Write a Children's Book

When you write a picture book, it’s best for you to understand how they work, and how an illustrator must work with you.

Picture books are usually around 32 pages of illustration with less than 1,000 words, but there are no rules as such when it comes to this style of book. They might look like a simple type of children’s book to create and write, but it’s actually more difficult that you think.

Some of the common traits of picture book are:

1. Picture books usually have a lyrical or rhythmic style. This doesn’t mean the book has to rhyme as such, just that it has a natural flow.
2. Sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch bring these kind of stories to life. When you write a picture book, think about this in unique ways. A good picture book will play with the senses.
3. The author, when writing their picture book should bear in mind that what ever they write, the illustrator is going to have to create images around their words. Picture books are usually very stunning, so the author should remember to be fairly scenic with what they are writing, so the illustrator can portray what the author writes with the best visual sense in mind.
4. Children usually connect to picture books easily, especially if you can find a way of illuminating some aspect of their lives, or making them laugh. These can also give the children a connection to the person reading the story to them. It is most commonly achieved by keeping a sense of the child at the forefront of the story.

Whatever your story is about, write it visually and work closely with your illustrator – this will lead to the strongest results when you want to write a picture book.

* image taken from http://www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au/ with due credit