Telling a story from a middle point, a narrative tradition called in media res, is a fantastic technique for children's books. What reader who has ever read E.B. White's Charlotte's Web could ever forget the opening line:
"Where's Papa going with that ax?"
"It was my aunt who decided to give me to the dragon."
"My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog."
"Piper decided to jump off of the roof."
While these beginnings lack the flowery, purple prose of many acclaimed literary works, such language is not missed, nor is it necessary. These children's authors have mastered a valuable skill--get the child reader's attention and keep it!Now don't those opening hooks make you want to snatch up those books and read them? Add a Comment