Writers of children’s books will benefit from the advice of Cheryl B. Klein’s The Magic Words. Klein offers list after list of practical, tangible, effective advice for every aspect of the writing process from generating ideas to drafting and revision. Her detailed instructions on creating a scene-by-scene bookmap might seem overwhelming, but if you can’t answer the questions, you know that you have even more work to do. Additionally, her recommendation of replacing “and then” with “therefore” or “but” is a practical technique to help craft scenes with a cause-and-effect relationship, rather than scenes that are disconnected and rambling. Every scene, every action must be the result or complication of what came before, rather than an event that just happens next for no real reason. Klein gives writers much to think about, and some of her lists are overwhelming, but writers will polish their craft as they pursue those magic words.
