It always amazes me when I meet people who want to write for children, yet they haven't read a single children's book since they were children or since their own kids (now ages 35 and 42) were little.

Don't they get it? Publishers change, publications change, and even children change with the times! If you want to write for children, you need to start taking "field trips" to keep up with these changes. You'll not only be better informed about today's markets, you'll also become a better writer in the process. Besides...these trips are fun!

Take regular field trips to the children's section of your local bookstores and the public library. If your interest is in writing picture books, start by looking at as many pictures books as you can each time you visit. If you'd like to write beginning readers, or early chapter books, take time to look at some of these. If you don't want to spend the money to actually purchase a few of the titles in either of these categories, look for these books at your local library

Once you start making these little field trips, you'll look forward to them and realize how valuable they are to your writing.