You have to take them seriously

First, if you have young children and don't know Mo Willems, I recommend you consider rectifying that. Second, I love the way he puts this, and would broaden it to working with kids in any way. Kids know when you respect them and when you don't. Complete article--"Author Mo Willems writes stories for silly kids — and adults"--here.

Q. What’s the secret to understanding children?

A. Children happen to be people. The main difference between us and them is that they’re shorter. But that doesn’t mean they’re dumber or that they don’t have emotions. You have to take them seriously. The drama that happens in my books is real.

Q. What do kids want from books?

A. Kids don’t have cultural modifiers. They don’t know what the Arc de Triomphe is. Watergate doesn’t mean anything to them. They’re working on things like walking. So you have to write the most basic, bare-bones funny. It has to be true. It has to come from an emotional place — jealousy, anger, joy — as opposed to a cultural place.