A children's book that takes 25 minutes to read out loud - is it too long?
I've written a 3rd grade level (8-9 years old) children's book that takes about 25 minutes to read out loud. I read it to a 3rd grade class, with a few posters for illustrations, and it actually seemed to keep their attention. Even the teachers said they liked it.
Is there a market for a book like this, or is it just too long?
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2 answers
I agree that you're fine. Longer would be fine too. I will add that generally it is word count that gives you the length ranges for each age category (not that they're strict but that publishers will generally want books within the ranges).
I've done a fair bit of reading out loud. To my own daughter and her friends, at different ages, to other kids I know, to students I've had or borrowed, and to other adults.
How fast I read depends on a lot of factors. My audience, their temperament that particular hour, how many pictures there are and how long it takes to show everyone the pictures and/or talk about them, if the child has heard the book before, if the child/children interject, and my mood as well (am I enjoying myself volunteering in a classroom with no real time limits or am I trying to get my kid to fall asleep so I can go check Facebook?).
Take different people and you get a whole new set of speeds.
I'd go with word count. Here's a good summary. http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/word-count-for-novels-and-childrens-books-the-definitive-post
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If anything, I'd say your book is too short for that age. 3rd grade is 8-years-olds, right? At that age, 25 minutes to read out loud is closer to one chapter of a book they'd be reading.
At 8 years old, my favourite books were Sans Famille, White Fang and Narnia (all of it, except for the last book, which my parents decided was inappropriate). King Matt the First, The Wizard of Oz (with all the sequels) and Marry Poppins (all of them, again) were already behind me. My Nephew, who's 9 now, has already finished the first four Harry Potters, after which the content became too adult for him - the length was just fine. So there's your sampling of length you can be aiming for.
A book that can be read from start to finish in 25 minutes sounds to me like something for 4-years-olds, but even for them you don't have to limit yourself to something that short. Winnie the Pooh, which @ArcanistLupus mentions, or Peter Pan, are also quite appropriate for that age.
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