What is one of the best ways to annoy an editor of a magazine with a broad age range? Tell the editor that your story or article fits children from 2 - 12. To a busy editor this suggests a number of possibilities with none of them good:

1. The editor will need to read the piece to figure out what age it's really written for.
2. The article is written by someone who doesn't know anything about children - thus the article or story is likely to be either too adult or too cute.
3. If nonfiction, the article is going to jump around - sometimes talking down to the reader and sometimes talking over his head.
4. If fiction, the story is going to focus a LESSON that the author feels all children need to learn.

To avoid this problem, writers choose a specific segment within these broad age ranges and craft a piece that effectively targets only that segment.

SO WHY DO MAGAZINES HAVE SUCH BROAD AGE RANGES ANYWAY?

In a magazine like Highlights (with readers from 2 to 12) or Pockets (with readers from 6 - 11), content is often divided. In Highlights, some material is designed to appeal to the youngest child (ages 2 - 5) - the ones who primarily listen to the story or article; some is designed for children learning to read on their own (ages 6 - 9); and some is designed for fluent readers (ages 8 - 12). In Pockets, the readership is divided into only two groups - the younger readers (6 - 8) and the older readers (9 - 11).

In other magazines, the reader age is broad, but the target age is narrower. Boys' Quest, for example, has readers from 6 to 13 - but they prefer writers target the 8 - 10 segment of that range. So, how is a writer to know whether a magazine is targeting its whole range? Read the guidelines. And read sample issues. Then craft an article or story that fits a specific narrow age range and market it accordingly.

MATERIAL FOR PRE-READERS [2 - 5]

Because very young children don't read, they actually have fewer restrictions on vocabulary and sentence structure than material for children just learning to read. Children understand far more complex vocabulary and phrasing than they can read. However, this doesn't mean that anything goes with a pre-reader.

1. Young children have limited interests. This is because the world around them is pretty overwhelming and every day seems to have something new to see and think about. So, pre-readers tend to need a "touch point" for a story or article - something in the piece that reaches where the child is right now. Thus, a pre-reader may be very interested in stories about families, such as fiction about new babies. They would be captived by a story about being separated from family briefly, such as stories about babysitters, preschools, or parents who travel for work. Nonfiction may feature animal babies, families around the world, or animal babysitters. A pre-reader may be interested in changes he or she can see such as seasons changing, or the process of growing up (in children, plants, or animals). A pre-reader may be interested in stories and articles that feature everyday places (the grocery store, the library, church, a parent's work environment.) Or that teach the child more about everyday things (such as how crayons are made, strange things birds do, or where paper comes from.)

2. Young children have limited attention spans and their readers do too. Material for the youngest reader is short -- sometimes 100 words or less, but usually under 300 words, and almost always under 500 words. Because the material is so short, it is usually very focused. Editors are no more interested in encyclopedia material for young children than they are for older children, so instead of skimming the surface of a story or article...zero in. Make a story that occurs in minutes instead of days or craft an article about a tiny segment of a subject. Instead of writing about cats, write about cat whiskers.

3. Young children are very visual. This helps the child feel he or she is actively participating in the story. Young children's stories are usually illustration rich (another reason why it's short - you lose words to gain pictures). Young children's nonfiction is often photo led with the bulk of the information coming through the pictures. Puzzles are usually picture puzzles - matching pictures, finding funny mistakes in pictures, very simple picture mazes. Most rebus stories are written for this group because the tiny pictures help the child join in the "reading" process.

4. Young children are very concrete. They will grasp a story better if it shows than if it tells, because abstract concepts are difficult. When a writer draws conclusions for the child, often those conclusions are passed over in the child's understanding. This is an age group where moral lectures tend to be completely wasted but stories where children make good choices as part of the plot have a better chance to be internalized. (This is actually true of every group, but where older children intentionally resist being lectured, young children just don't usually "get" the lecture.)

5. Young children have a very concrete sense of humor. The things that make young children laugh are surprise and absurdity. But because so much in their lives is new, absurdity must be chosen carefully. Young children, for example, often don't understand the humor in Amelia Bedelia (which is based on absurd verbal misunderstanding). But they do get the humor in a Daddy wearing Mommy's purse on his head. Young children don't usually get sarcasm or irony. But they would totally understand the humor in having a rabbit pop out of the ground at groundhog's day when everyone was expecting a groundhog.

WHEN THE TARGET AUDIENCE IS LEARNING TO READ [6 - 9]

Children who are just beginning to read often have a larger grasp of the world around them than pre-readers. They are in school. They are learning about people and places very different from themselves. They are interested in many more things. The basic business of home - parents work, dinner is cooked, birds sing - no longer holds the same appeal as the reader begins to look outside himself. But the child's limited grasp of reading vocabulary and pulling information from complex sentence structures can make it difficult for him to get the information he desires.

