Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication is the best book I have found on writing picture books. The picture book genre is unique in many ways: The stories must accommodate illustrations, the writer must cater to two readers (adult and child), and the children who are reading (or listening to) picture books are often young enough that they’re still learning how stories work. Ann Whitford Paul’s book dispels the mystery of those magical picture books we remember from our childhood and outlines the concrete elements that make a picture book great.
Divided into short chapters that follow the natural journey of a picture book writer, Writing Picture Books begins with basic information about what makes a picture book different from other children’s books; moves through story questions, plot, and character; and ends with sections on critique groups, agents, and publishers. There are sections devoted to first lines, unique ways to shake up a story, and dummy books.
Each chapter ends with a series of exercises to do before you move on to the next section. In the first chapter, the exercises ask readers to find a published picture book that they really love and another that they think is awful and type them up. She also asks readers to write their own picture book draft. The exercises in subsequent chapters usually involve three things: reading new picture books, revising the draft you wrote, and seeing how the good and bad published picture books applied or didn’t apply the elements described in the chapter.
The one word I would use to describe this book is demystifying. If you want to write the kind of picture book that has readers sighing with satisfaction at its end, this book will help you learn about the concrete elements that separate an okay from a magical book.
Find it here: Goodreads | Amazon.com | Book Depository
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