"Reading this while growing up helped me answer some really difficult questions I was grappling with."
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle has been voted the best children's bedtime story ever written in a survey of parents.
Step inside the marvelous world of micro monsters and learn all about the hidden talents of some of the smallest creatures out there! Being tiny is tough! You can’t reach the highest shelf where the cookie jar sits, and the big kids always steal your lunchtime snacks. Don’t get me started on going to theme parks, you can never get on the rides and you’re always told to have an adult present for everything you do. But what if I told you that being small didn’t suck at all? But was in fact really, really cool. Focus your eyes on the world of micro animals and learn what it’s like to be so small. Discover how these tiny creatures stay safe, or hunt for their lunch. Zoom in on their superpowers, like having the ability to shoot microscopic darts, spring-loaded jumps which take them to incredible heights or the amazing ways in which tiny hunters defend themselves from much bigger creatures. Maybe it’s not so tough to be tiny after all! Author Kim Ryall Woolcock
T oday's post is all about building a portfolio, and it's a timely one for me. Even though I've had a working portfolio for over a decade, I'm in the middle of a career shift so I'm currently doing all the things I'm sharing with you today - planning, building, editing and soon, presenting. Whether
Made bedtime extra special with these tried and true, Classic Books Every Child Should Read! Which one was your childhood favorite?
Why it made us cry: This book is essentially a metaphor for humans destroying the environment and ruining animals' lives for their own economic gain. It gave us an introduction to the harsh reality of our actions, but most importantly it showed us that we have the power to change.
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From evil stepmothers to Edward Gorey, or what Richard Dawkins has to do with Hindu deities and iPad parodies.
Get Part 2 of your FREE children’s book illustration assignment from art agent Lilla Rogers and learn how you can build a successful career in children's book illustration.
Master the Art of Writing Enthralling Tales for the Youngest pre-and emerging readers! Fully updated and thoroughly revised, Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition is the go-to resource for writers crafting stories for children ages two to eight. You'll learn the unique set of skills it takes to bring your story to life by using tightly focused text and leaving room for the illustrator to be creative. Award-winning author Ann Whitford Paul helps you develop the skills you need by walking you through techniques and exercises specifically for picture book writers. You'll find: • Instruction on generating ideas, creating characters, point-of-view, beginnings and endings, plotting, word count, rhyme, and more • Unique methods for using poetic techniques to enrich your writing • Hands-on revision exercises (get out your scissors, tape, and highlighters) to help identify problems and improve your picture book manuscripts • Updated tips for researching the changing picture book market, approaching publishers, working with an agent, and developing a platform • All new quizzes and examples from picture books throughout • New chapters cover issues such as page turns, agents, and self-publishing Whether you're just starting out as a picture book writer or have tried unsuccessfully to get your work published, Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition is just what you need to craft picture books that will appeal to young children and parents, and agents and editors. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9781440353758 Media Type: Paperback(Second Edition, Revised) Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Publication Date: 11-13-2018 Pages: 272 Product Dimensions: 5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)Read an Excerpt Read an Excerpt CHAPTER 1 Becoming a Picture-Book Scholar "Writing is a craft before it is an art. ..." — DONALD M. MURRAY Having your appendix removed doesn't qualify you to then perform an appendectomy, so why should having heard or read picture books qualify you to write one? You wouldn't start creating a software program without first researching computer theory, but some people think they can write a picture book without ever reading or studying contemporary picture books. Picture books have a unique form and audience. In this chapter, you'll learn what a picture book is and what its audience requires from you the writer. But first I'd like to tell you a true story. Several years ago, my family was enjoying a pleasant summer supper outside and having an animated discussion about the state of education in this country. With five other eager participants, I couldn't get in a word. Frustrated at being ignored, I pounded my fist on the table: "Listen to me! I have something to say!" My sixteen-year-old son Alan looked at me incredulously. "Listen to you? Why should we listen to you? You write books for people who can't even read." We all had a good laugh, and I'm happy to say, they did let me speak my piece. Much later, mulling over his comment, I realized Alan had come up with the perfect way to begin defining a picture book. A BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T READ Picture books are usually read by an adult reader to a nonreader. To that end, picture books combine words with pictures that entice the nonreader to listen and help her construct meaning from the words. Picture books traditionally find an audience in young children. Today, some picture books and graphic novels are published for fluent readers, even adults, but this book will focus on those aimed at children ages two through eight. Such picture books are divided into two categories. The first is books aimed at the nonreader. The second is picture storybooks written for emergent or newly established readers. These have more text and more complicated story lines. Hard- and softcover published picture books are usually thirty-two pages long, but your manuscript, double-spaced