Book Review: three picture books by Leanne Dyck

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

author:  Laura Joffe Numeroff

illustrator:  Felicia Bond

publisher:  Laura Geringer Books--an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers 

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

publishing date:  1985

The story begins with the mouse's request for a cookie. It continues as the mouse asks for something else and something else and something else. I enjoyed the author and illustrator's light touches of humour. The author doesn't supply an ending; the illustrator does--with a drawing of a clearly exhausted narrator. The repeated phrase built suspense and carried me through the story.

Gifts

author:  Jo Ellen Bogart

illustrator:  Barbara Reid

publisher:  Scholastic Canada Ltd

www.scholastic.ca

publishing date:  1995

The poetic text began as a song. 

Grandma travels to Africa to Australia to Mexico to Hawaii to the Arctic to India to Switzerland to China to England. And as she travels she sends gifts to her granddaughter. This truly is a feel good story. Through the illustrations we watch the granddaughter grow from a little girl to a young mother. Like If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, this book also continues after the ending--with Grandma promising to send gifts to her great-grandson. 

This Tree Counts

author:  Alison Formento

illustrator:  Sarah Snow

publisher:  Albert Whitman and Company

publishing date:  2010

This book was printed on recycled paper.

This clever counting book is sure to delight tree huggers young and older. Mr. Tate takes his class outside where they learn why trees are so important to our environment and the students plant trees. The ecological message is driven home by the charming illustrations.

photo by ldyck

Spend time reading picture books...But don't just read them--think about them. Take notes. Study why one works for you and another doesn't. This is good training before starting to write and should continue throughout your career.

 

Ann Whitford Paul

Sharing my author journey...
How do you introduce your characters to your readers. There are so many fun ways. This week I found another.

Book Review: Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul

I was so stoked by all the helpful information I found in Writing Picture Books:  A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication that I couldn't wait to share it with you. But my mind boggled when I started to write this post. I wanted to tell you about this and this and this. Writing Picture Books is 242 pages. My average blog post is (very) approximately 800 words. That's a problem. There's no solution other than urging you to buy this book...

Buy this book

All I can do is scratch the surface. All I can do is tell you what stood out for me...

About the illustrations...

A song is a marriage between lyrics and tune; a picture book is a marriage between text and pictures. Leave room for the illustrator.

The writer wisely trusted the creativity of the illustrator...to handle the description. Description, unless vital to your story, should all be eliminated. That allows you, the writer, to focus on the action and dialogue of your story... You want to write a text that allows the illustrator space for a variety of interesting picture possibilities to keep the listener involved with the book. You can do this in four ways:

1) Write scenes with action

2) Introducing new characters with the story

3) Moving characters into different settings.

4) Changing the emotional intensity of a scene. (p. 9)

Sometimes...information can be found in the illustrations and does not need to be spelled out in the text.  (p. 77)

For example, the setting may be  better revealed in an illustration.

About the characters...

'We want our characters in our picture book stories to be.

1)someone the reader cares about

2)likable

3)a child, or an adult, or animal who is childlike

4)an imperfect character

5)someone who behaves in ways believable to that character

6)active, not passive

7)able to solve their own problems. (p. 57)

Create well-rounded, not cookie-cutter, characters. (p. 16)

If characters...merely make cameos, they can probably be cut. (p. 113)

Animal characters give your listeners an opportunity to distance themselves from the characters, especially when they are dealing with issues that might be too threatening and scary. (p. 50)

[T]ry to get rid of adults as much as possible. (p. 102)

 Your main character needs to come on first and leave last. (p. 103) 

About the plot...

Beginning:  characters and story problem are introduced. 
Keep in mind a child's short attention span and only address one story question per book.

Middle:  The character takes action to solve his problem. The action taken builds from smaller to larger. Keep in mind the rule of three--the character takes three actions to solve his problem.

End:  

Once the problem set out in the beginning of the picture book is solved, the story is over, finished--except perhaps for quickly tying up any loose ends. (p. 87)

About your reader...

Children love repeated phrases but don't give them too many or you'll risk turning off your adult reader.

Picture books are short not only for the child, but also for the adult. (p. 18)

Because, hopefully, the book will be read over and over again.

Dialogue helps your reader. It's easier to put expression into what characters are saying than in sections of narrative description. (p. 17)

Children are wise enough to figure out what a story is about without tacking on a moral. (p. 14)

About the writing...

The concepts of an hour from now, tomorrow, or next week are not clear to young children. For that reason, picture books...usually take place in a few hours, a day, or a night. (p. 12)

Most picture books are told using the third person point-of-view (he/she/it) but that doesn't mean yours has to be. Experiment. Be creative. Use the first person point-of-view (I). Write your story in letter form or as journal entries.  

In conclusion...

I can't stress enough that this is a mere sample of the information that awaits the wise writer who purchases a copy of this fine book. 

Next post (Sunday, March 28th):  Just like a publisher, you can help make a picture book author's career. In my next post, I'll tell you how.

Sharing my author journey...

I continue to work on my novel; I continue to learn how to write. For example, transitions are a lot easier to write when you take the  

Writing Picture Books by Leanne Dyck

I cared for infants, toddlers and preschoolers in a day care centre for over fourteen years. Before that, I was a Sunday school teacher and a child minder. Happy memories of sharing stories with children skipped through my mind and my pen flew across the page. When I finally ran out of ink, I'd written two picture books.

'Competition for publication of picture books is fierce. Many publishers receive hundreds of these manuscripts every month and picture books are expensive to produce. You will be competing with well established children's writers...and with the work of author-illustrators....
[I]t's best to approach this genre armed with information...
The Canadian Children's Book Centre'

Here's a list of 20+ picture book publishers.

My journey to seeing my manuscripts published has just begun. Over the months to come, I will continue to share this adventure with you.

One thing I won't be doing is self-publishing these--or any other--picture book. 

Listen to Joanna's Penn with picture book author Karen Inglis.

And even if I don't find a publisher, I've already gained from the experience of writing them.

I assure you that with every picture book manuscript you write, your ability to write tight and clever will improve. How to Write Children's Picture Books by Tara Lazar.

And as always, reading is key.

Picture books have a unique rhythm and cadence, a certain subtlety that can only be understood by reading and absorbing them...I suggest reading 500 picture books before you sit down to write your first manuscript. How To Write Children's Picture Books by Tara Lazar.

So, as I travel this journey to publication, I return to my favourite bookstore. 

"What's your best-selling picture book," I ask the clerk. Because if you want to live there, you need to visit...

And why travel alone?
Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers

You may also be interested in reading...


What To Do With A Picture Book Manuscript by Janet McNaughton




Sharing my author journey...