It's Christmas story time with some favourite Books - Linda Strachan

This Christmas which picture books did you give, share or discover?  I thought I would share some Christmas presents and some books that are favourites.
Little Ruaridh is 2 years old and he just loves tractors and diggers.
For Christmas this year he got his own copy of a book he had enjoyed when they borrowed it from their local library.



  It was Goodnight Tractor by Michelle Robinson and Nick East.  He also got a copy of Goodnight Digger. These are part of a series of books all very similar in style with gentle rhyme.

Goodnight Tractor and the other books in this series work in the same way that parents have often encouraged children to settle down to sleep, by saying goodnight to their toys before going to bed.

 '....goodnight pig and goodnight sheep... goodnight tractor time to sleep.'



Ruaridh loves them and it does settle him down to sleep.  He also loves Goodnight Princess, as does his sister, Abigail.


Abigail is 4 and loves her books. One of her favourites this year has been Julia Donaldson's Jack and the Flumflum Tree, illustrated by David Roberts





 Jack heads off in search of the fruit of the Flumflum tree to cure his Moozles and encounters all sorts of problems but he has his granny's patchwork sack filled with a strange assortment of things that prove to be just what he needs in every situation!
                                                                           

Poppy is 3 and she also loves her stories.
Jack and the Flumflum Tree has recently been on her reading list as she recovered from her own Moozles!





Another favourite is Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. 

As you can see in the picture,she also loves Hamish McHaggis and likes to keep him close by at night because she knows he keeps her safe from bad dreams and her little brother Benedict has his own little Hamish, too!                                                          

 Baby Benedict is 7 months this Christmas and he is just getting the hang of books. He has inherited a lot of his big sister's books but his Christmas presents included  Usborne's Baby's Very First Touchy-feely Book.  One of the many great books for tinies with textures to touch, and bright colours and images.












So this Christmas which picture books did you give, share or discover?

Linda Strachan is the award winning author of over 60 books for all ages, from picture books to YA novels, and writing handbook Writing For Children

Website   www.lindastrachan.com
Blog  BOOKWORDS

Writing picture books for 'reluctant readers' by Linda Strachan

Following from Jonathan Allen's recent post on illustrating picture books for educational /school publishers and we also had Penny Dolan's great Guest post in August where she talked about her 'early readers' in   Ideas and Inspiration or when is a picture book not a picture book  I thought it might be an idea to take a look at  a different side of writing picture books for the educational market.

I started my writing career writing books for children who are sometimes called 'reluctant readers'. Those children who find learning to read more difficult than others, for a whole range of different reasons.

My very first published books were a series of 8 books for educational  publishers Ginn (now part of Pearson Education) who asked me to write one level of a series called ZOOM  for children who were around 8-9 years old, but who had a reading age of 5-6 years.

There were to be 6 levels in the series ,each level was written by a different author and about different characters. Levels were labelled Sets A to F, and I was to write for set D.

The children would progress gradually through all 8 books on one level, following the characters and their adventures. Within each level the books got progressively more challenging so that by the time the child had got to the end of the 8 books they would be ready to move up to the set above and meet new characters and stories that would again be slightly more challenging.

My lovely editor for the series was Frances Ridley, and she guided me, a complete novice, through the process.  I learned a lot from writing these books and it was a great way to discover how many different ways you can say the same thing, in fewer words and still keep the excitement of the story going.

I was given a lot of information about how many pages each book should have, approx number of words on each page etc. etc. but after reading these through I knew that the most important thing was to get two characters the reader would care about.

It was more important than ever that the stories would engage the reader because when you find the actual task of reading the words on the page difficult, you need good a reason to read on, and to turn the page.

From ZOOLA

My books were about a boy called Tom and a strange alien girl called Zoola.

Zoola is really just a lump of green goo, but she can turn into anything she sees, which provides all sorts of possibilities for adventures.

Tom finds Zoola when he brings an old box out of a dark cupboard in an old house and ignores the instructions on the box....

So... he takes it out into the sunshine and it begins to wobble so he drops it and out oozes green slime.  The green slime then turns into a girl. (there is a cartoon of a girl on the wall behind Tom)

 This is Zoola

In Zoola and the Ghost they visit a spooky castle and make a startling discovery, the ghost is not quite what it seems.  They also visit a funfair and go on a plane, because Tom wins a holiday as a prize for foiling a burglary and catching the burglar, Zoola's help of course!

