For several years, this series on writing a picture book novel has been available free on this site. It’s now available altogether as a 110 page pdf file, How to Write a Children’s Picture Book.
After you’ve written the first draft of the picture book, let it cool off a week. While it’s cooling off, I’ll cover a few other things about audience and dealing with illustrations. Then, we’ll get to the fun part, revising the picture book.
The Child as the Audience
Remember that the audience for picture books is a child, so the story should be of interest to them. Unless it is a folk or fairy tale, characters are usually children. Rarely do adult characters or inanimate objects as characters make successful picture books. Bui says, “It’s preferable to have a young child as protagonist, or an animal. It needs to be someone who the child reader can relate to.”
The Adult as the Audience
However, adults are the gatekeepers for children’s access to picturebooks. For the youngest child, an adult reads to them.
- Adult/child relationship. Mem Fox says it’s important to keep in mind “the child in the lap,” in other words, the relationship between the adult and the child as you read the story. For example, include something that will make the child turn to the adult and give them a hug.
- Can the adult stand to read this 100 times? Favorite books are often requested nightly by a child, so you must consider if the adult can stand it “one more time.”
- Adult needs/uses for children’s literature. Remember that often the adult is a teacher, who needs books to fulfill education curriculum. This shouldn’t be the major concern, but if you can tie it into a curriculum need, it will help sell the book. For example, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman is used in social studies for map work, and in Language Arts to teach letter writing. Download the Lesson Plans for my picture books to see other ways they are used.
See Also: 30 Days to a Stronger Novel
Related posts:
- Revising for Audience
- Putting the Picture in Picture Books
- Messages, Morals and Lessons in Picture Books
- How to Create a Read Aloud Friendly Picture Book
- Playing with Words for Picture Books
 |  Revise with confidence. |
[...] standards: 32 pages Putting the Picture in Picture Books Write the First Draft of a Picture Book The Dual Audience for Picture Books Did you Write a Picture Book or Something Else? Check Your Picture Book’s Story Arc [...]