Writing a Children's Book

Lesson 2: Planning Your Book.

Specific Level - Picture Books.

In this, the first of the sections devoted specifically to each age level, we focus on children’s picture books, also known as picture story books.

In some ways, a picture book looks like a tempting first project. Unfortunately, it is one of the most difficult levels to sell. This is partly because of the expense of producing them, and partly because many writers, even experienced ones, fail to realise how picture books are constructed and what they actually are.

Picture books, as their name implies, are always illustrated. Illustrations are almost always in colour, and almost always much more extensive than the text. The pictures serve a different purpose from those in other illustrated books.

In an illustrated novel, pictures break up and interpret the story.

In a picture book, pictures are part of the story. They are so important that they can sometimes make the text mean something else. Here’s an example.

In a JCB (such as "The Orange Outlaw") you might read a line like this.

“Tom was frightened of heights. That meant he was very careful on the monkey bars. Mum said he was very brave.”

The same scene in a PB might read like this.

“Tom climbed the monkey bars. ‘How brave of you!’ said Mum.”

It is left to the illustration to depict Tom’s white-knuckled grip on the bars, and the look of terror on his face. Mum’s words are positive, but her pose would betray that she’s ready to catch and rescue if necessary.

It takes time for some writers to understand that picture books are not just shorter novels.

A picture book must have a theme. It must have a strong idea. It must have a point. It cannot be about a child having a nice time. Something important has to happen.

The plot might be structured like the plot you saw being developed in the section on planning, or it might have a cumulative structure in which the same scene repeats with variations. It might be told in rhyme, or part rhyme, and it might have a refrain. You will read about the anatomy of a specific picture book in the supplement section of this lesson.

Modern picture books usually have between 400 and 700 words. A few are longer, but these are usually written by well-established authors who are allowed to break the rules.

Some picture books are written and illustrated by the same person, or by established teams. Most publishers I have dealt with prefer authors to submit the unillustrated text. If an editor chooses it for publication, then s/he will organise an illustrator. Unless acting as author/illustrator, authors typically have no choice and no responsibility for the artwork.

Picture books have 32 pages. The story usually begins with a single page (P3). Typically, the story will begin with an introductory sentence that sets the character(s) and scene and situation. 14 double spreads follow, and the story will develop on these spreads, which may have one large picture or separate ones. The story ends with a single page (P.32). Because the pictures dominate the form, you need to avoid writing a story that shows the same character(s) repeatedly in the same scene(s).

Because picture books are so short, they must be finely crafted. Every word counts. This is expecially true if writing a rhyming picture book. Every line must carry the story forward. No line must ever be there just to make up the rhyme.

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