NOLA STARs

I’m struggling with my WIP (and who isn’t?), trying to keep my story child speaking age-appropriate childrenese. The child, Willie, lives in the 1930's, the product of a poor farming family, none of whom are educated beyond the eighth grade. Their language is rather plain. To make things worse(for me), the story is told from Willie’s POV, and he grows older with the progression of the novel.