Eight Resources to Help You Write a Great Picture Book - Lynne Garner

 I've been a writer and teacher (adults) for just over 25 years. I believe learning is a life long journey and that's why I've always encouraged my students to continue to learn. So, with this in mind I've put together a list of eight resources you may find helpful with learning how to write a great picture book.

One:

Penguin publishing has a features section on their website. Yes, some of the features are plugging their books. However, there are features that are also educational. One written by author Alan Durant (click on this link to read it) provides a helpful list of five things to consider when writing a picture book. 

Two:

Another great resource is The Book Trust. This charity is the UK's largest children's reading charity. Their aim is to get children reading. Each year they reach millions of children across the UK with books, resources and support to help develop a love of reading. If you click on this link you will be taken to their picture book writing page. It contains a wealth of knowledge for writers of all ages. Perhaps start your journey by reading author Joyce Dunbar's 'Guide to Writing Picture Books.'

Julia Donaldson - children's author 

Three: If you have the money to invest in your learning then the BBC run courses created by people top in their field and includes Julia Donaldson. A single course costs £79 or you can sign up for a year at a cost of £10 per month and gain access to all of their courses. Once you've studied how to write a picture book then perhaps explore how to write comedy to help you  write funny picture books. Or perhaps poetry to help you write a rhyming picture book. To find out more click on this link. 

Four:

Picture books are different from other books. They conform to page counts (this is cost driven). The words support the images and the images the words. When you understand how important this is and how it works it will help you write a picture book which flows across the pages. The post written by children's author Tara Lazar if one of the best I've come across. Click here to read it. 

Five:

This article on Reedys (provide services to authors) gives tips on how to write your picture book and what questions to ask yourself. It also breaks down the different age groups that picture books are aimed at. Plus the difference between being traditionally published and publishing yourself. Again, simply click on the link to read the article. 

Six:

If you prefer to go old school and read a book then there are three books which I highly recommend written by children's author Eve Heidi Bine-Stock. They are:

• How to Write a Children's Picture Book Volume I Structure
• How to Write Children's Picture Book Volume II Word, Sense, Scene and Story
• How to Write Children's Picture Book Volume III Figures of Speech

Seven: 

Another online learning resource I've found invaluable for a range of different subjects is Skill Share. At the time of writing this post they were offering a months free trial. At the end of my free trial I had found the courses so useful and enjoyable that I took out a years subscription at a cost of £123.

Eight: Last but not least right here on the Picture Book Den you will find many great posts about the process and business of writing pictures books. I have written about this before so why not click on this link to discover eight tip based posts written by the Picture Book Den team. 

I hope this has been helpful and good luck.

I can be found on LinkedIn.

 

A brief history of the humble Pencil - by Garry Parsons

When I'm talking to children about my work as an illustrator I tell them about my pencil.

 

Virtually everything I do starts with a drawing, so the pencil is a very valuable tool for me indeed.

From the initial scribbles of an idea, to thumbnail sketches for a picture book or a cover rough for a fiction title, these drawings set the scene for the projects I'm working on and help me expand my ideas quickly. 

What's more, pencil marks can be erased, so if you don't like what you've done, you can simply rub it out!

 Pencil rough for a picture book spread - Garry Parsons

I also enjoy telling children that my pencil is in love (urgh, disgusting, yuk they cry!). 

The one true love of my pencil is not me, unfortunately, it's the rubber. 

But why I ask them?

The answer I usually receive is that the rubber erases the mistakes I've made with the pencil. 

A good answer if you're using a pencil for maths or a language lesson, but for sketching and drawing the rubber is essential. I never think of the rubber as a piece of equipment to eradicate mistakes, instead the rubber is there to help the pencil achieve its goal, to get it right! 

The rubber is a tool to mould and shape the drawing and therefore a key part in the process of visualising something true.

Scene from The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Bruce Ingman - Walker Books

So these drawings are erased and redrawn, often over and over again until something slowly appears that feels 'right' in its development and detail. This is something I'm sure most artists would agree with.

