Writing for the children's market is hard, not least because the writer has to sell to two readers; the adult who will buy the book for the child, and the child that will read it or have it read to them.

So, Harry Potter and his meandering titles apart, titles are usually short and snappy.

Some practitioners recommend titles lasting from one to three words; but no more than five.

Alliteration helps a young mind's memory for the next visit to the bookshop.

A young modern enquiring mind has little interest in exposition or long-winded openings, so writers attempt to hook a reader with:

The title,
the first page,
the first chapter.

A main character, a setting, and a problem is introduced to keep the story moving.

Not so easy peasy.

For lively club discussion on writing for children see here.

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