Moira Butterfield's Blog, page 17

Learning Your Lesson (or not) by Kael Tudor

Character development. It’s the backbone of storytelling, where our main character (or in some cases villain) come away from the story a changed person, having learnt lessons from their adventure and grown as a character. 
Picture books are no exception. In The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald, the titular seed changes his ways and makes a choice to be kind. In Gustavo the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago, Gustavo overcomes his social anxiety and finds the friends he’s been wanting all along. In Ravi’s Roar by Tom Percival, Ravi realises that his anger hurt the people around him and apologises. 
Besides being excellent stories, these books, and the countless others like them, have subtle, but very important lessons for the children enjoying them; be kind, be brave, take responsibility for your mistakes. But what about stories where the main character learns absolutely nothing, despite having the chance to, and ends the book in the exact same position (or sometimes even worse) than where they started? Would children’s literature - and picture books for that matter - really portray characters who learn zip? Zilch? Nadda? Of course! Here are some of my favourites. 
But beware, from here on in there be spoilers! 

I am a Tiger - Karl Newson and Ross Collins The premise of I am a Tiger is simple. Mouse refuses to accept that she’s not a tiger, despite a colourful cast of characters insisting otherwise. But when she comes face to face with an actual tiger, is it time for Mouse to admit that she’s really a mouse? Um… no. 


Stuck - Oliver Jeffers Floyd’s kite gets stuck in a tree, so in order to knock it down he throws his shoes, his cat, a bicycle, a duck, an orangutan, and so on. There are delightful moments throughout the book where you think that Floyd’s had an epiphany (a ladder, the fire brigade, a saw), but instead of using them to get his kite sensibly, he lobs them up into the tree instead. 

Cockatoos - Quentin Blake Professor Dupont’s cockatoos are well and truly fed up of the annoying way he greets them every morning, so they declare that enough is enough, escape through a crack in the conservatory glass, and hide from him throughout the house. After a day of trying to find his precious cockatoos (delightfully, they are hiding on every page, just out of sight), Dupont goes to bed, but wakes to find that they’ve returned. And how does he react? He greets them the same way as always, of course. 



That’s What Dinosaurs Do - Jory John and Pete Oswald William the dinosaur spends his days roaring at anyone and everyone as loud as he can. Why? Well, because that’s what dinosaurs do. However, at the start of the book he gets a sore throat and is given strict no-roaring orders from his doctor. After a week of rest and happy townsfolk, William can’t wait any longer, and roars his dino heart out at everyone. And does he see the error of his ways when everyone comes to his house to complain? Not one bit. 


Rescuing Mrs Birdley - Aaron Reynolds and Emma Reynolds Miranda Montgomery, keen nature expert, spots her teacher, Mrs Birdley, at the supermarket. Concerned that Mrs Birdley has strayed, Miranda decides to capture her and put her back in her natural habitat, the school. When Miranda finally accomplishes her goal, it looks like things are finished, but then she spots her headteacher, and the whole process is set to happen again, with Miranda none the wiser about how you cannot capture school staff and lock them in the building. 

Here Be Dragons - Susannah Lloyd and Paddy Donnelly A knight is on the hunt for a dragon, to prove his naysaying friends wrong. But despite the warning signs, subtle hints and obvious sightings (including an epic battle involving the dragon, a princess and the knight’s horse), the knight completely fails to find what he was searching for, even when half of his armour has been melted away by dragon fire.  
In addition to books such as these, I’ve reserved a special subsection for stories with a different sort of ending. One thing that all of the books on the above list have in common is that, while the characters don’t learn from their experiences, nothing particularly bad happens to them, either. They finish the book completely unchanged, but they do finish it. I like to call this next list (I just came up with the name, as I wrote this) the Grave Consequences list, for obvious reasons. 


The Fate of Fausto - Oliver Jeffers Fausto is a man who believes that he can claim everything in the world to be his own, and for the most part he proves himself right. Flower, sheep, mountain and boat all bow before him and allow themselves to be claimed by Fausto. But when he attempts to claim the ocean, and the ocean refuses, Fausto loses his temper and decides to stamp his foot on the ocean to prove how cross he is, with Grave Consequences. 

Not Now, Bernard - David McKee A book so good it should be included on literally every list relating to picture books ever. Whether viewed as a commentary on parents not devoting enough time to their children or simply a story about a boy, his parents, and a monster in the garden, one thing is the same: Bernard keeps talking to people who are too busy and ultimately is on the receiving end of some Grave Consequences. 
So the question stands: why? Why do children’s books with protagonists that learn nothing and teach their readers nothing exist? Shouldn’t all children’s literature, especially books for children as young as the picture book audience, teach children something? I’d argue not. While there is a huge need for stories with morals, I’d say there’s an equally important space for books like those on this list, where characters are flawed and don’t always learn the first time around. At the end of the day, can we all say that we’ve never made the same mistake twice? 
Could children say the same? Children who can spot a forced lesson from a mile away, who love being in on a joke, and who delight at the sign of mischief because often so much of their time is spent being taught the correct way to behave. Sometimes it’s just fun to hear a story about someone who isn’t willing, or capable, of learning from their experiences. 
And besides, there undeniably something lip-smackingly delicious about getting to the end of a story and realising that the main character is going to make the same mistakes all over again, and it’s often these endings that have solicited the biggest laughs, from both myself and the children I’ve been reading the stories to. When you consider that, sometimes the biggest lesson is that there shouldn’t be one at all. 


Kael Tudor is a children’s writer from Swansea. He’s not allowed to talk about whether or not he’s got any books in the pipeline, but is silently excited. He loves chatting all things picture books, so if you want to say hi, or suggest even more picture books with characters who don’t learn or change at all, you can do so on Twitter at: @KaelTudor

PICKING A PICTURE BOOK THEME by Clare Helen Welsh

Today on Picture Book Den we’re discussing picture book themes. What are the popular ones, the tricky ones and how can you use this knowledge to make your stories more marketable?

Some of the most common picture book themes I’ve come across include the following:

·        Making new friends

·        Learning new skills

·        Following or not following rules

·        Making choices

·        Facing fears

It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but these kinds of themes aren’t going to get old. Books about worries, facing fears, bedtime, parties, pets, first experiences, kindness, sharing, love, friendship, accepting differences are always going to be relevant to a picture book audience.

Here are some of my favourite titles on these themes:

 

The Littlest Yak

by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley  

"On the tip of the top of a mountain all snowy, where the ice-swirling, toe-curling blizzards were blowy, in a herd full of huddling yaks, big and small, lived Gertie . . . the littlest yak of them all.

Gertie is the littlest yak in her whole herd, and she's feeling stuck in her smallness - she wants to grow UP and have bigness and tallness! But when it turns out that there are some things that only Gertie can do, might she come to see that she's perfect, just the way she is?”

 

The Koala Who Could 

by Rachel Bright  and Jim Field  

“In a wonderful place, at the breaking of dawn, where the breezes were soft and the sunshine was warm, a place where the creatures ran wild and played free ... A Koala called Kevin clung to a tree.

Meet Kevin. A koala who likes to keep things the same. Exactly the same. But sometimes change comes along whether we like it or not... And, as Kevin discovers, if you step outside your comfort zone and try new things, you might just surprise yourself!”

This Book Has Alpacas And Bears 

by Emma Perry and Rikin Parekh 

“Have you ever noticed that bears are absolutely EVERYWHERE? Alfonso the alpaca has and it really gets his GOAT! He's decided that alpacas should get the recognition (and LOVE!) that they deserve. And sometimes it only takes one voice speaking out to make a change. It's time to be proud of who you are. (Watch out, bears!)”

Unfortunately…

 

…being relevant and relatable isn't enough. As you’ll see from the examples above, to stand out in the market your picture book will need a new or different angle. Can the concept be stretched? Can you take the setting, the character, the plot and make them bigger? Play about with them and see if you can add more of a hook / more conflict/ more interest to the idea. For example, what if your shy character was a starfish not a child? What if your fearful squirrel lived in an ice cream parlour instead of a tree? Is the set up as strong as it can be?

 

Just because there are some picture books themes that are more popular than others, doesn’t mean we should shy away from the more profound. Far from it. I’ve read some brilliant picture books recently on the themes of dementia, poverty and judgement, which could be considered niche, but are important for everybody.

The Forgettery

by Rachel Ip and Laura Hughes 

“Amelia’s granny forgets lots of things. Little things, like where she put her glasses, and big things like people and places. But everything anyone has ever forgotten is stored in The Forgettery, and there Amelia and her granny learn the power of making memories.

Filled with warmth and gentle humour, The Forgettery is a beautifully written, sensitive look at dementia and memory loss.”

The Invisible

by Tom Percival

“A moving, powerful story that shines a light on those that feel invisible in our world - and shows us that we ALL belong.

The Invisible is the story of a young girl called Isabel and her family. They don't have much, but they have what they need to get by. Until one day, there isn't enough money to pay their rent and bills and they have to leave their home full of happy memories and move to the other side of the city.”

Milo Imagines The World

by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson  

“Milo Imagines the World is a warm and richly satisfying story from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling picture book duo, about a little boy with a big imagination who learns that you can't know anyone just by looking at them. Set in a bustling city, and full of a family love that binds even in difficult circumstances.”

 

Wanda's Words Got Stuck

by Lucy Rowland and Paula Bowles

“Wanda the witch is so shy she can't talk! No matter how hard she tries, the words won't come out. But when another nervous little witch called Flo joins her class, it seems that Wanda's not the only one who worries about speaking. Then disaster strikes at the magic contest . . . will Wanda have the courage to shout out the magic words and save her new friend Flo from a dangerous dragon?

This heart-warming adventure about finding confidence through friendship is filled with potions, spells and magical animals! Children will fall in love with brave Wanda the witch, especially those who have difficulties with speech, anxiety about talking, or lack confidence in front of others.”

Here are some other themes that might be worth exploring if you’re interested in tackling a more challenging theme.

·        Illness

·        Death and dying

·        Natural disasters

·        War and political issues

Of course, there are things that are going to make a book a hard sell, such as being too country or culture specific, or not being appropriate or engaging enough for the age range… so if something hasn’t been done before you might want to stop and ask yourself why.

Whether you’re going for a common theme or one of the less written about, it’s important to stop and ask yourself; ‘Which are my strongest ideas?’

Try asking yourself:

Which are the most marketable?

Which will help kids the most?

Which will stand out on a bookshelf?

Do you have a suitable title?

Does the title have immediate appeal?

Sharing concepts with trusted peers can be a good way of sussing out the strength of an idea. Which do they like the most? Which pique their interest and why? They might not choose your favourite, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one to come back to. Ask yourself what’s missing in the concept to engage readers?

It’s also important remember WHY you're a writer. Listen to your inner muse. What do YOU want to tell the world? What’s important different about YOU? What do YOU love? Picture books are emotional beasts so consider writing about what matters to you and what fascinates you. Your writing will be more alive if it comes from the heart. (Just don’t forget to think about it objectively and check it’s big enough to go the distance.)

So a little bit of heart, a little bit of head… and you’ll have your next picture project.

Good luck writing it!

BIO: Clare is a children's writer from Devon. She writes fiction and non-fiction picture book texts - sometimes funny and sometimes lyrical. Her first book was published in 2015, and she currently has books in development with Little Tiger Press, Quarto, Andersen, Nosy Crow and MacMillan. Her next book, 'Wee? It Wasn't Me!' has been illustrated by Nicola O'Byrne and publishes on 1st April 2021. You can find out more about Clare at her website www.clarehelenwelsh.com or on Twitter @ClareHelenWelsh.

Can I REALLY be a real writer? FOMO is slowing me down • by Natascha Biebow

I have been telling stories since I was small. 

I told stories to anyone who would listen, especially the dogs!

As a kid, we used to go on long car journeys to the south of Brazil, and I’d babble on, creating all kinds of shenanigans for my fictional characters. My grandmother lived in England, so I’d send her recorded tapes with songs and stories in the mail (in times way before the internet was invented). 

 

A creative writing assignment in school? On it. 

 

This is a whole 'collection' of short stories written in school,
loving saved for me by my mother.

A short story about a cup and a saucer - who is more important?

 Poetry competition for the school newsletter? Yes! 

 

I used to write poetry even. Not now!

 

I loved to write, but I never imagined I’d actually be a published writer when I grew up.

 

Like many writers I know, there is no shortage of stories we could invent or tell. But when it comes to wondering if we’ll ever get them put inside a book that will land in the hands of other readers, children, often DOUBT sets in. Even if we are published, we doubt we can do it again . . . and even another time.

 

I’ve been pondering this.

 

I can draft a story no problem. In fact, I have drawers full of stories (metaphorically speaking, of course – they are all filed on my computer, a folder for each one, many drafts in each folder . . . ). My agent and I send out the most polished ones. And we wait.

 

But, here’s where the problem begins. WAITING. The silence while publishing grinds its wheels starts to conjure up DOUBT again. Will anyone ever say ‘yes’?

 

And then there are all those other writers who are doing so well – I hear and see the noise at events and on social media – successes celebrated, reviews, awards, new books launched . . . all seemingly much faster than I can get my next one finished and signed up. I’m thrilled for my fellow writers, I really am, but still, DOUBT is a mean spiral of negative thoughts that escalates, question after question:

 

Should I be doing something I’m not?

Am I missing out?

Why is it not happening?

Should I be submitting there instead or to this or that competition?

Should I be writing something else?

Should I spend more time marketing my book or writing a new one or . . .?

But I already have so many stories, should I be  . . . ?

What if . . . what if . . . what if . . .?

Maybe I should dig out that novel, but I’m halfway through this picture book and that idea and . . .  What to work on? What do those editors want anyway?

PLUS I really need to earn an actual living, so I’d probably better focus on doing that.

 

THEN I start to make excuses for not writing:

 

I don’t have enough time.

I’m busy homeschooling and juggling so much right now, I really don't have the headspace for writing a great book at the moment.

I’ll just clean the house and then I’ll write if there’s time.

I can’t write that book right now.

Someone else has probably done that already.

If I don’t send that story out on submission, it can’t get rejected.

I just got a rejection, maybe I should take a little break.

I don’t know how that story ends . . .

Maybe I was only ever meant to write one book?!

Maybe I’ll just bake some cookies and think about my story instead.

I’ll never earn enough from my writing.

 

Oh my goodness. STOP! BREATHE!

 

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is taking over my head (and my heart).

 

I need a new story.

 

I need to remember to start THINKING and ACTING like a writer:

 

First, I need to remember – everyone has their own journey and this is mine. I will never be a series fiction writer churning out books quickly. I will be a book-every-so-often-that-is-inspired-and-cooked-over-timekind of author.

 

I start by breathing and being grateful that I am this kind of writer.

 

Sometimes, it can take a bit of time to figure out where you fit and to be OK with this, not trying to pigeon-hole yourself to be like others. FOMO doesn’t serve me well, I’ve realized. The slot for someone else won’t fit me comfortably. THERE IS SPACE FOR EVERYONE.

 

Next, I make two columns:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- how long editors take to consider submissions
- rejections (it might be the wrong manuscript at the wrong time; it’s not necessarily always about me or the story.)
- how much publishers will pay for a book and/or put in for marketing spend
- what other authors are doing
- the current state of the marketplace and trends
- what kind of writing I write

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- bum on seat – commit to writing on a regular basis and stop making excuses for why I don’t have enough time to write. I need to put it in my diary. I need to plan ahead for the time I will write so that I’m not wasting time ‘preparing’.

- take webinars and courses to keep learning and improving my craft. There are some great free and low-cost webinars that can help me learn from other authors, illustrators and publishing professionals. I’ve been enjoying the great interviews on the weekly Kid-Lit Distancing socials

- be active in a writing community like SCBWI to find support, learn new skills, and make connections that will stand me in good stead when my next book comes out
- get critiques of my work – join a critique group or pay a literary consultant for their expert objective eye
- read lots of mentor texts - aloud

- keep an eye and an ear on what is going on in the market, but limit social media so it doesn’t become a distraction 

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- be brave and be prepared to re-think and re-visualize books that have been rejected; re-write! and reconnect with my vision
-  reach out to librarians and teachers to make new connections to promote my published book

- stop waiting for an editor to say yes and write more books so I have some on the back-burner while others are on submission

- research my new book ideas and reach out to experts

- look out for 1-1 or competition opportunities

 

Most importantly, I realize I can take control of the ‘no’ – either the rejection letter or the nearly, not quite feedback from editors – and choose how I will react. Will I let DOUBT set in with its breathless questions bringing on inertia and excuses, or will I look at my list of actions I can take and get stuck in and make a start?

 

LOOK! The list of things I can do is soooooo much longer than the other list, though arguably, the weight isn’t quite equal in that ultimately, we are all waiting for an editor to say ‘yes’ to that project we are passionate about.

 

It’s like any problem: it needs chunking down

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, perhaps, the process of being a ‘real’ writer begins to look more achievable.

Plus, I am a storyteller, after all, so I’m going to weave a story around this. Once there was a girl who dreamt of becoming a writer with lots and lots of books when she grew up. But . . .  there were many obstacles in the way. Does it have a happy ending? Only the author can write THAT story.  

 

  ______________________________________________________________________________________

Natascha Biebow, MBE, Author, Editor and Mentor

Natascha is the author of the award-winning The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons, illustrated by Steven Salerno, winner of the Irma Black Award for Excellence in Children's Books, and selected as a best STEM Book 2020. Editor of numerous prize-winning books, she runs Blue Elephant Storyshaping, an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission, and is the Editorial Director for Five Quills. She is Co-Regional Advisor (Co-Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. Find her at www.nataschabiebow.com

 

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How To Grow A Picture Book Series, by Pippa Goodhart

One part of my work is critiquing picture book texts on behalf of the Jericho Writers agency, and very often people send a series of picture book texts, or a single picture book text together with proposals to develop a whole series.

 

What I’ve tended to tell those writers has been based on my own experience, that picture book series depend on creating an exceptionally strong stand alone picture book which sells so well that the publisher asks for, or agrees to, further books. My You Choose books, illustrated by Nick Sharratt, began with a single book, with the second one agreed to only once that book had sold well over a number of years.

I now have a bit of a series developing from a different book. Fair Shares, illustrated by Anna Doherty and published by Tiny Owl came out in 2019. It quickly proved popular with teachers and librarians, and so Tiny Owl asked for another book from us, and now Best Test will be published in April. I have an idea for a third book, but wait to see if that is going to be wanted!

 

So I wondered if my experience of series growing from single book success was shared by my co-denners. Here are their interesting answers -  

 

 

Natascha Biebow , (an experienced picture book editor as well as writer):

 

All the series that I've ever edited or seen do well on the market started with a single title - e.g. DAISY, Kes Gray's OI series, YOU CHOOSE as you say, THE DINOSAUR THAT POOPED..., HARRY AND THE BUCKETFUL OF DINOSAURS. The only exception I can think of is PRINCESS POPPY- in this case the author had already self-published and built a brand and so RH bought in the character rights and kicked off with a planned series.

 

Chitra Soundar

 

a) When my first Falgu book came out (illustrated by Kanika Nair), I wasn’t well-known in India or known at all in the UK. But after they edited the first book, they offered me a second book right away.

 

b) After rights sold in Frankfurt for Book 1, Book 3 and 4 was commissioned together. (‘Frankfurt’ refers to the annual International Book Fair at which co-editions are sold)

 

With respect to the massively popular You’re Safe With Me series (illustrated by Poonam Mistry), the first book was on unsolicited submission which was then rejected and then solicited back. Even before it came out, when US Junior Library Guild agreed to stock them, the publisher commissioned a second. And then commissioned a third soon after. 

 

None of those were automatic series - but one thing I’d say is as a writer I always put character first and when I’m writing, I’m always thinking of other scenarios for the characters. Even when not commissioned as a series, I create potential for it from the first book and then depending on my relationship with my publisher, ask if I can show them another story in the series. I do this for chapter books as well and it has worked well. 

 

Every time I have an idea, I evaluate if that idea will work for any of my existing characters and if so, I’d see if I should write it and show it to my publisher or ask them first and write it. 

 

Jane Clarke

 

Interesting topic because unless you are an author illustrator, picture book series depend on keeping both the writer and the illustrator on board.

 

I've experienced it both ways - eg I wrote Gilbert the Great as a one-off, and it slowly (over the next 5 years) became a 3 book 'series' because the first book was popular. They only commissioned the third book when the second also sold well. The illustrations by Charles Fuge were a huge attraction and at that time, Charlie was so busy it was hard to fit the third book into his schedule.

Same experience with Knight Time but it only got as far as book 2 (Knight School) - I wrote more texts but the decision was made to stop at 2. I cheekily pitched my most recent text (A Small Person's Guide to Grandmas, to be published 2022) as a potential series, I'm contracted for the first title only - but I guess it doesn't hurt for them to know that there's the potential for more :-)

 

On the other hand, I was contracted from the outset by Nosy Crow to do 4 picture books with Britta Teckentrup ( the unifying characteristic being the use of neon colours rather than a character, and I'm sure the 4 book contract was because they wanted the incredibly popular and busy Britta to schedule time for these books). Titles are Neon Leon, Firefly Home, Leap Frog and the upcoming Tiptoe Tiger.

 

I was also contracted from the outset to do 3 x picture books featuring the character Sky Private Eye - but that series was the concept of the publisher Five Quills.

 

Garry Parsons

 

My experience of working on a series has been that they have developed after the first book has  reached a certain level of popularity and then increased one book at a time. Having a tie-in title publishing a year later helps ignite new interest in the first and so on until you gradually acquire new readers who hopefully will enjoy all the books. My most popular sequence of books being The Dinosaur That Pooped series. Initially a one book contract for the first title, The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas has now grown into 6. 

The Dinosaur That Pooped series written by Tom Fletcher & Dougie Pointer

The other series of picture books I worked on was with author Peter Bently - The Tooth Fairy is a funny series of 3 rhyming story books which also started with a Christmas title, The Tooth Fairy's Christmas followed by The Tooth Fairy’s Royal Visit to coincide with a royal birth and finally, Happy Easter Tooth Fairy! for the spring. Similarly, this series, published by Hachette, developed one contract at a time. So it seems to me that a series grows on the strength of one book at a time but the potential for a series can be very worth while as well as fun to have the opportunity to take a character through different stories.

 

How to Read a Picture Book? by Chitra Soundar

How to Read a Picture Book?

Am I asking the obvious question? Of course, I’m going to read the picture book from the beginning to the end. What else is there?

If you want to become a picture book writer, then there is another way to read a picture book! 

Let me introduce you to my way of reading a picture book.

1. Explore the title – find the word play. Can you guess what the story might be? Is the character popping off the cover and the title of the story? Can you sense a series simmering underneath?

2. Explore the covers – front to back, outer to inner. See what’s featured on the front cover. Have they given away the surprise? Are they trailing crumbs in the back cover too? 

3. Read the enticing blurb at the back. Does it tell you what kind of story you’re going to be reading? Does it reflect the humour or sadness or drama you’re about to encounter?

4. Examine the end-papers – this is where the illustrator usually hides some gems. See how this adds to the story. Does the end-paper set the scene, give the reader more details, create a welcoming presence in the beginning and a fun exit on the other side? As a writer, you don't have control over this. But if your text has opportunities for the illustrator to play, they will definitely try to fill this with fun. Sometimes you can even suggest it.

From You're Snug with Me, written by Chitra Soundar, illustrated by Poonam Mistry.

5. Read the copyright page – first note when the picture book was published. How old is it will tell you a lot more about the conventions and trends of the time. Older picture books tend to be longer. They all also seemed to cover different age-groups. UK picture books are often servicing the preschool age – 3 to 5 years old just until children are starting to read on their own. Note down the name of the publisher, the illustrator and the writer. Are they one and the same person? What does the cataloguing data tell you about the book? How many reprints have this book gone through? 

From Pattan's Pumpkin, written by Chitra Soundar and Illustrated by Frané Lessac.
6. Read the dedication – what can you tell about the origin and inspiration for the story? (Psst! One day you’ll be asked to write a dedication – so do read them to see how they are written.)

7. Now let’s read the story, one spread at a time. Here are what you must study and discover from at least 2-3 readings of this book.

a. First, how many spreads does this book have? How many scenes is this story told in?

b. In each spread, spend time on what’s told in words vs what’s on the page. See if the illustrations are adding more than the text. Is there a sub-text? Does the illustration contradict the text? 

c. Look for the story arc – where does it become worse? Which spread? Was the art in this spread, across two pages? How did that work for the story?

d. Look for page-turns. Where does the author/ illustrator/designer/editor decide where the break before the page-turn was? Is there a pattern? Do they add to the element of surprise when you stop at a page-turn? Are they treating each page-turn to be a cliff-hanger?

e. Is there a repetition or refrain that’s running through the book? If so how is it structured? How often does it repeat? Is it the same words or does it change per repetition? 

From You're Safe with Me, written by Chitra Soundar and Illustrated by Poonam Mistry.

f. Which spread does the story end in? Is there a tag? Ie, after the story has resolved, do you turn a page to find a joke, a gag or an aaaah moment? Does the refrain repeat either at the end of the story or in the tag?

Now go back and read the story again. This time, read it aloud like a child would want you to read it. With voices and noises. Make all the sounds. Does the text guide you and inform you of when you must raise your voice and when you should whisper? Do you feel the cadence of the text? Does the refrain or repetition help? 

Here is a video showing how to read a picture book with a child. How to make it accessible. As a writer, pick out the things you can do in the writing to facilitate this level of engaged reading. 

If the story is in rhyme, read again and spot the rhyming words. Are they internal rhymes or end-rhymes?Are they unexpected rhyming words brought together or are they familiar words that help the listener guess as the reader reads? Will the reader understand the words used to get the rhyme working? Is the writer using words that are not comprehensible to a listener without having to stop and explain? Does the tone or the rhyme work for the story being told?

Now think about whether the pictures match the words. Not to tell the story – because the illustrations will expand on the story, they will not just complement the story (as picture books are not mere illustrated text), the pictures will add to the story. But check if the illustrations match the tone of the story. Is a Halloween book too bright and full of white space? Is a Christmas book dark and gloomy? 

Then finally count the number of words in the book. You can even type them out to see how it appears as one block of text. Are you surprised how a full story was told with minimum number of words? How did the author do that? Can you see how the story escalates and how it reaches climax and resolves? 

If you have copied out the words, explore this text in detail. Break it down into 

a) Setting the scene – introducing character and setting

b) Introducing the problem

c) How does the character act – are they going to solve the problem? What adventure do they embark on?

d) Multiple trials without success

e) Resolution

f) End-tag. 

Now break down the story text into these and see how the author did it. Was it a linear story? Was it told from first person viewpoint (unlikely) or omniscient? Was it sparsely told in words and yet you can imagine the story in your head? How did the resolution come about? Did the character effect change and bring about resolution or did they call for help?

The final step is to see if you can figure out what the theme of the story was. Can you write the theme in one sentence like Knowledge is power. Or Haste Makes Waste. Can you write a summary of this picture book in 1 sentence? 

Phew! That was no simple reading of a picture book, was it? When you take apart something you see how complicated it was in the first place. The mere feeling that book feels accessible and simple to write, tells you that the writer and the illustrator worked very hard to make it so. 

Here is how judges for the Caldecott Medal read a picture book. Spot the things they look for. Can you figure out how this will impact your own writing?

Every picture book you read, whether you think it was good or bad, old or new – if you spend time analysing it like a writer, then you start seeing where the nuts and bolts go. You can see the semantic diagram underlying the design. Before you can create something unique and beautiful, you must know how others are doing it and doing it well. You can then figure out how yours will be different. Always keep in mind that the ultimate audience is perhaps under six years of age and want a story to inspire them, entertain them, reassure them. 

Now all you have to do is take an idea that you have and apply all this learning. And then read the next five picture books with the same rigour. If you are starting to write picture books, here is a useful article from Alan Durant. 

Do you have more tips on reading a picture book analytically? Share with us below in the comments. 

Chitra Soundar is an internationally published author of over 50 books for children. She is also an oral storyteller and writer of many things. Chitra writes picture books and fiction for young readers. Her stories are inspired by folktales from India, Hindu mythology and her travels around the world. Her books have been published in the UK, US, India & Singapore and translated into Chinese, German, French, Japanese and Thai. Find out more on her website  and buy her books here. 

Meet the Monsters (with Mini Grey)

This week I wanted to look at those creatures that perennially inhabit children’s picture books. It’s time to meet the monsters. So off we go…

The One Under Your Bed

One of the first monsters you encounter is the one that lives down the end of your bed. And the one under your bed, and the one in your cupboard. They come out in the dark. You can sometimes feel their breath on the back of your neck as you go up the stairs. They stalk your nightmares. 

So you need stories to help you go to bed alone in the dark, stories that shine a light on those night-monsters, and show how unscary they are really.

Emily Brown is one of my utterly favourite picture book heroines.

In Emily Brown and the Thing, a noisy needy Thing is keeping Emily awake.
Emily, in her no nonsense way, settles the Thing's fears, and show it that is is OK to be a Thing, and that you can even be a Nice Thing.
Chris Wormell is a master of monsters. Here's Molly and the Night Monster.

Molly hears a noise on the landing and her imagination starts to wonder what may be creeping up towards her bedroom....
...the creatures get more terrifying - this is the moment that the doorknob turns. Molly catches the monster with her bedsheet. But what she catches is no monster, but a mummy. (The nice sort.)
Anything might be living in the dark crannies under the stairs.
And it might need feeding - which is what William does, in Helen Cooper's The Bear Under the Stairs.

The Thrill of Being Frightened

From roller coasters to horror films – being frightened is so exciting. We are drawn to the magnetic thrill of monsters. My childhood favourites were the stop-motion monsters of Ray Harryhausen: the metal giant Talos, the hideous Cyclops, the sword-fighting Skeletons. We enjoy being frightened – monsters are terrifying entertainment – which is part of what picture book monsters are there for too.

As a child, the highlight of my year was when Jason and the Argonauts was on TV and I could watch the giant Talos come creaking to life.

It was hide-behind-the-sofa time when these things dug their way out of the soil.


Sara Fanelli's mythological picture book monsters aren't so scary.

A Hydra brought to you by the power of Fanelli's magical collage.

Awesome Monsters

Travellers Tales from medieval times were full of the fantastic beasts that roamed the Earth. The world was an unexplored place, vast and dangerous, with plenty of room for mermaids, sea serpents and krakens. These monsters were probably based on a glimpse of something real - a giant squid, a manatee, an oarfish. Monsters were responsible for the unexplained - earthquakes, tsunamis, inexplicable fossils.

The discovery of dinosaurs in the 19th Century raised the fascinating possibility that once monsters really did stalk the earth. 

The dinosaur imaginings of Crystal Palace

 And when we can see further into the distant past of life on Earth we find creatures that are way crazier than humans could ever imagine -  like the extraordinary animals of the Cambrian Explosion. (Here's a Cambrian Top Predator.) 

The more we discover about the creatures that really DO stalk the earth, the less odd the hippogriff and the kraken seems to be. 

Here's a deep sea beauty.

Sometimes picture book monsters are Force of Nature monsters  - enormous and awesome and maybe not actually trying to kill us.

Chris Wormell's Sea Monster lurks in the deep sea gloom and mostly watches, but subtly helps save our boy from drowning.

Outwitting the Monster

This is the story of the small person who outwits and triumphs over the Monster – from David and Goliath to the Billy Goats Gruff.

The monster is usually a bit stupid and fixated with getting something to eat.

In Joel Stewart's book, a Big Blue Beastie is determined to gobble up Dexter.

But Dexter's imagination is brimming with way better ideas for things to do than eating small boys.

The Monster Next Door

This is the one who’s a misfit, the one who’s not like anyone else, the one that everyone avoids. This monster may be in the wrong place, even in the wrong universe.

Shaun Tan's Lost Thing is searching for a place where it can belong.  
In The Song From Somewhere Else (AF Harrold and Levi Pinfold), Frank reluctantly befriends the oversized boy that everyone at school thinks is weird. What seems to be a monster in his cellar is something entirely different.
Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell's Something Else lives alone at the top of a steep hill.

He doesn't fit in with everybody else, who avoid him, and label him as Something Else. We've all felt like Something Else. Especially at school.

Monster As A Way of Life

But you can revel in being a monster. Being a monster can be your job, a proud way of life. 

Sarah McIntyre and Giles Andreae's Morris the Mankiest Monster wouldn't want to be anything else.
You can see how much Sarah McIntyre has enjoyed making Morris's tongue-spots and mould and mushroom clumps.

In When a Monster is Born (Nick Sharratt, Sean Taylor) it's nice and simple. There are just two possibilities. Either it'll be an Under-You-Bed Monster, or it'll be a Faraway-In-The-Forests Monster.

Parallel Monster Universes

Monsters can shine a light on our world, by inhabiting a parallel opposite world – the Upside Down, where beauty and ugliness and cleanness and filthiness and day and night are reversed.

In Jitterbug Jam (Barbara Jean Hicks, Alexis Deacon) a young monster is terrified by the idea of a boy being under his bed.

In Monster World, daytime is scary, and a time for sleeping, and the worst thing is to see "that awful colour the sky is when you wake up in the middle of the day and can't see, it's so bright out." 

Fungus the Bogeyman (Raymond Briggs) is a respectable proud bogey, doing a hard night's work scaring people. BogeyPeople just aren't comfortable unless everything is damp and slimy, and are horrified by the dry bright conditions that the 'DryCleaners' (AKA surface dwelling humans) live in.  

 

Here's a favourite page from the Fungus Plop-Up Book where we can just enjoy the sheer disgustingness of Bogey home squalor. And there's working toilet paper and a PLOP UP TOILET - oh joy!

You Unleash a Monster that Gets Out of Control

When you are small and there’s little you have power over – you can dream of being able to whallop your enemies, unleashing your inner monster. We all know Where The Wild Things Are and the power of rumpus, the joy of destruction.

Having an enormous powerful pet/friend, when you’re small and powerless, is a useful thing. When you feel small you can have a monster as your powerful avatar. Maybe the monster fulfils a need, maybe it arrived because it was needed. But maybe the monster has more power than you can handle.

The Iron Man (pictures by Chris Mould)

From A Monster Calls (Patrick Ness, Jim Kay) - a Yew Tree is summoned, and grieving Conor gets to unleash destruction.

That's the trouble but also the thrill with monsters: you make a monster, or summon a monster - and it will probably get out of control.

You Are The Monster

You discover you are the monster. You look in the mirror and find out that how you look on the outside doesn't reflect how you feel on the inside. Or you bravely go outside and everyone screams and runs away.

Here's the monster from Chris Wormell's The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit. Because this is a picture of the monster, not the real thing, even though this looks pretty hideous, we're not actually "getting the ugliness at full strength."

  This poor monster is so ugly that nature abhores him. Sunshine turns to chill when the monster comes near and all living things shun him. The monster sculpts the animals who invariably run away from him; one stone rabbit is strong enough to bear the monster's gaze without breaking. The monster passes the rest of his days in the company of the little rabbit. And is happy. After the monster is dead nature starts to grow back around his cave.
 

I love this book but it is so troubling. It's like a what-if thought experiment. Chris Wormell has created a universe where ugliness is a terrible thing. The monster is a monster on the outside but not the inside  Can anyone see beyond his monstrous coating to the delicious filling within? Not in this book. As monsters go, the monster could be considered a quite handsome monster - his misfortune is to be living in a book where he is the only monster.

And what about when you’re beautiful on the outside and monstrously poisonous within? 

One book I was constantly reading as a monster-obsessed child was this Dictionary of Monsters and Mysterious Beasts (bit of a scary cover):

Under 'S' is the Squonk.

The Squonk lives in the hemlock forests of Pennsylvania. It is consumed with grief caused by the ugliness of its own skin, which 'is said to be ill-fitting and covered with warts and moles,' so it can be tracked down by the weeping noises. 

"One man thought he had captured the Squonk after he lured it into a sack" but on his way home the sack became gradually lighter. "When he opened the sack all he could find were tears and bubbles."

Is the monster all about our ideas of beauty and ugliness and how, especially in fairy stories, beautiful is good and ugly is bad? There has been historic story-injustice to those perceived as monsters. Poor Medusa was hard done by. Happening to be born ugly is very bad luck if you live in a fairy tale. 

But the fairytale monster is often an enchanted disguise: a prince who has been transformed into a beast. I have to confess I've always preferred the princes when they're in the Beast state, not when they've got their coronets and pale blue tights on.

An enchanted prince from The Singing Ringing Tree, slightly disturbing film from the 1960s. (He's the one on the right.)

Your Inner Monster

We all know that monster from Not Now Bernard.

The monster is disconcerted to discover that Bernard's parents haven't noticd he's not Bernard. Personally I think Bernard got eaten right at the beginning and it's all about how little attention grown ups pay to what's going on around them, but you may have other ideas. Is the monster Bernard? Is it Bernard's Inner Monster? 

We come to another side of the monster coin: the monster feelings that can take charge; feelings that surge and rage through you, or overwhelm you, like being buffeted about in a storm. You can let the monsters be in charge, you can be engulfed by them. Or you can try and find a way to live with your inner monsters.

In Debi Gliori's Night Shift, depression is personified as a dragon who has arrived, unwanted. "Perhaps it drifted in at night, like fog." It grows and grows, with hollowness and dread. 

The Night Shift is learning the Night Skills to persevere until one day something has shifted, learning the beauty in stripiness, and that your dragon can be a harsh teacher.

Eva Eland's When Sadness Comes to Call was this year's winner of the Klaus Flugge Prize.

When Sadness comes to call you can feel overwhelmed. 

But when Sadness comes to call there are things you can do. You can "listen to it. Ask where it comes from and what it needs." You can do things together, you can make sadness welcome. 

With these picture book monsters we meet our inner monsters – so that they don’t have to be in control. We can get to know them, have them beside us rather than being inside them. 

Making Friends with Your Inner Monsters

In the film Spirited Away, No-Face is a spirit with a colossal hunger, who feeds on emotions but also just about everything else it can devour - like it is trying to fill an infinite inner emptiness.

But it turns out what No-Face really needs, is to be put to work. Sometimes what your monster was needing was something useful to do. No-Face finds a home where he learns to knit and sew, and the spirit is calm.

