Thursday, May 06, 2004

Outsmarting the ages

URSULA is coming out from AiT/Planet Lar in July. It's already there on the AiT site, in the "all ages" category.

All ages.

And then somebody asks "why is it an all ages book? What does that mean? Is it for kids?"

A story that appeals to kids doesn't need to be just for them. It doesn't even need to be done with the children being the primary target. The first thing that matters is that the story you tell is a good story, for everybody likes a good story, no matter how old they are. Then you have to always remember that children are smart, sometimes smarter than us in some ways, and that they know a lot of things that, in time, they may forget, so the story you tell doesn't need to be simple and shallow, it just have to be honest.

Some stories are ageless. You can read them when you're young and they'll make you laugh. You can read them when you're already a man (or a woman) and they will make you think, they will make you cry. If you read them when you're old, they'll make you remember and they'll make you happy. This ageless stories will go to the essence of each one of us, they will tell us about who we are. Whenever you read one of these stories, you'll still be yourself and the story will touch you somehow. You'll think you would want your friends to read it, they would like it too. Even your parents would like it.

Even your kids.

No comments: