To Be Continued . . .

September 2007 Special Sections

All kids have their favorite book series, but it often isn’t until much later in life that they realize the importance of those series in their growth as readers. As the characters and conventions of a beloved series become more familiar with each installment, there’s a happy side effect: reading speed and comprehension skills get a boost.

“This is what happened to me with the Nancy Drew series,” recalls author Lynn Jonell (Emmy & the Incredible Shrinking Rat). “Once a series is over, a child’s appetite for reading has increased at the same time as the difficulty has decreased. That’s a recipe for creating good readers.”

Familiarity and continuity have always drawn young readers to books series and it often keeps them reading in a way that stand-alone stories don’t.  Employing reassuringly similar storylines, familiar and compelling characters, and a tradition of plot twists and cliffhangers that tease kids into eagerly awaiting the next volume, series hold the key to drawing even the most reluctant readers to books.

“The depth and breadth of a series can create much more of a connection between the characters and the reader,” says David Levithan, editorial director of Scholastic Press. “Kids love series because when they hear a good story, they want it to continue.”

Vicki Palmquist of the Minnesota-based Children’s Literature Network credits series books and serialized comic books for her early voracious reading habits. It’s the constancy of characters and settings that keep kids returning to their favorites, she says: “Readers grow to love or revile [the characters], and the setting becomes as comfortable as our own homes, except you never know what’s behind that door you haven’t opened yet.

The Early Years
Although “series” is a term sometimes used to describe any book with a connecting book (Louisa May Alcott’s popular Little Women and its sequels, Little Men and Jo’s Boys, for example), it more often encompasses chapter books that continue with a similar set of characters or with the same setting for five or more books. Early examples include the Little House on the Prairie series  and the Anne of Green Gables books. At their most pronounced, series can encompass dozens of books published for many decades—some penned by several authors or ghostwriters.

For a sense of how children’s series took root and evolved over time, it’s helpful to start with the wildly successful Nancy Drew series (see “5 Classic Series That Have Endured”). The Nancy Drew books were the genius of Edward Stratemeyer whose Stratemeyer Syndicate churned out more than twenty-two different children’s book series, with separate titles aimed at boys and girls. “[Before Nancy Drew], all of his girl series featured girls who grew up and got married,” says Melanie Rehak, author of Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her. “He got letters from girls saying that they were reading boys’ books after the [girls series] characters got married because they just didn’t care what happened then.”