We can make friends with the inner monsters - beause they're not necessarily the baddies. In fact those raging emotions are there to force us to act. That furious anger helps you stand up to bullies, or whatever happens to be wrong, and fight for justice. The hurt and upsetness help you to feel empathy and aid those in pain. The sadness helps you feel the preciousness of what is lost and what is. The anxiety - is part of being prepared to face uncertainty and danger. Our monsters are an evolutionary part of being human. Like pain, they evolved to take care of us in a precarious world.

So, whether you wake up with the Monkey of Dread sitting on your chest...

...or your particular flavour of Dread is a multi-eyed tentacle beast...

...it may be time to stop trying to keep it out or chop all its tentacles off...

...but invite it in. Lastly, if you'd like a collection of metaphorical monsters, here's a selection for you:

I’ve only managed to examine a tip of the monster iceberg! Do you have a pet monster picture book? Do let me know in the comments here, or on Twitter at: @Bonzetta1 or at @PictureBookDen.

 Mini's latest book-involvement is The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice, with AF Harrold. 

Musing on Losing by Jane Clarke

I'm lucky enough to have 4 granddaughters, age 6,5,4 and 3. My greatest wish for them is that (most of the time) they will be happy and content whatever life throws at them, and kind and caring to others. But right now there’s something they find especially tricky that also impacts on others. Being a good loser. Recently, there have been some spectacular sulks, tantrums, whinge-ing and blaming of others. 

Which is why I’m currently attempting to write a a picture book text about being a good loser. I’m finding it really hard to write a fun, upbeat non-preachy story, and a lot of scribblings have gone in the bin. I have an idea of what I want to get in it, but I haven't got the characters right, and the characters need to lead the story.  You could say I’m losing!

hungry bin

But I wouldn’t be a published writer if I hadn’t learned to lose. One of the main things that distinguishes published from non-published writers is the ability to get over rejections and persist in producing more texts to be rejected. It took me over 5 years to get published, and, 20 years on, out of 5 texts I manage to complete and send to my agent, only one will eventually get published.

Whilst not wanting to quash any child’s competitive instinct, in life there will inevitably be times when they lose. 

Snakes and ladders - one of our frequent battlegrounds -where someone has to lose.

Board games, sports, exams, driving tests, relationships... getting picture books published… it just isn’t possible to win all the time. A picture book story about losing would help foster resilience. But if I do eventually produce one, I suspect it’ll be hard to get it published, as losing is contrary to the current feeling that children can aspire to - and, by implication, win at - anything if they try.

Okay, so I just whinged about a non-existent text potentially not getting published. Sorry :-) Gosh, it’s hard to be a good loser, isn’t it? If anyone knows a good picture book that deals with this topic, please let me know in the comments.

In the meantime, it’s back to the keyboard, in the hope, if not the expectation, of winning :-)

 www.jane-clarke.co.uk

Everything Takes So Much Time by Gareth P Jones

I’ve been trying to write a new picture book recently. It’s not going very well as I’m stuck on a rhyme for disco. 

I used to have a driving instructor who ended every lesson with the words, “Well, you don’t learn something every lesson, do you?” By the fourth or fifth lesson, he was still saying it but it wasn’t true. I had learned how to start and stop - and even steer a bit, but to listen to this guy you’d think I was still stalling every time I stopped.  

After that, I found a more encouraging driving instructor, but I still think about this first one. I’m not saying that I hear my driving instructor’s voice, but it is very much his tone – and his sense of frustration – that is whispered inside my head in those moments of self-doubt that come with the territory of being a writer. And a human being.

Writing is frustrating and I find picture books especially daunting. When I sit down to write one, I often feel as though I have no idea how to go about it. 

One of the reasons I’ve never really fancied teaching creative writing to adults is that I’ve always felt that it would require confidence and certainty about process and style, whereas I often feel like an idiot scrabbling around for words that rhyme with ‘disco’. San Francisco? This Bow? Miss Snow?  

And yet, children’s authors are required to act as ambassadors for reading and writing in a way that other writers are not. We are frequently asked for writing tips, or to run writing workshops in schools. Over the years I have learned to separate the two parts of myself. I think of it as the writer & the author. So even if the writer has spent all morning staring glumly at a collection of terrible rhymes for ‘disco’, the author can still stand in front a whole school assembly and hand out writing tips.

Not that I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. With everything so up in the air, it’s no wonder that school visits have dwindled. This has obviously financial implications but, equally, it can affect my emotional well-being. I miss the inspiration I draw from children.

So when my mum suggested I try running an online creative course for kids this year, I really liked the idea. I liked that it was generating work - rather than sitting around waiting for it to come to me. I liked the idea of assembling a bunch of enthusiastic young writers. And I liked the idea that I could create a regular source of inspiration. 

Finding the students involved a bit of social media advertising but, since I wanted to keep the classes quite small for each session, I did manage to fill the last month with two hour-long sessions every week with some brilliantly inventive 8-12 year olds. I love the immediacy and easy humour of these meetings. Last week, in under an hour, we plotted an epic saga about a mouse who lived in a world where animals kept humans pets, but who had to venture into the underground lair of the humans to defeat a rebellious leader. Why? Because the humans were quite literally revolting! It does me the world of good to have these courses to look forward to every week. 

Getting a book out of your head and into a reader’s hands can take a painfully long time so, if that’s your job, it’s worthwhile finding things that spark your creative self – and which take less time. It’s the same reason I make little recordings of songs online (#PirateJukeBox). They’re never note perfect but they allow me to connect with the outside world, they require a bit of creative thinking and they don’t take very long. 

It has been five years since I had a picture book published. Five years! 

Thankfully, I have three of them coming out this year - including Rabunzel, illustrated by the super talented Loretta Schauer. 

It’s going to be a busy year, finding ways to publicise this book without the usual possibility of schools and festivals, but I will continue to apply my creative thinking to the matter of spreading the word about books. 

I also know there will be times ahead in my career when things quieten down and my driving instructor will pop up to moan at me again. To keep him quiet, I will continue to search for things that keep me feeling creative, connected and as though I am learning and moving forward. 

Kiss though… Wish flow… 

Actually, maybe disco shouldn’t be a rhyming word after all.

Gareth P Jones is the author of over 40 children's books. His new picture book Rabunzel is the story of a long eared rabbit who gets locked up in a high hutch by her overprotective mother. It's published this month by Egmont books. Check out the theme tune here.

 

The 10 things I really wanted to know about writing Rhyming Picture Books – by Catherine Emmett

Happy New Year, Picture Book lovers!

We’re starting the New Year as we mean to go on, launching ourselves into the nitty gritty of what makes a rhyming picture book really sing.

