Writing Children's Books For Dummies. Peter Economy
any, text. We’re talking a few sentences at most, and sometimes only one word to a page. These books vary in size, from 2 x 3 inches to 14 x 16 inches.
Writing great board books
Terrific topics for board books include early learning concepts, such as shapes and colors, and daily experiences, such as mealtime and naptime. But you don’t need a lot of words to get your concepts across. Board books employ simple rhyming and repeated text and a lot of bright, colorful, engaging pictures to attract baby’s attention.
To write a good board book, you need to have relatable content. To figure out whether you do, you need to research the titles already out there. Take a good look at the board books that continue to sell, and sell, and sell, such as the ones we mention in the section “Baby-friendly board books,” earlier in this chapter. The best board books have a few elements in common:
Simple concepts or story lines appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Minimal text per page (often only a word or two).
Illustratable text (meaning you don’t include any overly complex concepts). The illustrations or photographs should be clear and evocative; if the words disappeared, the images could tell the story by themselves.
However, because the board-book market is totally inundated with concept books and simple stories about everyday experiences, if you want to sell a board book based on text only, you have to make the text very unique indeed. To make sure your board book stands out, study what’s already out there so that you can create an original concept and story.
Picture books for toddlers
Picture books, like the ones that have wildly different illustrative styles shown in Figure 2-2, are most often hardcover, heavily illustrated storybooks that cover almost every topic under the sun. They can be fiction or nonfiction, told in poetry or prose, and aimed at the literary or the mass/commercial markets. Teachers and parents who work or live with children from preschool age through early elementary years use picture books to speak to children about everything and anything the children might be experiencing at the moment: holidays, new siblings, moods, a fascination with birds or princesses — you name it, picture books cover it.
a) Wild Colt reprinted courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. © 2012 Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. b) The Kissing Hand and c) Chester the Brave reprinted courtesy of Tanglewood Books.
FIGURE 2-2: Example picture books.
One of the most popular picture book series of all time is Ian Falconer’s Olivia series (Atheneum Books for Young Readers). This book provides a perfect example of a picture-book author/illustrator creating a fleshed-out character who looks, feels, and behaves just like the kid next door — even though she’s a pig. The minimal text, limited color palette, and evocative yet restrained illustrations all work together in just the way they should in a picture book. Other bestsellers, all very different from one another, include Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (Hyperion), Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series (Viking Books for Young Readers), Seriously, Just Go to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes (Akashic Books) (and the children’s version of this duo’s Go the F*ck to Sleep, which is definitely aimed at parents), and Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by James Dean, illustrated by Eric Litwin (HarperCollins).
Pondering picture book basics
Picture books give delight to readers 3 to 8 years old (see the classic retelling in Figure 2-3). Generally, picture books have 24, 32 — or less frequently, 40 — pages and anywhere from 100 to 1,500 words. These books can capture the vastly different interests and attention spans of kids in this age range. Picture books most often measure in at 8½ x 11 inches.
From Quick as a Cricket by Audrey and Don Wood. Reprinted with permission of the author and illustrator. © 2020 Audrey Wood and Don Wood. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
FIGURE 2-3: Quick as a Cricket, a picture book.
Here’s a rundown of the not-so-standard picture book varieties:
Licensed-character picture books: Feature characters generally culled from popular television shows, toys, videogames, apps, and movies. Some licensed characters that have been around for a while and will probably stick around for a while more include Elmo, Barbie, My Little Pony, and SpongeBob SquarePants. According to publishing expert Jane Friedman, a third of all children’s books sold today are based on licensed characters. These books are assigned authors by the publishing or licensing company.
Board book adaptations of picture books: These titles have already had successful runs as picture books, and they get a second life as board books. In general, these board books keep the same text and illustrations as the original picture books (sometimes with an editorial nip and tuck here and there, but usually not enough for the casual reader to notice).
Softcover picture books: Although the 8x8s (books measuring 8 inches x 8 inches) are the most common softcover picture books out there (see Figure 2-4), softcovers come in many sizes and shapes. In the old days, all picture books had a first run (the first printing of the book) as hardcovers. If the hardcover picture book was successful, then the publisher would follow up with the cheaper softcover. Nowadays, publishers often release picture books initially in a softcover format (sometimes referred to as picturebacks). You can often find them in spinner racks at bookstores and markets.