Read, Read, Read

Not only do I love to write, I also love to read. I have found that if I want to write for a certain genre or certain age group, I must first read tons of books in their genre or for that age of child. If I want to write for beginning readers, I must read dozens of books written by various authors. I read somewhere that an aspiring author of children's books should read 100 books in the specific reading level on which he or she will be focusing.

Sounds about right.