How To Grow A Picture Book Series, by Pippa Goodhart

One part of my work is critiquing picture book texts on behalf of the Jericho Writers agency, and very often people send a series of picture book texts, or a single picture book text together with proposals to develop a whole series.

 

What I’ve tended to tell those writers has been based on my own experience, that picture book series depend on creating an exceptionally strong stand alone picture book which sells so well that the publisher asks for, or agrees to, further books. My You Choose books, illustrated by Nick Sharratt, began with a single book, with the second one agreed to only once that book had sold well over a number of years.

I now have a bit of a series developing from a different book. Fair Shares, illustrated by Anna Doherty and published by Tiny Owl came out in 2019. It quickly proved popular with teachers and librarians, and so Tiny Owl asked for another book from us, and now Best Test will be published in April. I have an idea for a third book, but wait to see if that is going to be wanted!

 

So I wondered if my experience of series growing from single book success was shared by my co-denners. Here are their interesting answers -  

 

 

Natascha Biebow, (an experienced picture book editor as well as writer):

 

All the series that I've ever edited or seen do well on the market started with a single title - e.g. DAISY, Kes Gray's OI series, YOU CHOOSE as you say, THE DINOSAUR THAT POOPED..., HARRY AND THE BUCKETFUL OF DINOSAURS. The only exception I can think of is PRINCESS POPPY- in this case the author had already self-published and built a brand and so RH bought in the character rights and kicked off with a planned series.

 

Chitra Soundar

 

a) When my first Falgu book came out (illustrated by Kanika Nair), I wasn’t well-known in India or known at all in the UK. But after they edited the first book, they offered me a second book right away.

 

b) After rights sold in Frankfurt for Book 1, Book 3 and 4 was commissioned together. (‘Frankfurt’ refers to the annual International Book Fair at which co-editions are sold)

 

With respect to the massively popular You’re Safe With Me series (illustrated by Poonam Mistry), the first book was on unsolicited submission which was then rejected and then solicited back. Even before it came out, when US Junior Library Guild agreed to stock them, the publisher commissioned a second. And then commissioned a third soon after. 

 

None of those were automatic series - but one thing I’d say is as a writer I always put character first and when I’m writing, I’m always thinking of other scenarios for the characters. Even when not commissioned as a series, I create potential for it from the first book and then depending on my relationship with my publisher, ask if I can show them another story in the series. I do this for chapter books as well and it has worked well. 

 

Every time I have an idea, I evaluate if that idea will work for any of my existing characters and if so, I’d see if I should write it and show it to my publisher or ask them first and write it. 

 

Jane Clarke

 

Interesting topic because unless you are an author illustrator, picture book series depend on keeping both the writer and the illustrator on board.

 

I've experienced it both ways - eg I wrote Gilbert the Great as a one-off, and it slowly (over the next 5 years) became a 3 book 'series' because the first book was popular. They only commissioned the third book when the second also sold well. The illustrations by Charles Fuge were a huge attraction and at that time, Charlie was so busy it was hard to fit the third book into his schedule.

Same experience with Knight Time but it only got as far as book 2 (Knight School) - I wrote more texts but the decision was made to stop at 2. I cheekily pitched my most recent text (A Small Person's Guide to Grandmas, to be published 2022) as a potential series, I'm contracted for the first title only - but I guess it doesn't hurt for them to know that there's the potential for more :-)

 

On the other hand, I was contracted from the outset by Nosy Crow to do 4 picture books with Britta Teckentrup ( the unifying characteristic being the use of neon colours rather than a character, and I'm sure the 4 book contract was because they wanted the incredibly popular and busy Britta to schedule time for these books). Titles are Neon Leon, Firefly Home, Leap Frog and the upcoming Tiptoe Tiger.

 

I was also contracted from the outset to do 3 x picture books featuring the character Sky Private Eye - but that series was the concept of the publisher Five Quills.

 

Garry Parsons

 

My experience of working on a series has been that they have developed after the first book has  reached a certain level of popularity and then increased one book at a time. Having a tie-in title publishing a year later helps ignite new interest in the first and so on until you gradually acquire new readers who hopefully will enjoy all the books. My most popular sequence of books being The Dinosaur That Pooped series. Initially a one book contract for the first title, The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas has now grown into 6. 

