Challenge 118

Weading, Witing and Withmetic

Today, the WWW stands for “World-Wide Web.” With just a slight lisp, it can take us back to the halcyon days of our childhood. Okay, okay, don’t toss your ratburgers and cole slaw! Just scratch that “halcyon” business...

In our articles category, Byron Bailey and Rick Combs examine both ends of the literary spectrum: children reading and adults writing. Byron puts his finger on the weakness of those reading books in grades 1 and 2: scientifically designed without so much as a dog’s breath of soul. Byron is not just repeating an urban legend about “Dick and Jane”; I was exposed to them, too, and I can say he’s right. They were not written by anyone with the love of writing that Rick Combs describes.

Byron’s best early memory is of Tolkien. That wasn’t available when I was in 3rd grade, but it was at that time I was first exposed to “speculative literature,” — not quite science fiction, but close enough — in Hugh Lofting’s “Dr. Doolittle” stories. I read the Mary Poppins stories, too, as well as the boys’ requisite mystery and sports literature, but Dr. Doolittle’s trip to the Moon on the back of a giant moth is what I remember best. Beyond that, L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” stories, and one other, a short historical novel I found strangely captivating: Jay Williams’ The Sword and the Scythe. And in later years I’ve discovered many splendid children’s books, deserving of renown for both stories and illustrations.

The Challenge is: What are the earliest books that you remember most fondly?

Rick Combs communicates the sheer fun of writing. It’s like carpentry, in a way: you immediately see the results of your efforts.

The Challenge is: Suppose you were going to write a story for yourself at, say, age 10. What stories would you write for your younger self today? And how would you write them?

Now that’s a much harder Challenge than the first...

Just to toss in “Withmetic,” how well does children’s literature actually sell? Might there be an audience and a market for your efforts? I’ve heard that children’s books and cookbooks are the consistent money-makers. That may or may not be accurate; it’s more a technical question. Jerry is our man in touch with the publishing world, and he’s been keeping abreast of the inevitable changes taking place in it. I hope he or our other readers can give us an idea.