From  ZOOLA AND THE BURGLAR

The illustrations, by Julian Mosedale, are really bright and colourful.
The text is short and snappy, with very short sentences, lots of repetition and the story layout carefully orchestrated so that you want to turn the page to find out what happens next.

 The stories were also designed to lead from one to another as Zoola learns about Tom's world and how some green things are not good to eat (like pond slime and caterpillars) but green apples are fine, as long as you don't steal them from a fruit stall.
 The prize trip Tom wins is a holiday in the USA so off the go on a plane.  As always with Zoola there are several mishaps on board but she does get  things right, saving them all in the end. This book is followed by the holiday story Zoola is kidnapped.

 When they visit a dinosaur theme park on holiday Zoola is kidnapped by Shorty and Lofty.

I wanted to try something a bit different with this book. So this is a bit of a departure because I wanted it to be a puzzle book.  As well as the story-line there are pages where the reader has to guess or spot things in the pictures.
Making sure that it is always moving the story forward, these puzzle pages added a bit of a challenge in different ways, sometimes in reading in others observations and sometimes counting.

From  ZOOLA  IS  KIDNAPPED

  Together Zoola and Tom got into all kinds of trouble but in the end things always turned out okay!

Zoom Set D Zoola and Tom

I loved writing these stories and the great letters and comments I got about them from teachers parents and young readers themselves.  They taught me a lot about writing in general and it is applicable to writing a short story or a novel, just as much as a picture book.

                  -characters we can care about
                   -keeping the reader desperate to turn the page and find out what happens next
                   -finding the right word in the right place
                  -editing to make it as good as it can be.

The Zoola and Tom series was also on an audio cassette. The books were originally published in 1997 but now, sadly, they are all out of print.

Linda Strachan is the award winning author of over 60 books for all ages, from picture books to YA novels, and writing handbook Writing For Children
Website   www.lindastrachan.comBlog BOOKWORDS

Getting to the heart of a picture book - Linda Strachan

How do you get to the heart of a picture book text?  I think the automatic reaction is to think a picture book must be in rhyme.  When you read some of Julia Donaldson's wonderful rhyming stories they look so simple and work so well that it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that they are easy to write.

It could not be further from the truth.

So what is the problem with rhyme?  (Aside from publishers often telling writers that they are not keen on rhyme because it can be harder to sell co-editions, sometimes citing the problems with translation as the reason.)

But often the problem is that the writer becomes so captivated with the idea of making every line or alternate line rhyme that they force the story out of shape, using words that would never otherwise be in the text, simply because they fit the rhyme.

That means they are probably starting in the wrong place.
It is almost like trying to ice a cake before you have baked the sponge mixture.

First you need to think about the story. That is the heart of a picture book.  Some writers like to know the ending first, so that it is as strong as the beginning.  If the story comes full circle bringing the answer to the problem posed at the beginning, perhaps with an unexpected twist, so much the better.

Ask yourself, what is the story about?  A picture book is not just a poem or a lot of rhyming words, there has to be some reason to tell the story in the first place.
The heart of almost any book is the characters and what happens to them. Why do we care about them? What is the problem they must solve, what exciting journey are they embarking on?

There have been several posts here on Picturebook Den discussing ways to start writing a picture book. Such as this post by Lynne Garner, talking about pace in a picture book and thinking about the story working over the length of the book.

It is a good way to start.
It made me smile when I heard Julia Donaldson yesterday morning on TV talking about starting a book and thinking about it being approx 12 double page spreads.

Once you have your story idea and have thought about the characters you might have already started writing the story (I am not much of a planner when I am writing a novel but I find picture books work better with this kind of framework in mind).
The words you use in a picture book will probably need to be refined and changed, moved about, used in a different way.  It is quite amazing ow many ways you can say the same thing.

A previous post by Jonathan Allen  looks at titles for picture books and shows how the words or expressions can make something either stand out or sound really boring.
I think that each line in a picture book should be examined to make sure it works well, that it keeps the story going, sounds like fun, and is the best use of words in that particular place.

Finding the right word is about making the text easy to read, with words that don't trip up the person reading it out loud, about having rhythm and making the story exciting, and engaging both child and parent.

After all these considerations you might decide that it will work better with some kind of rhyme, perhaps now and then, but only do this if it falls naturally and fits with all the other considerations above.  The rhyme is the least important part, many picture books work better without any rhyme at all, and it should only be used if it absolutely works with the story, fits in with the rhythm and without using archaic or odd language to make the rhyme work.