1. Vocabulary needs to be readable. There are dolch lists, which contain words children are expected to be able to read as they advance through the learning process. These can help a writer understand some of the words they can use freely. But certainly we are not limited to those. If a child would understand the word if he heard it, and can sound it out, the word is safely used. Harder words (such as animal names or science terms in nonfiction) are often "hinted at" by the illustrations. For example, the word anemone is fairly challenging, but many children do know what a sea anemone is and if a photo runs with the story, the child is not likely to stumble over the word because the whole context of the piece helps to explain it. Another great tool for vocabulary for young readers is Children's Writer's Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner - this book is actually recommended by some educational publishers to help writers choose grade appropriate words.

2. Structure needs to be simple. A sentence does not always need to be short, but it should be grammatically fairly simple. Complex clauses and convoluted structures will frustrate and confuse young readers. Sentence fragments must be very clear if used. There should not be the slightest confusion over who is speaking the dialogue or who is referred to by pronouns. One common "clue" for spotting beginning reader material is that speech tags are simple and abundant.

3. School stories rule. At the beginning reader age, school begins to become very important. So stories frequently feature school more than home. Children are learning to interact with peers with less adult supervision. The opportunities for making choices comes up more often, and children begin to learn about differences between people, and families. Because children like to read about children - school stories often allow writers to work with situations where children are more autonomous. Writers should take care, though, because many magazine editors are sensitive about stories where children are openly mean to one another. Although conflict makes stories stronger, editors do not want to build school fears in young children.

4. Children understand the difference between real and imagined. Fantasy stories begin to be popular for children at this age and children are often introduced to folktales. And some magazines are even willing to introduce fantasy characters (such as Ranger Rick) who share nonfiction information - this is not universal though, so reading magazine samples is essential before sending off a "Hi, I'm a toothbrush..." stories.

WHEN THE TARGET AUDIENCE IS A FLUENT READER [8 - 12]

Young fluent readers are often information machines. They fixate on particular subjects and learn everything they can about that subject. This age group is the biggest consumer of juvenile nonfiction - but they tend to only want to read about things that interest them. Fortunately, nearly every topic appeals to some segment of this group. However, this can be the trickiest group for writers because it seems so easy to write for. Often this leads writers to slip into material with an adult perspective or interest (such as articles about efficient study habits, toy safety, or developing better manners.) Children at this age are particularly sensitive to being lectured or patronized. Unlike younger children, fluent readers quickly spot a lecture and will either skip the story or resist the message.

1. Fluent Readers like to get involved. Many magazines try to include activities, puzzles, experiments, crafts, recipes, etc. with content whenever possible because fluent readers like to learn and do. They also yearn for a feeling of independence and competence, so whenever activities can be done without adult help, children are especially attracted. Doing an activity without help, then "teaching" an adult about how the activity was done is especially appealing. Children at this age are often trying to shrug off the powerlessness of younger years and do things on their own. Stories and articles must also be careful not to give conclusions instead of information - fluent readers like having the space to make up their own minds.

2. Fluent Readers have scope. Stories no longer need to be specific to the child's world. Fluent readers are especially interested in the exotic - things they have not experienced. Space, exotic animals, far away places - these are the topics that capture young readers because they feed both his curiosity and his imagination. This is the age at which science fiction and adventure begin to be popular. Also, mystery stories interest these readers because they feed both his curiosity and his need for mastery (as he "figures" out the clues to solve the mystery.) Fantasy becomes more exotic for this age, which is the first where high fantasy (taking place in very different worlds) really makes a connection.

3. Fluent Readers can stick to a story. Whenever you see small type, limited illustrations, and length in a story - you are virtually certain of seeing a piece for fluent readers. Although a writer needs to beware of filling a story with jargon, fluent readers can handle meeting new words, as long as the meaning is apparent from context. However, stories aren't vocabulary lessons - so we need to choose the words we need rather than trying to use the vehicle of story to teach words.

4. Fluent Readers learn by example. Writers who have a driving need to impart moral lessons, need to understand that having one character tell another how to behave is rarely effective for this age group. Instead, having a character struggle realistically with a decision...and perhaps make some wrong steps...will help the reader draw his own conclusions about what would have worked better for that character. Thus, the lesson is imparted more subtly though allowing the reader to think for himself and capturing him in an interesting story plot and struggle. In nonfiction, profiles of famous people or other young people can demonstrate how those people successfully dealt with the moral struggles they experienced - thus allowing the reader to learn by example.

SO, CHOOSE YOUR AUDIENCE

Which of the reading groups will be open to the story or article idea you are considering? Will young readers have a 'touch' point to connect with the piece? Does the story or article lend itself to the simple presentation but higher interest level of the beginning reader? Or can you craft a longer piece that leaves plenty of room for the interests and reasoning ability of the fluent reader? Once you know - you can avoid the dreaded "full age range" error and impress an editor with your understanding of exactly who your reader will be.