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.

 

Starting From Scratch by Lynne Garner

When I submitted my first picture book story, I wasn’t surprised when it was rejected. What I was surprised by was it was a handwritten rejection on a compliment slip. It started with the typical ‘this isn’t for us’ but is also said they liked my voice, and asked if I had anything else I was working on. I was working on a new story, so I completed it and submitted. That second story eventually became my first published picture book A Book for Bramble in 2007. This was quickly followed by The Best Jumper in 2008.

I felt I’d made it and I would now be able to continue to get picture books published on a regular basis. But then I had a reality check. My editor left for pastures news. Then the publisher was purchased by a larger company. I found I’d hit a brick wall. I was either receiving the standard rejection letter or no rejection letter at all. After a few years, I gave up and decided to focus on my short story writing. 

I completed my first collection of short stories and started to submit to publishers. After numerous rejections I decided to give self-publishing a go. This change in direction resulted in five short story collections. Around that time I also returned to teaching which meant I had less time to write. So gave up on picture books entirely. Then Covid hit and although I didn’t stop teaching (I taught virtually) I found I was spending less time travelling. So, I decided I’d use this time to revisit the picture book stories that were gathering dust on my laptop.

I revisited the completed and half written stories stored on my laptop and chose four I felt I could improve. I wrote and rewrote and once I was happy I’d got as far as I could without help I found a specialist proof-reader/editor. Together we rewrote, revised and reshaped each story until they were the best we could make them. 

This year I’ve set myself a goal. To place at least one of these stories with a publisher. And although I’ve been published before I know I’m starting from scratch. Now, with this is mind I’ve decided to share my journey here on the Picture Book Den. So, between this post and my next I’ve got some researching to do. Wish me luck. 

Paper, pencils and picture book ideas by Jane Clarke

Chitra recently contributed a great step by step post How to edit picture book texts without cutting trees and I intend to try her method the next time I attempt to put a picture book text into pages. But when I'm working on a new idea, it never starts off on the computer. I'm not advocating the destruction of forests, but at the outset, paper, pencils and picture book ideas go together for me.

•  Working this way is an excuse to buy notebooks. And pencils. And stuff like sticky notes. Even if the ideas in them get outdated, the notebooks don't become obsolete and are easy to access.

 I have LOTs of notebooks filled full of half-baked ideas. I’m not that fussy about notebooks. Some caught my eye, but I’ve been through a lot of cheap spiral bound notebooks. The posh Moleskine one was a gift. 

• Working with paper and pencil feels free-er and more creative than screen and keyboard. There’s something just too neat and tidy and regimented about computer text.

Mind map of what became Firefly Home. Messy handwriting with lots of crossing out happens in my notebooks. 

• Paper and pencil slows me down and grounds me. There are not so many distractions - no clicking of tabs and going off down ‘research’ rabbit holes or checking out social media. 

 Squirrel! moments on the computer are lots of fun, but make it hard to concentrate on one idea at a time. 

• Paper and pencil makes me feel more relaxed and under less pressure to ‘perform.’ Very few editors are interested in seeing scribbles. It’s only when I’ve tidied up a text on the computer that I dare to send it off.

Tidy text of Tiptoe Tiger

If a picture book text is taken by an editor, all future work on it will be on the computer - electronic versions will whiz back and forth by email. Which brings me to my final point in favour of paper, pencils and picture book ideas:

• When I spill my cup of tea over paper and pencil work, it’s not nearly as traumatic as upsetting one over the keyboard :-)

Jane’s latest picture book is Tiptoe Tiger, gloriously illustrated by Britta Teckentrup, and published by Nosy Crow.

 

How to HOOK in the Reader by Leaving SPACE • by Natascha Biebow

When crafting picture books, I’m always delighted when the end product looks seamless. All that agonizing over the details of story, character, plot, pacing, word and image choices, layout, design, format, typography and so much more is ready to be launched into the big wide world, bound into pages of promise. 

 

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

Promise because there is something else that must now happen – when the book lands into the hands of young readers, it must connect.

 

For a book to deliver that magical, immersive, transportive reading experience that lingers and resonates, the picture book must become more than the sum of its parts, more than just the literal elements on the page. To do this, it needs something key – the reader.

 

Now, that delicately crafted balance between the words and pictures on the page (seamless, we hope) plays out to make something synergistic – because when the reader gets involved, the child creates the ‘more’.  

