Home » Writing Craft » Kicking Your Picture Book Up a Notch (Without Adding Length)

Kicking Your Picture Book Up a Notch (Without Adding Length)

posted in: Writing Craft 1

boy reading book on bedPicture books are jewels in the world of literature; artistic, fun, informative, and full of heart-shine. One important aspect is that they are short. Many publishers insist on less than 500 words. Yet they must have characterization, plot, setting, theme, and mood—all the same things a 90,000-word novel has.

The other thing they must do is grab and retain the interest of young minds. Those minds are racing at phenomenal speed. It’s a tricky business to get that young reader to stick with a story.

Below are some suggestions for things you can do to add a little kick to your picture book without adding much in the way of length.

I’ve provided the titles of books that illustrate the techniques listed.

Can you work in any of these tried-and-true methods? If you can, your picture book will be memorable to a young child in more than one way. So, go for it!

Use wordplay/games/riddles/math

Include refrains

Use onomatopoeia

Give away secrets to the reader

Break the invisible “wall” between reader and book

Add metafictional elements

Add mini-plots to the illustrations, or dueling plots

Create physical interaction with the book

Add non-fiction addenda (can include historical background, teaching ideas, biographical details, science facts, etc.)

Follow Shutta Crum:

Author, Speaker

Shutta Crum is the author of several middle-grade novels, thirteen picture books, many magazine articles and over a hundred published poems. She is also the winner of seven Royal Palm awards, including gold for her chapbook When You Get Here. (Kelsay Books, 2020). Her latest volume of poetry is The Way to the River. She is a well-regarded public speaker and workshop leader. shutta.com

  1. Carol Coven Grannick
    |

    Oh, my gosh! A fix-up and brush-up workshop from you in one short blog post!!! Thank you so much! These particular categorizations are so important in modern picture books, and I’m excited to be between projects (kind of, since I write poetry every day) with the time to go through each section and learn, learn, learn!

Comments are closed.