If it's a picture book I'm working on, the drawings are taken through various stages until they sit harmoniously with the text and are approved for final artwork from the author and publishing team, and if I'm using paint, as I often do for picture books, the drawings are then obliterated by colour and lost forever.

So this post is a little homage to the hard working pencil and a brief history of how it all began.

Decorated cave paintings from Serra da Capybara, Brazil.

Humans have always made tools to make marks on things. The earliest inscriptions and drawings made by humans date back to 3200 BC, but the birth of the pencil only happened around 400 years ago. 

Up until then, the drawing technique used by medieval scribes, craftsmen and artists such as DaVinci was Silverpoint, one of several types of metalpoint. Silverpoint was a process of dragging a metal rod across a prepared surface such as gesso. For drawing, the essential metals used were lead, tin and silver for their relative softness. Compared to a pencil however, silverpoint is a time consuming and limiting way to draw, requiring considerable skill. Albrecht Durer's father was a craftsman and taught him to draw in metalpoint.

Self portrait at the age of 13 - Albrect Dürer dated 1484

The pencil story begins in the 16th century when graphite deposits were discovered in Seathwaite, Borrowdale in Cumbria, England, apparently revealed to the local people following a heavy storm. 

The messy black substance they found was at first thought to be lead, commonly used by the Romans to write with on vellum and animal skin but was in fact graphite of a very high and desirable quality. What the people of Borrowdale realised was that this messy substance could be used to make dark marks on paper.

Graphite!

Thin sticks could be extracted from the raw graphite and were sold wrapped in string or sheep skin to stop the users hands from becoming filthy. Around this time the word 'pencil' comes into use from the latin penicillum meaning 'little tail' and the graphite pencil from Cumbria becomes widely used across Europe to write and make marks with. Cumbria's unique graphite mines enabled England to enjoy a monopoly on the production of pencils, but these were crude instruments to draw with and still a long way from the pencil that we know today.

In the 1790's, during the Napoleonic War, an embargo imposed by England, limited supplies to France which included the export of pencils and graphite. Running out of suitable materials to write and draw with, Nicholas-Jaques Conté was given the task of solving this problem. Conté was a scientist and inventor and had already had some success in making hot air balloons (where he accidentally lost an eye). 

Nicholas-Jaques Conté

Using a graphite powder and clay mixture, Conté moulded the substance into sticks and fired them in a kiln.

Conté crucially noticed that by varying the ratios of the graphite and clay mixture he was able to alter the hardness of the pencil that he produced. 

Encasing the stick in wood made yielding it a much more practical and precise drawing tool, with the added benefit of the user being able to choose what hardness of lead best suited their needs. 

The oldest pencil in the world, found in a timbered house in 1630 (image; Faber-Castell)

The new 'modern' pencil, encased in wood became highly popular in Europe and other manufacturers began making pencils based on Conté's ideas such as AW Faber in Germany.

In the United States, Henry David Thoreau was producing graphite pencils mixed spermaceti, a wax like substance from the Sperm whale commonly used to in the manufacture of candles at this time. Round pencils were soon replaced by the more practical hexagonal shaped wooden covering to stop them rolling off the table.

Pushing the pencil design further, literally, the first patent for a refillable pencil with a spring mechanism to propel the lead was made by Sampson Mordan and John Issac Hawkins in Britain in 1822. 

Morgan went into business manufacturing pencils and other silver objects until the factory was bombed during World War II. 

Mordan's patent for the mechanical pencil

In japan, Tokuji Hayakawa improved the mechanical pencil and introduced the 'Ever Ready Sharp Pencil' in 1915, giving rise to the Japanese electronics company, Sharp Corporation.

So Hooray for the humble pencil!

For a wonderfully funny read aloud favourite to accompany this post  I recommend 'The Pencil' by Allan Ahlbeg and illustrated by Bruce Ingman.

Garry Parsons is an illustrator of many popular children's books and a devoted pencil user. 

@icandrawdinos 

www.garryparsons.co.uk

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Has someone written your idea first? Moira Butterfield

It happens to me on a regular basis. I think up an idea –  an approach to a subject that might be turned into a book (in my case it’s generally kid’s non-fiction). I put this idea on my ‘think about it soon’ list. Before I get round to it a version appears on Instagram. It’s been published! Everyone says it’s original and great thinking! Grrrrrrrr! 