I've just come back from tutoring a week long residential course for the Arvon Foundation in lovely Moniack Mhor, near Inverness in Scotland, with co-tutor the author and illustrator Teresa Flavin. We discussed different aspects of writing for Children with the 16 enthusiastic and hardworking writers on the course.

Talking about writing picture books was only a small part of the week although it could merit an entire week by itself!  It is a complex and diverse subject as all the posts on this blog show.

So if you are thinking about starting to write a picture book make sure you get to the heart of the story.

Linda Strachan is the award winning author of over 60 books for all ages, from picture books to YA novels, and writing handbook Writing For ChildrenWebsite   www.lindastrachan.comBlog BOOKWORDS

Red Sails and a Junk Sandwich by Linda Strachan

I love it that ideas are everywhere. 
Sometimes pinning them down and deciding what this great idea you've just had will turn into, can be the real stumbling block.  When you are looking for picture book ideas, listening to small children is a delight because their view of life is so fresh and often amusingly inaccurate. 

 They spend a lot of their time watching the world around them, trying to make sense of it.   They have few boundaries because in their world almost anything seems possible.

They don't really care that it is not realistic to travel to the moon for tea, or that there might be a problem getting a tiger to make friends with a mouse.

Also, the language we use can be confusing.  Imagine a small child hearing that someone 'pushed their glasses up their nose', or was 'as fit as a fiddle', or any of the many other slightly bizarre expressions we use without thinking of the exact meaning. It is no wonder that when children try to make sense of the world it is often with quite comical results.

Playing with language and taking a fresh view of how we use everyday words can make a picture book familiar and yet new at the same time.  I find that the juxtaposition of words can spark off ideas in all sorts of ways.

Jack and the Flumflum Tree by Julia Donaldson has both made up and familiar words. It's a lot of fun.
As Jack heads off to find the Flumflum tree on the Isle of Blowyernose he takes his Granny's patchwork sack. Inside is a weird assortment of things that prove to be useful to him and his friends.  When they encounter a sneaky monkey, some sharks and even when the boat starts to leak, there is something in Granny's patchwork sack that he can use to get them out of trouble. 

The story rolls along with a great rhythm that makes reading it fun for the adults as well as the child. 

 So if you are looking for ideas for a picture book story try putting odd things together, mix up the words in song titles, listen to little children, and before you know it you will be in the world of make believe where anything and everything just might be possible!


What are your favourite, but easily misconstrued, sayings?




Linda Strachan is the award winning author of over 60 books for all ages, from picture books to teen novels, and a writing handbook Writing For Children.

Interested in writing for children?  12-17th august 2013  Arvon Foundation residential course with Linda Strachan and Teresa Flavin with midweek guest Bali Rai  arvonfoundation.org   Almost sold out- so don't delay!

This summer Linda will be speaking about her teen novels in August appearing at  The Fringe by the Sea festival  and  The Edinburgh International Book Festival   
and in September with Sophie McKenzie at Bloody Scotland Crime festival



Website   www.lindastrachan.com
Blog    BOOKWORDS 

Competition winner - but is it ready for publication?

I was recently asked to look at a picture book text that had won a prize in a competition.

1st Prize

 The problem was that when it was sent out to editors it just came bouncing back, again and again.  The writer was understandably concerned.

So what was wrong with it?  I said I would look at it and see if there was an obvious problem, but I couldn't promise anything.

One of the problems with competitions is that they can raise expectations in unrealistic ways, often unintentionally.  This might happen when the entrants and the judges are making widely differing assumptions about the end result.


e.g. Imagine you enter a competition that says 'Write a story for under 5 year olds in 750 words.'

1.   Does that mean it is always a picture book text?
• If the rules do not specify this, then it could be a story in a different format, a poem, or a short story, and not necessarily a picture book. 
2.  Does it mean that the story is ready and fit for publication?
•  This is not necessarily the same thing as whether or not it is a well written or enjoyable story.  As presented for the competition it may not have an obvious route to publication.  The problem is whether the entrants understand that publication is a commercial decision based on a variety of factors i.e. in the right format, the right length and original enough, not solely on the merits of the actual story/writing.
3.  Does it mean the story is likely to be published?
• This is the tricky one. There is never a guarantee of publication for any story and for the reasons above it may not be right for publication. But, difficult as it is to admit, it might depend on the overall standard of entries to the competition, and whether the adjudicator has had to choose a winner out of the entries that were presented.

