Why 'grown-up' authors are now writing for kids

Many of these writers always wanted to write books for children, but they never got the chance. For Mr. Chabon, writing books had been a dream since he was a little boy. He longed to write an adventure story that had children as the heroes, just as his favorite Narnia chronicles did.

The adventures in these children's books are often full of danger and evil. Writers like to write this way when the real world is confusing and scary, and they feel helpless. In the magical worlds they think up, even children can fight scary battles and win, sometimes better than grown ups.

"These children's stories root themselves in what children need," says Frank Riga, professor of English at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. "They need to be told that they can have power if they use it responsibly and intelligently with ingenuity.... And there's no question that it's a catharsis for adults, too. We read literature, in general, in part to find a world that we can control in our imaginations."

Chabon's "Summerland" is about children fighting the evil Coyote, who wants to end the world. In Mr. Hiaasen's "Hoot," a new boy in town thinks of clever schemes to save a group of owls.

Some grown-ups worry that these books are too scary for kids. A lot people have asked if the fourth Harry Potter book is too creepy for little kids. And some people don't think it's a good idea that authors like Neil Gaiman, who has written some really scary books for adults, are writing for kids.

Yet Dr. Riga says some scary stories may be OK. "I think kids like to be scared, but at the same time know they're protected." In the end, he believes, scary adventure stories help kids learn how to feel safe when scary things happen in the real world.

Whichever way, the people who sell books are also hoping to make a lot of money, just like they did with Harry Potter. "You get that much more bang for your buck if you can market the book to the adult readers as well," says Marika Flatt, the national media director for Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists in Austin, Texas.

Now that there doesn't have to be a difference between books for children and books for adults, writers can write about bigger kids again, like Holden or Scout.

"The period of adolescence is a period of great turmoil, with decisions crowding an uncertainty, and I think it's simply a fertile time for writers to focus their attention," says Bill Tipper, an editor for Barnes&Noble.com, a store that sells books on computers. "When you see a phenomenon like Harry Potter, it reminds everyone that there are books and there are writers and there are feelings that cut across these barriers."

Now all through the land, girls and boys, moms and dads, the writers, and the people who make the books, too, are happy to find stories that everyone will love, and read together.

The End.

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