Grumpy author, having just seen her idea already written. 

Does it happen to you? If you’re a regular author I’ll bet it has at some point. 

 It’s deeply irritating for quite a while, even though there is a sensible explanation. Ideas come from the myriad things we see and hear, and others might come upon them from the prevailing zeitgeist, too. I have this picture in my mind of small invisible ideas-with-wings whizzing around everyone like birds – zeitgeist birds, perhaps. They change shape depending on the things that happen to people in the world.  They’re a bit like little Pokemon, I suppose, and sometimes you can see them and catch them. (I told you I had a sensible explanation). 

An idea flying around, possibly near you. 

 

 

It’s hard cheese to know that someone else noticed your good idea, gave it a home and put in the time and effort to care for it and grow it more quickly than you did.  

 

When this happens I think there are three things to do. 

 

1)    Stomp around feeling annoyed. Get it out of your system (privately). 

 

2)    Wish the other author’s book well. (In fact if it is successful, the chances are that other publishers will be looking for things in the same area). Seek it out and take a quick look at it to see its approach. before....

 

3. Take your initial idea and work on it. Play with it. Shape it how YOU want. It’s likely to evolve and become a new thing – perhaps on the same subject but with your take and nobody else’s. Your brain is unique, after all. You can make it yours and yours alone, and I reckon that idea will be better and more original than it might ever have been before. 

 

To prove the point, here’s a collage I recently made of me and my own brain. Make your own collage of yourself and yours will be entirely different – though still a collage. 

My head in collage form. 

 A good idea came to you. It won’t drift away unless you want it to. Catch it! 

 

Moira Butterfield is an author of many children’s books sold around the world, including WELCOME TO OUR WORLD (Nosy Crow), the LOOK WHAT I FOUND series (National Trust/Nosy Crow) and THE SECRET LIFE series (Happy Yak).

Moira Butterfield

www.moirabutterfield.co.uk

X/Twitter @moiraworld 

instagram and Threads @moirabutterfieldauthor

SIX THINGS I'VE LEARNED ABOUT RHYMING PICTURE BOOKS by Clare Helen Welsh

This post has been a long time in the making. Over ten years in fact! When I first embarked on my picture book journey, my first stories were in rhyme. I eagerly submitted to my more experienced critique group, only to realise that my rhyme wasn’t up to industry standard. For a while after that, I stuck to writing only in prose.

I’m pleased to say that in January 2024, 11 years later, my first rhyming picture book will be publishing with Nosy Crow! So, in this post I reflect and share what I have learned about writing rhyming picture books.

 

1.      1. SCANSION IS MORE THAN JUST SYLLABLES

At the start of my writing journey, I thought meter meant counting syllables. I carefully counted the syllables in my texts and if they had twelve syllables in each line, for example, I thought I was doing it right! Here is the first spread of one of my first ever picture book texts:

 

Thursday, February 7, 2013 GRANDMA’S GREAT BEANS By Clare Welsh

I enjoy soft bananas and raisins and sweets.

I like crunchy carrots and potatoes and beets.

I’m partial to chicken but prefer veggie mince.

I love sausage trifle with a portion of quince!

 

I was so confused when my lovely critique partners' feedback said that the meter wasn’t working. What was meter? It turns out I didn’t know about scansion! It is possible to write couplets with the same number of syllables without a clear rhythm - without a consistent pattern of stresses and unstresses. Generally, this is what is advised for flawless rhyme that is easy to follow and enjoyable to read aloud. If I was re-writing my story today, I might have done something like this. These rewritten lines now have a /stress/ unstress/ unstress/ stress/ pattern:

I like soft bananas and raisins and sweets,

crunchy raw carrots with bacon and beets.

I’m partial to chicken and love veggie mince.

But best I love trifle with spoonfuls of quince!

