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The now famous letter to The Sun goes like this:
DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
VIRGINIA O'HANLON

And, I say to my kids, “If you see it in the nonfiction section, it’s so!”
Here’s the evidence I found at our local library:

Santa Claus
Rod Green, author
Carol Wright, illustrator
Atheneum 2006







The Truth About Santa Claus
Green Tiger Press 2007
Blue Lantern Studio







Santa Claus: A Biography
Gerry Bowler
McClelland and Stewart 2007







Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus
Jeremy Seal
Bloomsbury 2005








The Real Santa Claus
Marianna Mayer
Phyllis Fogelman Books 2001
Found in Juvenile Biography!






And, I can’t forget:
101 Questions About Santa Claus
Robert E. Litak
Adventure 2003
Our handy coffee table book for years.






For my final argument, may I present:
The Santa is Nonfiction T-shirt











This Christmas, my little guy will be nine years old. We’re still holding on to the magic. I hope I made a few believers with this post.
Any other favorite Santa books our readers would recommend? (It pained me to not include many beautiful picture books, but I specifically searched for hardcore Santa Claus NF books!)

To all my INKmates and the faithful followers of INK this year-
Have a warm and wonderful holiday season and a magical new year!

by Suzanne Lieurance

It’s no secret that one of the best ways to break into the children’s magazine markets is with nonfiction. So follow these 6 tips to have the best chance of acceptance with your short articles for children:

1. Study the markets - Each children’s magazine is different, with a different style, voice, and variety of subject matter. Take time to study the markets you wish to submit to and you’ll know which ones are the most appropriate for the articles that you wish to write.

2. Study Past Issues - Besides studying current issues of each publication you wish to write for, look at several past issues of each publication. Make a list of the various nonfiction article titles in each issue to get a “feel” for the way various authors narrowed their focus for each topic they wrote about. One of the big mistakes most beginning children’s writers make with their nonfiction articles is that they don’t narrow the focus of the article enough. If you want to write about camels, for example, don’t propose an article that tells anything and everything about camels. Instead, focus on just ONE aspect about camels and develop your article around that.

3. Include subtopic headings when writing your article - These will break up your article into “chunks” which are easier for young readers to read. These subtopic headings will also “lead” the reader through your article. They will also make your article “look” more like nonfiction instead of fiction.

4. Give your topic an unusual slant that will appeal to kids and editors alike - When you do this, your article won’t sound so much like a textbook. And articles that sound too much like textbook material are NOT in big demand with magazine editors.

5. Consider topics that will relate to themed publications - Many children’s magazines have themes for each issue. And, even for publications that do not have themed issues, editors still look for topics that can be used for holiday issues as well as other seasonal issues. For example, most publications feature some sort of back-to-school articles in their August or September issues. In the summer months, these same publications tend to feature articles that give vacation tips or crafts ideas and games to keep kids occupied during the summer. So, be sure to include some of these types of article ideas in your queries.

6. Look for lesser known publications - Competition is fierce for Highlights, Spider, Cricket, and most of the very popular publications for children. You’ll automatically increase your chances for acceptance if you query publications that don’t receive so many queries.

Try these 6 tips and it shouldn’t take you long to start receiving acceptances from the children’s magazines that you query.

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For more tips about writing for children, join The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. During the month of November, lessons, teleclasses, and assignments are focused on writing nonfiction for children’s magazines.