It is an achievement to win a competition but, however wonderful, it is not a sure road to publication.

It is often easier looking at someone else's writing to spot the problems as it makes you analyse what makes a book work, and also what can go wrong.  But I am always aware of how difficult it is to have someone read your work and tell you things are not right with it!
 
When I looked at this story I immediately saw that although it was an interesting idea and nicely written, there were several things that I felt were not working as a picture book. It felt more like a poem and I could see it was going to take quite a bit of (painful?) editing to make it work as a picture book.

Why was that?

Hamish McHaggis © Sally J Collins

If you read over some of the previous posts on Picturebook Den you will see how often people talk about the images, the importance of understanding how the words and the pictures work together over the 12 or 14 double page spreads.  Even if you are not an illustrator, and most picture book authors are not, you need to visualise the story.

I found I had no sense of how this story would be told over the different spreads. This is not to say that I was looking to have it marked as 'spread 1' and 'spread 2' etc.  But reading the text I felt that the writer had not 'seen' the story unfolding in her mind's eye. When I tried to imagine how it would look on the page I realised that too much of what was happening in the text would be the same visually, time after time.

The story was a lot of fun and had many different elements to it. There was counting, colours and lots of characters and in fact that was one of the problems. It had too much going on and most of it was repeated too often.

Repetition featured strongly in the actual words used, phrase by phrase, but each time it was almost exactly the same. In picture books every single word has to earn its place and repetition can work really well but it needs some variation within it, making it more interesting to read out loud.  Or perhaps with a catch phrase that is repeated.  Children love it when they can anticipate what is coming and can say it along with the person reading to them.

There were lots of characters (contributing to the counting and the colours) but they were all the same, no quirks or interesting features that would make me care about them, or what was happening to them.

The story was in rhyme and, as sometimes happens, it felt as if the story was being shaped by the rhyme rather than the rhyme enhancing the story.  It is one reason why it is often better to try and avoid rhyme and concentrate on the rhythm.

The ending- This is such a crucial part of any picture book and often the most difficult part to get right. It sometimes helps to think about how you would describe the book to someone else. The writer needs to be able to say what the story is about. 
If you are writing a novel you are sometimes asked to describe, in one or two sentences, the main theme of the novel. I think this can be applied to a picture book, too. By this I don't mean saying 'This is a counting book, or a book about colours.'  It's about the emotional journey, what do the main character(s) learn in the book, what makes me care about them and does the story end in a satisfying manner?


e.g. in the Gruffalo- A clever little mouse outwits the animals who want to eat him by persuading them he has a fearsome (imaginary?) friend. When the Gruffalo appears the mouse tricks him too, so that the Gruffalo ends up believing that the little mouse is truly the ' scariest creature in the woods'.


A picture book takes a child on a journey with the characters but there needs to be some kind of resolution that makes is feel there was a reason for the story to be told in the first place.

Reading all the changes I suggest, you might be led to think the original story was needing too much work. But I felt that it was a lovely idea that needed a bit of reshaping and a lot more visualisation before it could work as a picture book.  The difficulty for the writer might be letting go of the original and taking a fresh look at it with  images in mind.

There is never just one way to tell a story.  Nothing is every wasted, it is amazing how often a story or idea can be changed, shuffled about and reshaped into something new, often even better.

Competitions are great for writers, in fact I got my first encouragement to start writing when I won a local library short story competition.  Competitions give you a deadline and a challenge, and although they may not lead directly to publication they can help to take you another step closer.




Linda Strachan is the award winning author of over 60 books for all ages, from picture books to teen novels, and writing handbook Writing For Children.



Website   www.lindastrachan.com
Blog    BOOKWORDS

Speaking picturebook - Linda Strachan

Writing, for me, is like two sides of a coin. I spend a good bit of time on my own and at other times I am out and about meeting people of all ages and talking about books and writing.

When I am at home in my shed 'Tuscany' I am all on my own.  It is the place where I shut out the rest of the world and for some reason I find I can concentrate better there than almost anywhere else. 
Some writers write in coffee shops, surrounded by noise and people and they create their own bubble to work in.
 I admit I have done this at times but I am too nosy and end up people-watching instead of writing and it's not so good if I am thinking about a picturebook, because I like space to spread papers around so that I can sketch little images and look at how it will lay out over the pages.