 

2.      2. THE RULES DON’T APPLY TO EVERYONE

I recently met Julia Donaldson at Waterstones Piccadilly and was able to tell her what an inspiration her books have been, both to me as a writer and a teacher. Rhyming texts can be fantastic to read aloud and have an important role in early literacy. But many of Julia Donaldson’s texts don’t have a consistent rhythm throughout and read more like songs. I've learned that Julia can get away with things I can’t! Whilst there are other very successful creatives who have an in instinctive way of finding rhythm, for me at least, I know I’ll have to treat scansion as more of a science.

3.       3. DON’T LET THE RHYME HOLD YOUR STORY HOSTAGE

Thursday, February 7, 2013 GRANDMA’S GREAT BEANS By Clare Welsh

 ‘Bad dog!’ I shouted and I sent him outside.

I thought of the beans and, heartbroken, I cried.

I wept and I snivelled until I could cry no more.

Then all of a sudden, my eye caught the floor...

 

Coming back to my eleven year old text, you can see there are places where I have re-arranged the natural word-order to make the line rhyme. This can jolt the reader and make for a less pleasant reading experience - you want to avoid it in picture books where possible. Don’t let your rhyme hold your story hostage.

Another example of rhyme leading a story, is choosing words just because they rhyme. For example, including a turf in your under the sea based picture book because it rhymes with surf, even though it doesn't feel like the best word to use in that context. Picture books are focused – every word, every beat, every line should be carefully chosen. Don’t let rhyme lead your story in random directions. It stands out to the reader as a red herring, if not in the line, then by the end of story when turf doesn’t feature again. Don’t settle for lines that are there for convenient rhymes and that you wouldn’t have written if your story was told in prose.  

 

4.      4. THE RHYME NEEDS TO WORK FOR EVERYONE

I’m a big advocate of sharing texts with trusted critique partners. They’ll be able to spot where you’ve re-arranged the natural word order and where details have been added just because you needed a rhyme. They’ll also be able to point out which near rhymes you can and can’t get away with (if any!) A near rhyme is a rhyme that almost rhymes but not quite, like machine and dream. They’ll also advise which rhymes don’t scan or rhyme for them personally. Your rhyme needs to work in different accents and in different continents. What rhymes for a southerner, might not rhyme for someone with a northern accent. What rhymes in UK English, might not necessarily work in American. This is important – your rhyme needs to work for all the readers who may pick up your book.

 

5.      5. A WEAK CONCEPT IN PROSE WON’T BE A STRONG CONCEPT IN RHYME

Because of the sing-song nature of rhyme, we sometimes feel that rhyme can carry a text. And of course, it does! But rhyming stories still need to be great stories, with strong characters, a clear throughline and multiple hooks, just like a text in prose. Take a look at the How To Grow series by Rachel Morrisroe and Steven Lenton, or the Gertie series by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley.

These are fantastic story concepts, whether in rhyme or prose. (Both of these authors write in exceptional rhyme by the way, if you are looking for examples of the industry standard.)  This point about strong concepts is important for co-editions. A publisher will want to try and sell your text to foreign territories. A rhyming text would have to be translated or re-written in prose, so it needs to be worth that effort.

 

6.      6. YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE IN RHYME

I mentioned at the top of this article that my first stories were in rhyme. When I realised I didn’t understand scansion, I stopped writing in rhyme for several years. I tried again during the pandemic when a rhyming couplet appeared in my head. Quite instinctively, these became the opening lines of the text publishing in a few months’ time. I’ve still had to work hard to make sure my meter is consistent. I’ve shared the texts with critique partners and editors who have helped to iron out the pitfalls of writing in rhyme mentioned above, but…

I am really pleased that my next picture book will be my rhyming debut! And I hope that this shows you that writing in rhyme – just like writing generally – is a skill you can learn and practise and get better at.

 

CLARE HELEN WELSH

Clare Helen Welsh is a children's writer from Devon. She writes fiction and non-fiction picture book texts - sometimes funny, sometimes lyrical and everything in between! Her latest picture book is called 'Never, Ever, Ever Ask A Pirate To A Party,' illustrated by Anne-Kathrin Behl and published by Nosy Crow. Her debut rhyming picture book will publish in January 2024. You can find out more about her at her website www.clarehelenwelsh.com or on Twitter @ClareHelenWelsh . Clare is represented by Alice Williams at Alice Williams Literary.