The Dinosaur That Pooped series written by Tom Fletcher & Dougie Pointer

The other series of picture books I worked on was with author Peter Bently - The Tooth Fairy is a funny series of 3 rhyming story books which also started with a Christmas title, The Tooth Fairy's Christmas followed by The Tooth Fairy’s Royal Visit to coincide with a royal birth and finally, Happy Easter Tooth Fairy! for the spring. Similarly, this series, published by Hachette, developed one contract at a time. So it seems to me that a series grows on the strength of one book at a time but the potential for a series can be very worth while as well as fun to have the opportunity to take a character through different stories.

 

Three picture books that make you fizz with ideas - Jane Clarke

This time of year, I’m a frequent visitor to schools. I love to help enthuse and inspire the 4-11 year olds, and help them to come up with their own ideas for stories and poems. I often show them a picture book as a springboard.

Here are my top three picture books for making a class of kids (and me) fizz with ideas. If you don’t know them, take a look, I’m sure they will inspire you, too:

Tell me a Dragon by Jackie Morris (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

A gorgeous, poetic book. What would your dragon be, and how would you look after it?

Even the hatching-egg end papers are inspirational

I hadn’t realised before I looked it up today that Pie Corbett has created some great teachers notes on using this book, so instead of blathering on about what I do, I will refer you to an expert:

Tell me a Dragon teacher's notes by Pie Corbett

Things that are the most in the world by Judi Barrett, illustrated by John Nickle (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

This is crazy, silly, surreal - and lots of fun!

Get the youngest kids to try it with colours and the older ones with emotions/feelings (happiest, saddest, most grumpy/loving/jealous/angry etc). Try it yourself with different sorts of weather, atmosphere, settings, food, textures, movements. 

My non-fiction choice is

Uneversaurus by Professor Potts (David Fickling Books)

 

Discover a new dinosaur and bring it to life. Keep it ‘real’ or go silly by mixing dinosaurs with other creatures (like an Octo-saur or a Dog-o-don) emotions, (Happysaurus, Grumpysaurus etc) what they eat (e.g. Sausagesaurus, Book-o-saur). 

If you’re hoping to inspire the small person in your life - a special mention for the You Choose books by Picture Book Den’s very own Pippa Goodhart, illustrated by Nick Sharratt. They are packed with inspirational ideas for kids.  The only reason that the first You Choose is not in my top 3 is that it’s harder to share with a class, whereas all the others have  illustrations that are big, bold and easy-to-see-from-a-distance.

 

I’d love to hear about other books that make you fizz with ideas!

Jane’s thrilled to be able to let you know that she's just agreed a deal with Walker Books for her next picture book - and is delighted to have these 3 new editions of picture books out in Feb 2020: a paperback edition of Leap frog, illustrated by Btitta Teckentrup and board book editions of Neon Leon, also illustrated by Britta Teckentrup, and Old Macdonald's Things That Go, illustrated by Migy Blanco.

A Good Q and A Session • Lynne Garner

For a while I’ve been struggling with my picture book writing, simply no ideas. Then typically three evolved within the same week. The ideas germinated because I asked myself a few questions. This has happened to me before. Many years ago whilst checking on a hibernating hedgehog I was looking after I asked myself “what do hedgehogs dream about?” The answers I came up with finally became my very first picture book A Book For Bramble.

This then made me wonder if other authors had had the same experience. Having asked myself this question I needed to know the answer. So, as I have direct access to the Picture Book Den team, I posed the question to them. It appears I’m not the only author to have had this experience and the following books are the results of questions these authors posed themselves.

In no particular order:

Neon Leon by Jane Clarke

Jane wondered what would happen if a chameleon couldn’t change colour. She’s aware the real answer would be that it’s likely it would’ve been eaten whilst small. But, this book shows what a little imagination can achieve when you ask yourself one of those random questions.

