Building a Personal Reading List

Some time ago, I got an email from reader Maxwell Shea who came across my FAQ lists and had additional questions. I'm posting my replies here, since they may be of interest to others as well.Admittedly those FAQ lists are old and in need of updating, but that will have to wait until I have time on hand. Me and time, we're constantly at odds.Anyway, here we go:MS: You said to try to read mostly newer books when getting a feel for how to write for children, but I don't quite understand why you might say that, other than to say don't try to copy other famous books.UK: Well, here's the deal. If you are submitting to today's publishers, you're just going to have to read a representative number of today's books, to see where your voice is going to fit into the conversation. It's not about copying someone else's work, but rather understanding the range of subjects and sensibilities currently found in publishing catalogs, so you can figure out where the gaps exist that you and only you might be able to fill. Aside from gauging the field for submission purposes, I think a writer for young readers should read widely and deeply, across the age ranges, across the decades and also across borders of geography and culture. I tell my students that in each month's bibliography they should read at least one book published before they were born, and one or two books published outside North America.Nothing can replenish a writer's wordbag like reading, so read generously. Learn to read critically. Write an annotation for every book you read, looking not for what you like and dislike but what you can learn from that book. If you want to write in a particular form (picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels), start reading now. Read 50 books before you try to write one. Read to see how others do the work you are seeking to do.MS:Wouldn't a voice with fresh ideas and some skill be equally at home finding inspiration in the richness of the early 70s as well as what's on the bookshelf today? In fact, I actually am disappointed in a great deal of the new books I read when I go to a bookstore. There must be an insatiable demand for cuteness. I know there must be many more good books being published than I see at bookstores. I just can't see how reading new books, whether as an adult would-be writer or as a child would be an improvement over a similarly rich bench of books from 40-50 years ago.UK: We do have an amazing artistic history in our field, so sure, draw on whatever inspires you but remember that you can't compete with books that are deemed classics, for one good reason. Those books are still around. Unlike in adult literary writing, where today's writers aren't competing with the giants of decades past, the nostalgia factor in the sale of children's books is huge. I also think it's a paradox of the art we work in that if we want to write something that endures, we must write the stories that matter to us and will resonate with children in a world that is vastly different from that of the 1970s. The word, in Paulo Freire's terms, must connect the reader and the world.Finally, don't be too quick to write off today's writers based on the overflow of cuteness on shelf at your local bookstore. If you can't find indie bookstores with informed children's/YA staff (and I know they're scarce in many communities) scour library shelves instead. Get to know your local children's and YA librarians. Read review journals and the many blogs that offer information and opinions on current books. Start making your own lists of books that speak to you, books that extend your thinking, books that make you want to read more, and books that make you want to write.