 

"We share stories from the heart."
From All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

 

The reader is tasked with actively encoding the words and the pictures, listening and looking, making connections and filling in the gaps to make meaning.

To do this, authors and illustrators need to leave SPACE for the reader:

 

In the PICTURES

 

Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins is a classic example of where a visual narrative
allows space for readers to participate and add to the story narrative.

  

The minimal text tells one story, while the pictures tell another . . .

. . . creating lots of humour!

In the WORDS

Love by Matt de la Peña and Loren Long

The open-ended, lyrical text allows young readers to imagine each moment and
add to an individualized interpretation of what 'love' is:

". . . everything smells new, and it smells of life."

In this instance, the illustrator depicts a boy sharing a hotdog with a man on a bench,
but the reader might interpret these words in many different personal or imaginary ways.

 

In the MESSAGE

 

 

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de La Peña and Christian Robinson

The boy in this story is going on a bus journey with his grandmother - where?
The vivid details included in text and illustrations encourage the reader to join in
in creating the meaning, in building up the sense of the characters and their
community, and filling in the special relationship between CJ and Nana. 

 

Building on this, in the poignant final scene, CJ is glad to
be with his community of familiar faces –
the words & pictures allow space for readers
to figure out where they are and why it matters
without needing to be told in an overt message.

Even in the FORMAT.

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill is a pre-school classic!

 

A lift-the flap guessing game format is delightful fun to share with the youngest readers
and leaves lots of space for dialogue and for the reader to
imagine possibilities while interacting with and adding to the story.

 

 

Surprise! The SNAKE is in the clock, not Spot!

 

HOW do authors do this? (And how can you do it if you’d like to write amazing picture books?)

WELCOME the reader in

One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell

This spread at the beginning of the book introduces the main character, one 'Smart Fish',
who looks so ordinary - how could he be a hero? the reader might wonder.
I wonder WHY he's amazing? The author invites the reader to engage with the story
and welcomes them into the narrative to go on a journey together.

Invite readers in to be part of and even engage in creating the story. 

 

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery
by Meeg Pincus and Yas Imamura

In this story, Pincus invites readers to participate in the question of who solved the age-old
mystery of where the monarch butterflies go every year? In a series of spreads, the
open-ended questions allow readers space to engage with the narrative,
accumulating facts as they turn the pages to come to their own conclusion –
more than the sum of its parts.

A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton

Squirrel is trying to help Owl find Mummy.  In each sequence, Owl describes Mummy:
"My mummy is VERY BIG. Like THIS!" The author allows space for the reader
to be part of the story and imagine how Mummy might look with these attributes.
The pictures also allow space for the reader to imagine both Mummy's
appearance and guess what might come next. And because the reader
is part of the narrative, when they turn the page to find . . .

. . .  a bear (!) it's instantly funny.
The pictures here allow space for the reader to reconsider their guess
and delight in the joke when Squirrel mistakenly asserts, "Here's your mummy!" - since
young readers will know an Owl's mum looks nothing like this -
but also readers will empathise with Owl's disappointment at still not
being reunited with Mummy.

Can you create an OPENING IN THE NARRATIVE where young readers can find meaning?

AVOID over describing: the delicate balance between words and pictures takes craft to achieve – the story must stand on its own when read aloud, but also leave space for the pictures and for young readers’ interpretation. The choice of what to include is just as important as what to leave out. It may take some often-frustrating tinkering.

 

Bob Goes Pop! by Marion Deuchars

In this story that explores the theme of what makes a good artist, Bob is an artist who
gets into a argument with a famous sculptor called Roy. Bob says Roy's art is just
everyday objects except bigger. Roy bets Bob he couldn't even make a sculpture if he tried!

In this scene, every time Bob creates a work of art, Roy's is seemingly better.
The author allows space in the pictures for readers to look closely and intuit this.
Bob's splodgy rough round the edges artwork gives an impression that it is
less slick than Roy's, even through the text doesn't tell readers this.

Looking closely at Bob's body language in the pictures also allows space for the
reader to connect with Bob's emotions and understand how the main
character's frustration is building until his desperation leads him to cheat.

It is important to know the backstory of your narrative and your characters’ world and, above all, your character’s motivation, but then to choose carefully what you will include. Use specific, vivid details, but only share those that will give meaning to the story.

The Iridescence of Birds by Patricia MacLachlan and Hadley Hooper

In this nonfiction picture book about the artist Henri Matisse,
 the author poses one long question - why do painters paint what they do?

Carefully choosen details in the words and pictures on each spread
illustrate vivid and specific everday experiences that influenced the artist
to eventually produce his colourful collage artwork.

The narrative is filled with spaces, where the reader
must fill in the gaps to make the sum of the whole to arrive at
the inspiring 'a-ha' moment at the end.

 

Conversely, avoid the pitfall of including too little information. If there isn’t enough context, emotion, or details, readers have nothing to hold on to so they won’t be invested enough in the story to add meaning. It's key to set up the action to arrive at a satisfying ending.

AVOID overstating the story’s theme or message. This leaves no space for the reader! If the author has done their job well, there is no need to tell readers what the take-away is, because the plot and character’s emotional journey to overcome the plot problem and navigate high stakes will serve to create a feeling and a take-away meaning that the reader is able to intuit.

Invite the reader to

 

PREDICT what will come next

Neon Leon by Jane Clarke and Britta Teckentrup

Neon Leon is a chameleon who doesn't fit in. Throughout the story, the author
creates space for young readers to interact with the main character's actions
and empathize with how he's feeling. In this spread, Neon can see something that might
be a hint of something the same colour as him. Is this the answer he's been looking for?
The text ends with an ellipses (ooh, I wonder...), which when combined with the page turn,
adds space for the reader to engage and predict what might come next.

OBSERVE the pictures for narrative clues that will advance the plot and
your characters’ motivation story arc.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

All day long, the boy has been following the mouse, making sure it has what it needs.
The simple words underline a multi-layered visual narrative in which the mouse
goes from one thing to the next, starting with a cookie
that needs a glass of milk that needs a straw and so on,
all the way full-circle to the ending, where the mouse is thirsty and needs . . .

. . . . a glass of milk! The narrative leaves space for the reader to look closely at the pictures,
and add depth, nuance and humour to the interpretation of the story.
The emotional journey of both the mouse and the boy and their relationship
is largely apparent in the pictures.

And importantly, leave space for ‘I WONDER . . . “ so readers can have the pleasure of that a-ha moment and of working stuff out for themselves, filling in the meaning.

Old Rock (is not boring) by Deb Pilutti

Old Rock has been sitting on the same spot at the edge of a forest for a long time.
Tall Pine, Hummingbird and Spotted Beetle are sure it must be very boring.
But Old Rock has surprisingly actually had a very interesting and exciting life!
Here, Old Rock tells them he's pretty good at doing somersaults.
It seems inconceivable given how Old Rock looks on the page here.

The page turn is a powerful tool to create space.
This pause allows young readers wonder and imagine what Old Rock
might look like doing somersaults.

A bit like this perhaps . . .

. . . but perhaps unexpectedly landing like this!
In this spread, the reader can use the space left by the minimal words to imagine how rock
might have felt when he landed here after his exciting somersault adventure,
and what it would have been like living during the time mastodons roamed the Earth.
Importantly the reader might say, "I wonder . . . where Old Rock might go next
and where he might end up after that?"

To do all this, is to TRUST in the reader.

That wonderful synergy that you get in an excellent picture book must come from the fine balance between the words and the pictures, but also from the SPACE creators allow for the reader.

What examples from your favourite picture books and those you’ve created can you share with our blog readers?

 

 __________________________________________________________________________________________

Natascha Biebow, MBE, Author, Editor and Mentor

Natascha is the author of the award-winning The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons, illustrated by Steven Salerno, winner of the Irma Black Award for Excellence in Children's Books, and selected as a best STEM Book 2020. Editor of numerous prize-winning books, she runs Blue Elephant Storyshaping, an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission, and is the Editorial Director for Five Quills. She is Co-Regional Advisor (Co-Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. Find her at www.nataschabiebow.com

 

How I am Writing My New Books Every Minute Even When I'm Not • by Natascha Biebow

Writing is something I do. But most of the time, I am not writing.

 

While I am supposed to be writing, but really I am not writing, I am:

 

- Juggling: if you have work, family, volunteer commitments, and life in general like me, chances are you are also juggling. This is useful for writing because it means you are living. And living is what is at the heart of writing. So, I make lists, do the school run, hoover the house, check in on my mum, keep wishing dinner will cook itself, help run SCBWI-BI to pay it forward to other writers and illustrators, edit books, and breathe . . .  because one day these experiences will be in my books.