with one-inch (25mm) borders, will be considerably fewer pages. A Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) survey found that picture-book manuscripts range from one-half page to sometimes even fifteen pages. Those at the top range would obviously be for independent readers. The length of the manuscript is determined by the age of the audience and its attention span. Manuscripts for children up to two years old (who tend to have short attention spans) should be between one half and one manuscript page. Usually these are published as board books, where pictures are the most important element. There might be one sentence per page, sometimes just one word. Because pictures are so critical to drawing in the listener, early board books are generally written and illustrated by the same person. Today publishers are increasingly reformatting popular picture books into board books. Although some feel too advanced for the intended audience, I'm not complaining. My story, If Animals Kissed Good Night, was originally published as a picture book. When it was reissued as a board book, sales skyrocketed. Children between the ages of two and five can sit still longer, so their picture-book manuscripts are longer — around two to five pages. With roughly 200 words per manuscript page, that means 400 to 900 words total. When this book was first published, if my manuscripts were in the 700-word range, I searched for ways to cut. Now 500 words seems long to me. Manuscripts between four and fifteen pages are for older children and even adults. The longer the manuscript, the more likely the book pages will increase, always in multiples of eight. One book might be forty pages; another might be forty-eight and so on. A word of caution: Books with higher page counts cost more to produce. Publishers are wary of spending more money than necessary on an unproven product. And new writers are unproven products. If you've never been published, revise to fit your story into the thirty-two-page format. Because a picture book is both words and pictures, the writer can limit words to the bare essentials. In Where Do Pants Go? author Rebecca Van Slyke asks where certain items of clothing go. She leaves the look of each item to the illustrator, Chris Robertson, thereby eliminating much text (some pages have as few as three words). An added benefit is that she gives Chris control of color, design, and the overall look of the book. While we're at it, cutting words: You don't need to describe the house the character lives in, the appearances of his parents, or the breed of his dog. Descriptions, unless vital to your story, should be eliminated. That allows you, the writer, to focus on the action and dialogue of your story. Picture-book writers, even if they're not illustrators, still must have visual images in their minds, particularly when writing for the very young. Your text should allow the illustrator space for a variety of interesting picture possibilities to keep the listener involved in the book. This may be accomplished through one or all of the following: 1. writing scenes with different actions 2. introducing new characters into the story 3. moving characters to different settings 4. changing the emotional intensity of a scene In picture books for the two- to five-year-old range, the text requires pictures to tell the story. Writers should strive to leave room in their manuscripts for the illustrator to develop an independent picture story line. For example, read the classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. On one page in the book, Numeroff writes that Mouse painted a picture but gives no indication of what the picture looks like, allowing the illustrator, Felicia Bond, to create an artist-quality portrait of a mouse family in front of their tree-trunk house. Sometimes, as in If Animals Kissed Good Night illustrated by David Walker, not having all the details in the words allows the illustrator to add his own story. A rabbit never mentioned in the text is frightened by a bear's growl. A little girl in bed, again never mentioned in the text, is illustrated warmly at the beginning and near the end of the book. Good illustrators add their own story so children too young to read can have fun "reading" the pictures. Good writers leave artists the space to do that. In longer picture storybooks, words can more easily stand on their own. Although they are illustrated, the pictures, while showing aspects of the story, rarely add a new story line. The balance tips from heavy illustration to heavy words; the writer has more room to add details. Often these books have large chunks of text that might take up the entire page. The Great Moon Hoax by Stephen Krensky is nearly 1,500 words and contains many imaginings of life on the moon. The illustrations by Josée Bisaillon echo the action and the imaginings but don't add a second story line. This is true of many historical-fiction and nonfiction picture books. Noah Webster & His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris is 1,417 words long. The illustrations by Vincent X. Kirsch enhance the text but do not add a separate story. Regardless of length, picture-book writers keep the reader wondering what will happen next by creating stories filled with action and little contemplation. THE UNUSUAL TWO-PART PICTURE-BOOK AUDIENCE This is subdivided into two separate groups: children too young to read and adult readers. CHILDREN TWO TO EIGHT YEARS OLD Bearing in mind this targeted audience, it behooves writers to get to know what matters to children. You will have difficulty writing for them if you don't have a strong memory of your childhood or firsthand experience with children. However, you can educate yourself by spending time with nieces, nephews, and neighbors and by visiting parks, nursery and elementary schools, etc. Here are some characteristics of children to keep in mind while you write. 1. EVERYTHING IS NEW. Adults have been in cars so often our minds travel elsewhere when we're driving, yet children are fascinated by every tree, house, and shop they see fr
A children's book cover has to have its playful appeal for consumers to buy.Here are some of the cutest children's book cover designs to benchmark!...