Jen Khatun - The Curious Creative and a Devoted Beret Collector by Chitra Soundar

 I recently interviewed Jen Khatun, illustrator of wonderful picture books and chapter books about her work and styles and process. Here are some amazing insights and a peep into her process. Enjoy.

---

Hi Jen, I've worked with you on four books in the Sona Sharma series. But I know you also illustrate picture books. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hello! I’m Jen, Children’s Book Illustrator since 2016, represented by The Bright Agency. My hometown is the quaint and beautiful city of Winchester, Hampshire. My origins begin with my family, my Mum and Dad, both heralded from the exotic land of Bangladesh.

My present is now living nestled somewhere in the rolling hills of East Sussex with my partner and our dog. To describe me in a few words:

- I obsessively wear knit jumpers

- My colours are Red, Yellow, Blue and Pink

- Berets

- a good cup of tea in my hand

- Autumn and Christmas are my favourite times of the year.

Here is a trailer of My Must-Have Mum illustrated by Jen Khatun written by Maudie Smith 

What is your latest book?

My latest book is Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera published by Penguin Random House. This is an image from that book. 

Image from Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera

What are your favourite tools for work? 

Pen and Ink are my favourite, and always will be. I just simply love the looseness, the freedom, the whimsical line. But when juggling lots of books, working digitally has helped, especially with editing illustrations. It has saved me time from re-drawing the artwork again, without compensating my illustrational style.

Illustration from Sona Sharma - Wish Me Luck by Chitra Soundar

What is your process for work when you're assigned a new book to illustrate?

1. Read the brief/manuscript
2. Note down deadline dates
3. Character design
4. Write myself a realistic to-do list- what you aim to achieve each day to get the artwork rolling
5. Save my work! (if digital)
6. Don’t get precious with rough artwork, this is the raw stage. Moulding the artwork will be a gradual process.
7. Feedback from clients is never a negative thing, it will only take the artwork forward.

Artwork from Star Rivals - Bollywood Academy by Puneet Bhandal

 How would you describe your style of art?

In a few words, I would say my style is:

• whimsical
• magical
• fun and bold
• expressive
• nostalgic

What are your tips for relaxing especially if you have stacked-up deadlines?

Whether you go out for a walk in the outdoors, read a collection of books, watch your favourite TV series

(My go- to are Columbo and Poirot), or even take yourself to the cafe. 

ALWAYS make time to break away from your desk to get some inspiration and some breathing space. Having a time-out will only fuel your creativity.

Illustration from 

Sit in the Sun

and Other Lessons in the Spiritual Wisdom of Cats by Jon M Sweeney

When you started out, was it hard? What did your family say when you didn't want a regular 9-5 job?

‘Art does not bring food to the table’ my Mum would say. I never judged her comment, it simply represented a part of her generation and culture believing that working as a Banker, Solicitor or Doctor would bring happiness, financial stability and status. But that just wasn’t my calling. It took time and hard work to show my Mum how drawing gave me happiness and in time, a healthy illustrious career. 

Mary Poppins as imagined by Jen Khatun

And lastly do you have advice for someone who wants to turn pro or begin their journey as an illustrator?

My last note to all the creatives out there, whether you are studying, graduated or thinking about a change in direction:

- Be curious and explore all mediums to find one that you enjoy and fits you.

- Self-initiated projects- a brilliant way to extend your portfolio.

- Break moulds and be daring- your drawing style is your own signature, you do not need to change it to fit in, respect your authentic self.

- Network- venture out to art and crafts events, shows and seminars. It’s a great way to start the

conversation and get yourself heard.

- Stepping away- A good time away from the desk time to time will re-charge your imagination and will guarantee strong performance and work.

Art from How Many Hairs on a Grizzly Bear?: And Other Big Questions about Numbers written by Tracey Turner

Find out more about Jen Khatun and her work at https://www.jenkhatun.com/ 

Thank you Jen Khatun for giving us a glimpse into your world and process and sharing some wonderful artwork with us. 