You Choose by Pippa Goodhart

In Pippa’s own words “after seeing my children’s enjoyment of catalogues of toys, catalogues of clothing, kitchen and garden equipment aimed at adults, I asked myself, ‘would it be possible to make a catalogue of the much bigger choices we make in life?’ Her answer was “Yes! Simply use that catalogue treatment of showing a mass of choices, but take it into the realms of fantasy a little by offering children a mix of realistic and over the top homes, food, friends, jobs, and so on.” This format has worked so well that Pippa has also written Just Imagine and You Choose in Space.

Farmer Falgu Goes on a Trip by Chitra Soundar

Chitra asked herself the simple question “is silence better than noise?” Her answer, which is explored in her book is “noise is joyous.”

The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow

After watching an episode of Sesame Street featuring how Crayola crayons are made with her son, Natascha found herself wondering who had invented them. So, she started digging for “story nuggets.” She used the archives at the Smithsonian Museum (Washington, DC), visited the Crayola factory and contacted the inventor’s family. All this research resulted in a non-fiction picture book that tells the story of Edwin Binney and his wonderful invention, the Crayola crayons.

So, it would appear I’m not the only author who has posed themselves a question and ended up with a book idea. So, the next time you’re suffering with writers block ask yourself a random question and see where the answers lead you.

Alternately if you’ve asked yourself a question and you need a few more imaginative answers then post them here. I’m sure between us we can help you create your next story.

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My latest short story collection

Our Wildest Book Dream: by Pippa Goodhart

Is it just me who gets annoyed when writers and bakers and actors who win things say that they ‘never in their wildest dreams’ thought of winning such a thing?  How could they achieve those things if they didn’t imagine that goal and strive for it?  Was winning truly just an accident?’  My gut instinct is to not believe them.  So I am confessing here that I do dare to dream wild dreams. 

In my wildest dreams I write books which win a prize.  In my wildest dreams I write books that particular children love in that wonderful child way that absorbs the book into their very beings, pondering it and sharing it again and again, still thinking about them many years on into their lives.   The book of mine for which those wild dreams actually came true was, and is, You Choose.  But the way in which the wild dream has unfolded hasn’t gone at all according to how it did in those wild dreams. 

Did my (then) agent love the idea and the text for the book?  No.  Did publishers set up a bidding war for it?  No.  One after another, they turned it down.  But then lovely Penny Walker at Transworld DID like it, and she even asked who I’d like to illustrate it.  The dream twitched into life!  And became true when my dream choice of illustrator, Nick Sharratt, agreed to take on the book. 

But did the resulting book get reviewed and showered with prizes?  No, not a single review for years.  Not a single prize long-listing, let alone win … at least for the first nine years after its publication.  So how did You Choose manage to stay in print long enough to eventually get noticed in those sorts of ways?  Largely because Wendy Cooling chose it as a book to be given to hundreds of thousands of children through the Bookstart scheme.  My wild dream hadn’t thought of that move!  But that was vital to eventual success.  

When sales of You Choose hit a million, did the publisher send me a golden book to hang on my wall?  Flowers, perhaps?  Champagne?  No, no, and no.  The fact that You Choose had sold over a million copies was something that I only discovered when that boast got printed on a new edition of the book, and I queried it.  ‘Oh, didn’t you know?’  No, I didn’t!  So that moment had passed me by. 

But lovely things certainly were happening with You Choose.  Nick and I have seen so many used to bits tatty copies of the book, such as this one, and that’s a real compliment to a book -

And, nine years after publication, You Choose finally did win a prize, and a particularly lovely one.  It was voted to be The Best Picture Book of All Time by the readers of York’s libraries.  Thank you, North Yorkshire! 

And the publishers accepted a further book in the You Choose style.  Just Imagine came out nine years after You Choose.  And now both You Choose and Just Imagine have been chosen by Dolly Parton’s imagination Library as book gifts she buys in huge numbers to give children.  I certainly never dreamed of the very lovely letters I’ve received from Dolly herself in relation to that!     

And now, da daaaa!, a third such book, You Choose in Space, is newly published.  Nick Sharratt excels himself with his aliens and spacecraft in this beautiful book full of things to spot and talk about and enjoy.

