Chapter Books: What's That All About, Anyway?

 

 

 

You’ve probably heard the term “chapter books,” and been mystified. Don’t most books have chapters? What is it about these titles that sets them apart from novels?

 

According to the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation, children between 2 and 5 are learning that words in print represent the words we speak, and the letters stand for sounds. Between 5 and 8, children move from the novice stage to the decoding stage (using their knowledge of sound-letter relationships to figure out words), and finally, to fluency.  (Click here for more: link)

 

Picture books are an important part of that first step -- learning to associate words and sounds. Chapter books are for readers who are becoming independent and will still benefit from illustrations in the story.

 

Remember Frog and Toad? These classic books by Arnold Lobel were meant for beginning readers, coming in at a length of 2281 words. Even though the vocabulary and sentence structure was simple, the story and emotions were fully realized. That’s a key for all chapter books: the stories are engaging and compelling while being accessible. They give readers between ages 5 and 8 relatable stories -- and a sense of accomplishment, too. Success reading these books puts them on the path to reading longer works when they get older.

 

Chapter books come in a variety of lengths to suit their readers. Generally speaking, the longer the book, the older the reader. 

 

A survey of some chapter books turned up these word counts:

 

Jasmine Toguchi series, by Debbie Michiko Florence

         Super Sleuth, 10,047 words

         Flamingo Keeper, 9929 words

 

My Furry Foster Family, by Debbie Michiko Florence

         Truman the Dog, 4,049 words

         Apple and Ani, the Hamster Duo, 3875 words

 

The Ballpark Mysteries by David A. Kelly

         The World Series Curse, 12,975 words

         The Triple Play Twins, 10,658 words

 

The Chicken Squad by Doreen Cronin

         The First Misadventure, 3689 words

         Bear Country, 5522 words

 

Franny K. Stein by Jim Benton

         The Invisible Fran, 4,177 words

         Attack of the 50-ft. Cupid, 4,209 words

 

(This is by no means an exhaustive list! A visit to your children's librarian or bookseller will give you a chance to see the range of chapter book series currently in print. )

 

Chapter books usually are published in a series, for a couple of reasons:

📕  Because they are usually 48 to 128 pages, these published books have narrow spines, which can make them hard to find on the shelves. Multiple titles in a series make the books more visible to readers and buyers.

📕  Kids love them! When a kid enjoys a book, they want more – and as soon as possible!

 

That brings up a practical point about submitting chapter books: You need to have at least a couple of finished manuscripts and a set of ideas ready when you submit. You’ll send the two manuscripts and the summaries of at least four ideas. This allows the editor to consider how the characters carry through, from one book to the next, and what additional adventures they may have.

 

Now, the bad news. Chapter books are a hard sell. However, if you have characters that you love, who are having adventures that your readers will relate to, go for it. Tell their stories.

Be warned, though: If a publisher does decide to pick up your chapter-book series, you’ll need to write fast and well to keep up with your fans’ demands for more books! And what a terrible problem to have, eh? 

 

To learn more, I suggest the Highlights Foundation's excellent courses about writing early readers and chapter books.