Other writers work a table or desk in their kitchen or bedroom or study and I don't suppose it matters as long as you can find that quiet zone in your head where the ideas and characters can come to life.
 

Elm Park School New Zealand

The other side of my writing life is all about being with people, travelling around to visit schools talking to children, teachers and  librarians and talking at events or book festivals or conferences.

 Children love to be told stories and they enjoy picturebooks what ever age they are and whatever part of  the world they live in.

I never thought I would enjoy this side of things as much as I do.  I used to be too shy to stand up and speak in front of people but over time I have discovered that it can be a lot of fun, and sometimes a real challenge.  I love to speak to children, whether they are 3 or 13, or older.
 

Edinburgh

They are amazing, imaginative and interesting. You never quite know what they will ask you.

I cannot understand people who will not make time to listen to children.  They have such interesting things to say, such a fresh way of looking at the world.
 
   I love talking picturebook in libraries, schools and nurseries.




Picturebooks are so much about the characters and sometimes I have a trusty friend or two to accompany me.
 
I love having props when I visit schools, something to surprise the children, to get even the quietest child to take part.

Of course big  Hamish cannot come everywhere with me but I do have other creatures who often come to visit schools with me.

I've found that children are delighted to help tell the story of What Colour is Love? especially if they can get to hold one of the characters, or a colour card.

Telling Hamish stories with sally on the Falkirk Wheel

 I've read to children in all sorts of places, in
wildlife parks, haunted castles, and even on a canal boat high up on the Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel (the only rotating boat lift in the world)

Sometimes I am working on my own, but now and then I do an event with Sally J. Collins,  the illustrator of the Hamish books.  She gets the children drawing Hamish which is a lot of fun.

 This week I had a very special delivery, the very first Hamish cuddly toy,  which I will be taking with me as I start a month of events.  Between now and the end of March I will be visiting lots of schools and speaking to all ages and a lot of the time I will be 'speaking picturebook'!

.............................................................................................

Website   www.lindastrachan.com
Blog BOOKWORDS
Linda Strachan is the award winning author of over 60 books for all ages, from picture books to teen novels, and writing handbook Writing For Children.

In Celebration Of ... Group Post

Christmas is all about sharing, so we decided to post our first group blog and share our top ten writing tips, plus the books we'd like Father Christmas to sneak into our Christmas stockings.

Abie Longstaff - author of The Fairytale Hairdresser and new book The Mummy Shop (illustrated by Lauren Beard).

My writing tip:
Draw: Drawing really helps to pace the book and to get the page turns right. It also helps with working out what must be said in the text, and what can be left for the illustrations.  And if you can't draw, draw anyway - just draw stick figures and squiggles.

The book I want from Father Christmas:
The Secret Lives of Princesses by Philippe Lechermeier and Rebecca Dautremer. The book looks so beautiful and I'm a sucker for anything fairytale related

Jane Clarke - author of Knight Time (illustrated by Jane Massey) and other titles.

My writing tip:
Have some time off. Embrace the ups and downs of the holiday season - and use the experiences and heightened emotions to inform your work at a later date. 

The book I want from Father Christmas:
Please may I have a hardback copy of Flotsam by David Wiesner. My paperback version is worn out by constant use. Flotsam has so many levels of enchanting possibilities, it highlights how sophisticated a picture book can be.

Juliet Clare Bell - author of The Kite Princess (illustrated by Laura-Kate Chapman) and other titles.

My writing tip:
My tip is to reduce the amount of time I’ve got for writing, in the hopes of getting more written. I’m going to give myself an hour which is dedicated, sacrosanct, scheduled in at a very specific time each day and where, on pain of death, I am NOT allowed to have access to the internet. In that writing time, I will WRITE. I will timetable things so that I do the marketing/generating new work etc. at other specific times and I will no longer let myself think that reading about what other writers are doing on FaceBook is actually work.

The book I want from Father Christmas:
The book I would most like from Father Christmas is Quentin Blake’s Beyond the Page (Tate Publishing, 2012) with 240 reproductions of his work since 2000. My favourite book until now has been Quentin Blake’s Words and Pictures, an autobiography full of his inspirational illustrations, and Beyond the Page will carry on where that one left off. And do you know what? I’m actually getting it for Christmas. Yippee! 

Karen Saunders - author of Baby Badger's Wonderful Night (illustrated by Dubravka Kolanovic) and other titles.

