Preschool Demographics 1: Introduction

I'm working on a children's book, as viewers of this web site over the past year...or two years...may be aware. But, though I do many things very slowly, I do few things half way. So, there is some target audience research involved here. The first thing I realize is that you are not selling a children's book to children, but to the parents of children. But. that said, it is still essential to understand kids at the Pre-K level. Here is the first of a series where I explore that target audience.

In defining what is a good idea for a children’s book, we need to acknowledge on truth: that ultimately, if you’re selling a book to a kid who can’t read and can’t pay for it, you have to know you’re selling to the parent.

And what does that parent want? Hopefully, what’s best for the kid. They need a book that will entertain the child, capture the child’s imagination, and ideally teach that child something. But finding that balance is the key, and doing it with a product that is actually unique, playful, fun and at the same time mature, educational and meaningful is the challenge.

So let’s save that for the end of the exploration. Let’s start with easy questions.

First, we need to narrow the target—initially, by age group. We’re talking about kids who cannot read or are just-beginning readers, again, Kindergarten or Pre-K kids. This is the age group that is key to reaching, in terms of making the most significant and early difference to their lives.

There is a program called the Harlem Children’s Zone, which the Prez talked about during the election, and is putting into action:

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This successful program has been the subject of much media coverage, and one book

The gist of the discussion point here is that kids need to be read to. The more kids are read to, the greater their minds are stimulated, the greater their vocabulary becomes, and the more open they become to more knowledge. Reading to kids makes them smarter. The more you read to them, the greater their potential becomes, simply in the fact of increased vocabulary, increased exposure to more words, and increased susceptibility to new ideas.

Having defined my ideal goal for creating a childrens book is to produce it for the age it can do the most good, Next, I'm going to discriminate two categories: read to me, and read to myself. The read to myself books (I can read, and a whole slew of early reader titles) are much more limited and limiting. This is the type of book we see much more of, and frankly, IMHO, too much of. Maybe it's just because I come out of educational publishing. But it seems every reading program develops it's own slew of trademarks readers all of which have the correct parts, right language, and the same amount of imagination (or lack thereof). One or two simple books (or even book series) like this are enough to give kids a sense of accomplishment, and in that they are important. But man, there are already too many series of these out there.

In the end, I think the author and the reader is getting more bang for the buck with the "read to me" kind. Maybe I don't have the research to support that assertion, but I bet if you ask adults their favorite books to have read early on, you might get some books from the "I Can read" series, but you aren't going to get too many saying "I just loved the McGraw-Hill Leveled Readers series!" You're going to get Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Whistle for Willie, and the Polar Express. You're going to get stories that stuck.

So, for my ideal, I want a project that will inspire parents to read to their kids, by capturing the adult imagination, in a subject that is energized and interesting to the child, trusting that, where the parent goes, the child will clamor to follow.

Next: Magical Thinking.