Explain It Like I’m Five

“Explain it like I’m five” has become shorthand for clarity. A joke, a meme, a Reddit forum, a challenge. It’s also a useful lens for nonfiction authors (especially those actually writing for five-year-olds).

The phrase isn’t asking for people to use smaller ideas or shorter sentences. It’s asking for an explanation that starts where understanding actually begins.

Explaining something well is a lot like giving directions. You don’t start by just naming the destination, you start with where the person actually is at that moment. (This analogy assumes we aren’t using GPS).

Writers often begin in the middle without realizing it. They reference concepts the reader hasn’t met yet. They use vocabulary that feels natural to them but is unfamiliar to the audience. Not because they’re careless but because they know the subject too well. This is the curse of knowledge at work.

When adults hear “explain it to me like I’m five,” it’s often interpreted as a call to use fewer words. But people (especially children) don’t need ideas made smaller. They need them made reachable.

That reachability comes from the author remembering what it felt like to not know something. Remembering their first questions. The early confusion.

Strong children’s nonfiction works with that reality. It slows down. It takes a few steps back. It meets the reader where they are at that moment. By doing that, the path to understanding clearer (no matter the readers age).