 

- Reading Other People’s Writing (Books): each day, I indulge in a bit of R-E-A-D-I-N-G. Very often, this is not a children’s book, but if you pay attention while you are reading, you can glean quite a few useful things while you are not writing: inspiration how to write good (or bad) dialogue, techniques for storytelling, ideas for formats, insights into the competition, an awareness of the marketplace. If it’s a book that hooks, or a funny book, or an artfully written one, you can bask in good language like a shark basking in the sun and dream of one day writing a book like that too.

Some books I've been reading

 

And picture books and nonfiction research

- Walking the Dog: this is an excellent way to pound out plot problems and other writing niggles. Plus observing people in the park means you might get the odd ideas for characters. Importantly, it makes you go out so you are not entirely a hermit in front of a computer staring at a blank screen or typing wondering where this book is going . . . You might even find out what is actually going on in the world and meet a person. And it's exercise so it helps you stay fit. (NB: If you don’t have a dog, you can walk yourself.)

 

My dog Luna lives for watching
then unsuccessfully chasing squirrels.

- Reading Aloud to a Child (Or a Pet): reading A-L-O-U-D is an excellent way to get an ear for the sounds and structure of writing. When reading aloud, I get completely and totally immersed in the story and it is oh, so rhythmical in a way that reading silently just isn’t. (Sometimes I read my stories A-L-O-U-D to the walls – thankfully, they don’t voice their opinion).

- Cooking, cleaning, washing and Taking Care of Other Chores that always seem to need doing on repeat: see juggling (above).

- Listening to Craft Webinars or Reading Craft Books: mostly listening to other authors speak is a comforting language of threads of a shared experience in the life of writing; it is also great procrastination “Hey, I’m learning HOW to do it, yes, really” instead of bum on seat. Bonus is you can do it at the same time as Walking the Dog . . . and get in the zone.

- Watching Children be Children: if you are lucky to meet a child on your walk or pass a playground or even have family with children or children of your own, you can do something very important while practising not writing: watching and listening.

 

- Sleeping. A surprising amount of writing can be done in that subconscious state before you fall asleep. This is a great time to noodle around with ideas and story problems. Plus it's necessary.

 

-Eating Chocolate (Shhh!) definitely helps you keep going.

 

In other words, I Am BUSY Living, So A Piece of Me Can Find Its Way Into My Books:

All this living is collecting material for writing. One day you’ll see it in my books. I am working on a new nonfiction project; while I’ve done some research and there is much more to do . . . as I’m ‘writing through living’, I’m figuring out HOW TO TELL THIS STORY to make it compelling for a child to read. Every book I write is written because of some living I did. A piece of me is in there, and it is this that I am hoping will connect with readers big and small to make the story resonate with them also. 

 

Nonfiction picture books are 100% TRUE STORIES. 

 

To figure out and collect the ‘true’ bit, I need to do a lot of outreach and research. I've decided my topic has ‘legs’ – e.g. it hasn’t already been done by someone else and it has a strong enough hook – so I am busy uncovering more of the required facts. Eventually, it will be time to weed out what should go in the book, and what should be parked up (what is not relevant to the story can possibly go in the backmatter).

 

Fueled by curiosity and a love of my new topic, my quest is to discover the inner truth, the passion that makes THIS story tick, the child-centred angle, something that will elicit an emotional response from my young readers so they, too, can connect with the spark that led me to write this book.

 

When I sell my idea to a publisher, you'll be the first to know how the living has made it become a real book. As I told a group of school children on a virtual author visit recently, it can take years to make a book, sometimes as long as they have been alive.  It's about trusting the process.

 

 For this, I need much time LIVING.

 _______________________________________________________________________

Natascha Biebow, MBE, Author, Editor and Mentor

Natascha is the author of the award-winning The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons, illustrated by Steven Salerno, winner of the Irma Black Award for Excellence in Children's Books, and selected as a best STEM Book 2020. Editor of numerous prize-winning books, she runs Blue Elephant Storyshaping, an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission, and is the Editorial Director for Five Quills. She is Co-Regional Advisor (Co-Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. Find her at www.nataschabiebow.com