So, for all my cynicism about that phrase about ‘wildest dreams’, and the users of it, I can genuinely say that to get to this moment of publication of a third book in the You Choose family (that, yes, IS being reviewed already), the Dolly Parton endorsement, and the ongoing many many kind comments from people about the books truly is ‘beyond my wildest dreams’!  

Thank you to Nick Sharratt, Penguin Random House, Wendy Cooling, and all the many many children, parents, teachers and librarians who have cheer-led this family of books.  Thank you, and, as Dolly would say, do, yourselves, dare to dream!

Picture Books To Get Children Talking, by Pippa Goodhart

Shouldn't children should sit and listen when a picture book is read to them?  That’s certainly how children’s books used to work.  Adults wrote, and perhaps read, them, and children received them, whole and pre-digested.  But we’ve got cleverer at the games that can be played between story book and child in more recent times.

We all know that the best picture books give opportunities for young children to join-in with the storytelling.  Think of the simple genius of Rod Campbell’s Dear Zoo in which the animals aren’t named in the text, and it’s for the child to open the flap and name the camel that’s ‘too grumpy’ and the frog that’s ‘too jumpy’ and so on.  That clever leaving of story spaces to be filled by the child is a way to give small children a taste of being a story teller, and also gives them a feeling of ownership over the story; they’ve contributed vital parts to the whole story, and that’s powerful and fun!  See Polly Dunbar’s PBD blog on the subject http://picturebookden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/chicken-or-egg-by-polly-dunbar.html

But here I want to consider picture books which get children doing a different kind of talking; talking about themselves.

I’ve recently become involved in the wonderful charity Home-Start.  http://www.home-start.org.uk .   Home-Start works by training volunteer parents to pair-up with families with young children who are struggling for some reason.  Multiple births, post-natal depression, illness, bereavement, distance from friends ... there are multiple reasons why some struggle in that vital stage of family life.  Home-Start volunteers give whatever help the parent wants.  It may be taking the children out to give the parent a break, it might be listening to the parent and discussing things, it might be accompanying parent and child to family centre sessions, it might simply be doing the shopping or the washing up. But it will often involve talking with young children, or allowing time for the parent to have some ‘quality time’ with their child.   

When there’s a family crisis, one vital thing which can get lost or forgotten is communication with young children.  When people are preoccupied with problems, important ordinary conversations about everyday life might not happen.  A shared book can give an occasion for conversation between parents or other adult carers and children.  Even in families with no particularly pressing problems, we all know how you can ask a child what they did at school today, and the answer that comes back is often, “Nothing.”  Sometimes it simply takes too much energy, or things are too complex for a child to explain, so children don’t tell what might be bothering or exciting or puzzling them.  Of course parents might not be telling how they feel about things either.   

I don’t know how far the ‘Sally is Being Bullied’ (I’ve made that title up) sort of book does help a child who is being bullied.  It might, but my suspicion is that many children would react against something that labels their problem so bluntly.  Besides, a book of that kind often doesn’t have a story, or, if it does, it’s a story steered around an agenda rather than coming from character.  It won't be fun.

Since my ‘You Choose’ book, illustrated by Nick Sharratt, was published twelve years ago, I’ve heard again and again from parents and therapists how that book has proved a fun way to get children talking about themselves, as well as simply talking and improving their vocabularies.  With that in mind, I wrote my new book ‘What Will Danny Do Today?’, illustrated by Sam Usher. 

What Will Danny Do Today? follows a child, Danny, through a day, from getting up and deciding what to wear, off to school where lots of options offer themselves, to after school fun with Dad, and finally a choice of book for bedtime.  Each spread is busy with possibilities.  So, for example, when going to school, there are ordinary options, the child walking with Mum and a baby sibling in a pushchair, there are the more unusual options, going to school via a zip-wire from your bedroom window to the school entrance, and there is also, if you notice, the shy child, alone at the school gate and not sure about stepping through it.  Which of those does the child reader identify with?  Or wish that they were like that one?  This is a book that can be played purely for laughs.  Or it can be played straight.  Or it can prompt discussions about aliens or detectives or stealing or whether one should eat ice-cream for breakfast, or much more.    

Which other books to get children talking about themselves can you all recommend?