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How to write a children's book—everything you need to know! Thinking of writing a children's storybook? As an independent publisher, I often get calls from men and women who have either written a kids' story or have one in mind they want to write. This article will focus primarily on how to write a children's
Discover the joy of children's book illustration with our easy-to-follow guide. Start your journey to creating visual stories that inspire and delight.
Christopher Denise is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and visual development artist. His first book, a retelling of the Russian folktale The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, was …
Looking for the best children's picture books from 2020? I've rounded up some of my very favorite kids picture books published in 2020.
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62 p. : 28 cm
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How I Wrote a Children's Book: From Idea to Execution - 6 tips from children's book author Carrie Lowrance.
If you're studying ecosystems and habitats, these picture books can help! First. let's define the difference between ecosystem and habitat.
At GeekDad we are committed to helping you raise geek generation 2.0, and we believe few things that you do are more important than reading to your kids early and often.
Inside: 100 Great Children’s Books is the selection of the best-written, most inspiring, beautiful, and entertaining picture books you might not know about. If you’ve read Where the Wild Things Are, Amelia Bedelia, and other classic picture books with your children and wonder if there are lesser-known books that are no less amazing, you
Before having my third (and FINAL!) child and finding that I no longer have time to brush my hair let alone do anything else, I used to run a 6 week evening course on how to write and illustrate children's books. Being a fan of reuse, recycle and re-hashing old material I thought I might blog the course so that anyone out there who might be interested in taking up this noble profession (which according to my husband amounts to little more than 'colouring in') can glean what they may from my musings. The first three weeks are how to write a picture book, the following three are how to illustrate one. Obviously this is, at best, a brief introduction to the discipline but I hope it might serve as a starting point for a few who may have the talent and inclination but be a little lost on where to begin. I was at that point 14 years ago when I started self-teaching myself by reading just about every article I could lay my hands on and quizzing any professional who didn't take out a restraining order. There will be homework! If you chose to do it, great, if you want to send it to me for my perusal please do and if I get the time to get back to you then we'll both be doing well. Picture Book Writing Course Part 1 What Makes A Good Picture Book It's Tough! True story; Dr Seuss was at a dinner party when he met a Brain surgeon, the brain surgeon said ‘oh, are you that guy who writes those little books for children? I’ve always thought that when I had a free afternoon one Saturday I’d love to write one. Dr Seuss replied, ‘ ‘Ahh yes, and I’ve always thought when I had a free afternoon one Saturday I’d love to do a little brain surgery’ I'm not suggesting that what I do is brain surgery (it's actually more like rocket science;) but there is a misapprehension that it’s easy to write for children and get published. I thought so! Until the harsh realities and rejection letters beat my optimistic spirit violently down. The truth is that writing picture books is a particular artform with it’s own rules and requirements - it’s a craft that takes a long time to master - (and clearly I am in no way near to mastering it yet). It is also an EXTREMELY competitive field. I spoke with a small publisher a few years back who told me they get 100 unsolicited (i.e. not through an agent) manuscripts a week - of which 2 a year might get published. It took me 2 years of hard slog to get illustration work and 8 years of writing picture book manuscripts before one was published - and this is quicker than many. So why do so many people think they can do it? 1) Every parent/grandparent/teacher/aunt with a grain of imagination has made up stories to adoring children and thinks they would be good enough to be published. Unfortunately kids love the attention of anyone making up stories for them whether the stories are any good or not. We all have the ability to make up a story, but this doesn't make us all writers. I can make beans on toast - doesn’t make me a chef! 2) People think their book will change the world! People often get into writing children’s books with projects they are truly passionate about - pets, family anecdotes or memories, or a moral they wish to impart and then take it terribly personally when they hit their first wall and refuse to compromise or take advice. 3) People think it’s easy because unlike a novel, it’s short! But just because there aren’t many words doesn’t mean there isn’t much story. Children's author Mem Fox once compared writing picture books to ‘writing War and Peace in Haiku’. A slight exaggeration, maybe, but one of the most difficult books I've ever written is Zoo Girl - and it's told in only 20 words! But trying to get the story right first, with emotional ups and downs, cliff-hangers, a strong beginning, middle and end, character depth etc. and then condense that down and tell as much as I could in the pictures rather than the words was an immense challenge. It's easier to ramble. As this blog entry is proving. 