My writing tip: 

Set yourself a really low word count or goal to meet every day, something that's very achievable. This way, you'll be encouraged to actually start writing, because it's much less intimidating to write 50 words than 500, and chances are, you'll keep going once you've hit your target. Also, turn off your internet connection so you don't get distracted and spend all of your writing time procrastinating online (or maybe this one just applies to me).

The book I want from Father Christmas:
Any of the Little Grey Rabbit story books, because they're a wonderful reminder of my childhood and were my favourite books to share with my mum. 

Linda Strachan - author of What Colour is Love? (illustrated by David Wojtowycz) and other titles. 

My writing tip:
READ READ. Read as many picture books as you can. Look at how they are structured and how they differ in word count. Look at how the author approaches the story/idea in a unique way and how the story ends, which can be just as important. Be a critical reader, then go away and write!

The book I want from Father Christmas:
The book I'd like to receive is Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brand. I seem to have lost my copy. It was originally published in 1934 but I still find it an inspirational book about writing and being a writer. 

Lynne Garner - author of A Book for Bramble (illustrated by Gaby Hansen) and other titles.

My writing tip:
Set yourself a goal. Something that will stretch your writing muscle. For example Picture Book Ideas Month which takes place each November where you pledge to come up with 30 ideas over 30 days. Or perhaps try 12 x 12 which encourages you to write one new picture book story per month.

The book I want from Father Christmas:
This is really three books but they make a series. How to Write a Children's Picture Book Volume I: Structure - Volume II: Word, Sentence, Scene, Story - Volume III: Figures of Speech.  Written by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock.

Malachy Doyle - author of Too Noisy  (illustrated by Ed Vere) and other titles. 

My writing tip:
Take it to the garden, shed, bathroom - anywhere quiet - and read it out loud. Catch it by surprise.

The book I want from Father Christmas:
A Dictionary of British Folk Tales (part b), by Katherine Briggs. Martin Waddell, in my early days of writing, recommended these for inspiration, and he's right. I've got part a, but the cheapest I can find part b is £50, so ...  


Moira Butterfield - author of Smile Baby Smile (illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw) and other titles.


My writing tip:
Remember to play. Occasionally give yourself a treat and just play with words, writing for fun only. I’m sure professional singers must sometimes sing in their baths and professional artists must sometimes doodle. I see it as trying to keep some water in the creative well.

The book I want from Father Christmas:

I love to find vintage Children’s books and on the internet I’ve seen the cover of an interesting-looking 1970s picture book called The Very Important Man, by Joan Hickson. The deliciously retro cover looks great, with a humourless-looking man being driven in an impossibly long car that wraps round the whole book. I’ve never seen inside and I want to know what happens to the very important man. Whenever it turns up on the internet (not very often) it’s too expensive, but perhaps Santa has one in his attic.

Paeony Lewis - author of Best Friends or Not?  (illustrated by Gaby Hansen) and other titles.

My writing tip:
I enjoy the traditional clichés of Christmas. However, I suggest trying harder to avoid clichés in our writing. Think before including overused phrases, though don't be afraid of using simple words like 'said'. This also applies to tired scenarios, such as ending a story with the hero being presented with a medal by the mayor and everyone cheering (I did this with my first story - justifiably unpublished!).

The book I want from Father Christmas:
I might have been too naughty this year for a present, so I bought it earlier this week. Mirror by Jeannie Baker is a very visual picture book that opens up on the left and the right to show us the mirror images of an ordinary day in the life of two families (in Australia and Morocco). Although the lives appear different, underneath we see many similarities. Plus the final images remind us we shouldn't make clichéd assumptions. In this 'season of  goodwill' we think about others, and Mirror encourages year-round reflection.  

Pippa Goodhart - author of Just Imagine (illustrated by Nick Sharratt) and other titles 

My writing tip:  
Take a professional interest in those terrible cracker jokes.  A really good joke that lends itself to visual treatment, and a sequence of revelations, just might make a brilliant picture book!

The book I want from Father Christmas:

Children’s Picture books; The Art Of Visual Storytelling by Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles.  It’s a stonking £22.50 because it is sumptuous and big, and full of wonderful examples of picture book art.

With warm and festive greetings for a wonderful holiday from Abie, Jane, Clare, Karen, Linda, Lynne, Malachy, Moira, Paeony and Pippa.

And now over to you: what would be your top writing tip, and which book would you love to receive this Christmas?