't be put off by the perhaps somewhat old-fashioned book cover. Far better than many more recently published books on this topic in the market. One to buy, keep and reread often!