4) People think it pays well - true if you have a big hit like The Gruffalo but this is exTREMEly unlikely and many books go out of print after their first print run so the writer gets no royalties and may be paid an advance of just £1000 - £3000. Why do most people fail? The fact is that most would-be children’s writers have no idea what they’re doing. They simply haven’t taken the time to learn about writing for children. Let's face it, you wouldn't try to fly a fighter jet without first taking flying lessons. So why do so many people think they can write a children's book without first learning how? (I admit this is a terrible analogy - no one, so far as I know, has ever died a horrible plummeting death from trying to write a picture book without the proper training, but you get my point.) So what’s the secret? Simple - In order to get your picture book published, you MUST find out what publishers are after and then give them EXACTLY what they want. And, the good news is, children's book publishers are desperate for good children's books, because, as I’ve said, most of what they receive is rubbish! Children’s books like anything else are a business (a really fun one, but a business none the less) and as such we need to be creating products which will be appealing to the target audience - not just the children (although they should ALWAYS be at the forefront of our thinking) but the publishers, editors, booksellers that all come before a child even sees it. Hopefully in this course you'll get a strong idea of what publishers want, and how to create it and present it to them. It's also worth saying at this point that if you can overcome the odds, do the research and break into the business - it's one of the most rewarding, enjoyable and fun jobs around! This first session is What Makes a Good Picture Book? - If you don’t know this, how are you going to create your own one? The only way to do this is to research - know your market, love your market, visit libraries and children's departments in book shops, start collecting picture books that catch your eye (charity shops are a great source). If you don’t love children’s books, if you think they're beneath you, if you're scared of being stared at as you spend hours in the children's section of the library, leave now, this profession is not for you. Different kinds of picture books: I regularly get emails from people who have written 'a children's book' and when I ask what kind of children's book and what age it's aimed at they're a bit stumped, or the material in no way goes along with the age they tell me it's aimed at so you need to learn the difference between... mass-market activity books, board and novelty books, Early Readers, picture books, YA novels etc. etc. You'll get to know these by visiting those libraries and bookshops again and seeing what's in each section, holding them, looking at the blurb on the back, etc. In this course it's high-end trade Picture Books we're interested in - these are generally - 32pages, 12-14 full colour spreads, with full-colour, quality illustrations, and original tales told in less than 600 words. But within picture books there are of course different genres, for example; Humourous (eg. Dave, The Monkey With the Bright Blue Bottom, Olivia, Naked Trevor) Action adventure (eg. Gruffalo, Where the wild things are, ) Snuggly bed-time story (eg. Guess How Much I Love you, I love you Daddy, Cub's First Winter) and lots more besides, and many books of course span the whole lot. But it's worth thinking about what kind of book you want to write and which market you'd be aiming at. Characters Your picture book will need a main character and generally these are; Children - the same age or a little older than the target audince (which for a picture book is usually between 3-6 but can be much wider) Animals - usually young animals or an older animal with a child-like outlook Creatures - monsters, fairies, robots etc. Adults - very rarely the main character (Percy the Park keeper is an exception but he looks quite chubby and child-like! There are other notable exceptions but i think best to avoid as your main character) ok to include parents, teachers, doctors etc. - Adults children have come across in their own lives. Inanimate Objects - Again, there are notable exceptions but generally I would avoid writing your picture book about Simon the Stapler or Billy Banana. It's old-fashioned, it's dull, it's of little interest to publishers. The important thing is your picture book needs at least one character the child reader can identify with - so whether it's a robot monkey or bespectacled duck make sure they make choices and deal with emotions like a 5 year old child would. So what makes a book work well? THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY RULE HERE by generally a great picture book must be; Original - publishers are looking for a new hook or concept Well written - we'll go into more detail about this next week but each word must be perfect. Beginning, middle and end - Straight in, exciting progression, pleasing ending Fit nicely into 12/13 spreads with action on each spread Attractive and entertaining to children and adults Children/main character solving their own problems, not adults stepping in to 'save the day' A Simple idea told clearly Engaging characters GREAT ending We will be looking at this list and going through it in more detail next week but for now; Homework! 1. Look at a selection of (fairly recent) picture books and as you read them and study the illustrations ask the following questions; What kind of book is it (funny, adventure etc.) What’s the basic plot? What is the atmosphere of the book and how is that conveyed? Why and how do the images and text work together? Is the book appropriate for its audience? Why? Is there a character the child can relate to? What is the child meant to gain from the book, if anything? Is there an underlying message or moral to the book? How does the narrative work - is there a definite beginning, middle and end? 2. Come up with 3 vague picture book ideas - include a main character and a rough plot line. Next week - How to Write a Picture Book
Inside: You can publish a children's book. You can do it this year! Let's get started with three different paths forward. Shortly after publishing Belinda Baloney Changes Her Mind I started getting messages that were worded much more eloquently but essentially boiled down to this: But, like, how? It's a great question! And a question