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Chitra Soundar is an internationally published, award-winning author of children’s books and an oral storyteller. Chitra regularly visits schools, libraries and presents at national and international literary festivals. She is also the creator of The Colourful Bookshelf, a curated place for books for children by British authors and illustrators.  

 Find out more at http://www.chitrasoundar.com/ and follow her on twitter here and Instagram here.

What's So Funny? By Pippa Goodhart

 

            I’ve been thinking about what makes a funny picture book funny.

            Lots of things can be funny for young children, and funny for the adults who share picture books with them. Those two sides of the book audience might well laugh at different things offered by the book. 

Getting things wrong can be funny if the circumstances are right. A woman slipping on a banana skin, falling into the pond, then coming up from the water with a duck and weed on her head is funny … just so long as we know that she is somebody fictional who can’t really be hurt, or she is somebody nasty who deserves to be made to look silly, or she’s laughing at herself because she thinks it’s funny. 

Farts, pants and burps can be funny because children know they are regarded as naughty, something to be hidden, and so it seems daring and a bit shocking to air them in public. I suggest that those themes are funnier when you’re four years old than when you’re forty … although seeing a child collapse in giggles at the word ‘fart’ can make the whole book sharing situation for the adult reader funny in itself. 

But I think I’ve discovered what makes for the funniest picture books of all, and that is TRUTH. Not factual story truth. I’m struggling to think of an example of a really really funny picture book which features human main characters, or one that tells of true events. But it’s the emotional truth that matters. The animal characters in funny books are behaving at an emotional level like humans. We recognise that, and it all seems the funnier for human feelings to be played out by animals.

Here are my three-year-old grandson’s current favourite funny picture books –

 

Oh No, George! By Chris Haughton features dog George who promises his human, Harris, that he will be good, and he does mean to be good, but he is then faced with temptation. Three times we see him tempted, and we’re asked ‘What will George do?’ before seeing that he does eat the cake, chase the cat, then dig up a plant. Tension thrills as George’s owner arrives home! But Harris is forgiving, and George apologises, and out they go for a walk to start afresh. But temptations arise once more. What will George do? To our surprise, he resists the cake this time, and the cat, and the flower bed. But then he is faced with a smelly rubbish bin …

 

… And we’re left to decide for ourselves whether or not George succumbs! 

Very relatable for a three-year-old who says he’ll be quiet in the library, then can’t resist shouting out loud, getting a reaction, and shouting more. Relatable, too, for a Granny who knows she shouldn’t have that chocolate biscuit, but … What will Granny do? This story is so true to the fight between good intentions and weakness in most of us.

 

Oi Frog! by Kes Gray and Jim Field has been followed by more Oi books, and it’s no wonder. The humour here comes from a character, the cat, who insists on a rule that sounds almost reasonable at first – that frogs should sit on logs – but soon becomes more and more ridiculous. Not only do gophers have to sit on sofas and mules sit on stools, but lions must sit on irons and seals sit on wheels!  

 

How does this growing list of rule-following nonsense end? If you don’t know the book, go and borrow or buy it. Its punchline fits perfectly. 

 

 

Old Hat by Emily Gravett is a delight of colourful fun that takes us on an emotional journey. It’s a study of the power of fashion, and it bursts that power with the most pleasing of surprises. Harbet has a hat that he loves, knitted by his Nan, warm and toasty, but … ‘OLD HAT’ jeer a trio of others. 

 

So Harbet hurries to acquire his own fruity confection of a hat … only to find that fashion has moved on.

 

Repeat, and repeat again, the hats getting more weird and wonderful as we go … until Harbet is so fed up with never being able to keep up with fashion that he gives up, and throws away all his hats to reveal his natural delightful explosion of feathery head adornment. Now the tables are turned.

 

 

A lesson in the folly of trying to follow fashion. Its recognising the truth of that which makes this story particularly funny. 

I think that it’s the combination of surprise and fun with recognition of truth that makes for the funniest picture book stories. But do tell in the comments what you find funniest in picture books.