Someday I plan to write for kids. That’s how I started writing seriously. I wrote a story intended to be a picture book. I was so green, I think I submitted it to a publisher without a cover letter. But it occurs to me that to make my mark in history, I should write something for kids. If a children’s book becomes really popular, it never goes out of print. When kids grow up, they end up buying it for their kids.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent. I mean to give a list of three series that I have enjoyed.

1. The Vampire Plagues by Sebastian Rook. These were fantastic, historical fiction that was somewhat gruesome. But that’s to be expected when you’re dealing with vampires. My boys loved these books.

2. Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism, by Georgia Byng. How can you not buy this book when there’s this wacky pug dog on the cover? While the book starts out with a cliche–an orphan in an orphange where she is unhappy–it veers away from that soon enough in unexpected twists and turns.

3. Lastly, there are the Artemis Fowl Books by Eoin Colfer. If you have boys, they must read these books. They’ve got Bond-like gadgets, magic, fart jokes, and a young anti-hero who is very flawed, but for who you can’t help but root for.

Do you ever read children’s fiction on your own? Got any recommendations for me?