Many authors begin their picture book journey writing in rhyme, me included, maybe because some of our most favourite books are written in verse. A dynamic and flawless rhyme is an absolute joy to read.

However, along the way, lots of us get put off writing in rhyme when we realise that it’s harder than it looks, and that the industry standard is really very high.

We invited super star rhyming picture book author, Catherine Emmett, to discuss what she wished she had always known about rhyme. Catherine is the author of King of The Swamp, illustrated by Ben Mantle, which stormed into 2020 despite being released during the pandemic. Catherine’s next picture book illustrated by David Tazzyman, ‘The Pet; Cautionary Tales for Parents and Children,’ is also in rhyme and is set to be another huge success. 

Without any further ado, let’s hear from Catherine!

The 10 things I always wanted to know about writing Rhyming Picture Books

It’s easy to forget as a writer, when you have a lovely network of writerly friends and helpful writer groups, just how hard it is to FIND STUFF OUT when you first start writing.  Back in the beginning I had SO many questions, and NO ONE to ask.

Like, ‘Why, when so many rhyming picture books are in bookshops, does everyone say that no one wants rhyming picture books texts?’.

And, ‘Do I REALLY need to worry about stressed syllables?’.

So, here it is - my gift to my former, friendless self!  These are the 10 things that I really wanted to know when I started off writing rhyming picture books - but had no idea how to find out…

1 – Why does everyone say that agents and publishers don’t like rhyming texts, when there are so many rhyming picture books getting published?

I wondered this so much when I started out. The answer seems to be that no one wants BAD RHYME.  And sometimes agents or publishers would rather see no rhyme at all, rather than wade through piles of bad rhyme.   

One of the main reasons for agents turning down rhyming picture books texts is because the rhyme - and especially the metre - aren’t strong enough.  The answer is to get GOOD at rhyming.  Learn about metre, practice and get really fluent with it.

 

2 – What is a co-edition?

Compared to most books, picture books are expensive to print because of all the full colour illustrations.  To make things work financially, publishers like to have other foreign publishers buy the book to sell in their own territories (and in their own languages).  These ‘co-editions’ can help making printing picture books more cost-effective.

 

3 - Will a rhyming Picture Book sell any co-editions?

There is always discussion about whether rhyming picture books will sell co-editions.  The concern is that it is difficult to translate rhyming stories into other languages.  I have certainly had a PB turned down for being so reliant on rhyme that it would ‘only have UK appeal’.  However, if you have a strong enough STORY, then co-editions do happen. 

4 – Should I worry about regional accents?

Yes! The problem with the UK is that so many different regions pronounce words in different ways.  

What rhymes for someone in Newcastle, does not necessarily rhyme for someone in London.  Ignore this at your peril!  You don’t want to write a book that only works for half of the country.  I know of at least one editor who sometimes reads through submissions in a Scottish accent to check this! Find yourself a friend from the opposite end of the country and if the words don’t rhyme for them, then AVOID.

 

5 – Do I really need to worry about metre / stressed syllable patterns?

First up, what is metre?  Metre is your pattern of stressed syllables. When writing picture books, you need to make sure that the stressed syllables in the words that you use fit your metre pattern.  If you aren’t sure what a stressed syllable is, then check out my blog here: https://catherineemmett.co.uk/catherineemmett/rhyming-picture-books/

Now, do you need to care about it?  In my view, yes, ABSOLUTELY.  It’s incredibly difficult to write a smoothly rhyming book and it’s even harder if you don’t understand the building blocks that you are using.

 

6 – What sort of metre should I use?

Not only did I used to wonder about this, I’ve also been asked this a lot by other writers, so I decided to do a bit of research into what the most common metre patterns are in published books.

Finding this sort of information for the whole market seems to be impossible, so I used my kids’ bookshelves as a proxy for the market. There were 207 books of which 79 were rhymers and 128 prose, suggesting that the rhymers make up about 38% of the market (or my sample set at least).

 

For the purposes of the below:

S = stressed syllable

U = unstressed syllable

 

Of the rhymers, about a third had 11 syllables per line and used a metre pattern where there were two unstressed syllables in between each stressed syllable.   This was the most common metre pattern. (u/s/u/u/s/u/u/s/u/u/s). As an example:

 

“The swampwas quite dark and the swamp was quite dank,

And due to the mud the swamp rea-lly quite stank”

-          ‘King of the Swamp’ by Catherine Emmett and Ben Mantle

 

Approximately 20% had 14 syllables per line (or split across 2 lines) with an alternating stressed syllable pattern – i.e. where each stressed syllable alternated with one unstressed syllable (u/s/u/s/u/s/u/s/u/s/u/s/u/s).  As an example:

 

“I toldthe vet a-bout my pet, he said that I was right,

She hasto change her col-our, to stay safe and out of sight.”

-          ‘My Colourful Chameleon’ by Leonie Roberts and Mike Byrne

 

Just over 10% of the books used an 8-beat line with the same alternating stressed syllable pattern – i.e. where each stressed syllable alternated with one unstressed syllable (u/s/u/s/u/s/u/s).  As an example:

 

“When Da-ddy made it home that night

He’d ne-ver wit-nessed such a sight”

-          ‘The Pet – Cautionary Tales for grown Ups and Children’ by Catherine Emmett and David Tazzyman

 

Just under 10% varied their syllable count per row, for example, 3 rows of 8 beats and the one of 11 beats.

Just over a quarter of the sample had a metre pattern that varied throughout the story.  It’s worth noting that this was skewed because a large number of these were Julia Donaldson’s books, which often use a varying metre pattern (see ‘The Highway Rat’ for a good example of this).

 

7 - Do some words always get stressed?

Stressed words can vary depending on the context.  Usually the ‘bigger, more important’ words are always stressed, but the smaller ‘in-between words’ might or might not be stressed, depending on the context.

I find writing the sentence out in prose can really help with this, as can asking someone else to read it out.  Actually - my best tip is to find a ‘new reader’.   My confident reading 6yr old will easily pick-up good metre and really shows up where metre isn’t right.

 

8 – Should I vary the rhythm or syllable count to keep things interesting?

I personally think this depends how your mind works.  I think if you are of a more musical persuasion you might naturally think more in ‘verses’ and different patterns of rhyming.  For me (someone who is not musical at all!) I stick to a constant pattern.  Ultimately, I think it comes down to your story and what your story needs – let the story lead the rhyme.

 

9 – Should I include a comma or pause in my syllable count?

Controversial.  This in entirely up to you… …but I don’t.  Having looked through my sample set, I would say that the books which I read most smoothly tended not to do this, whereas the ones that I have tripped over in the past sometimes do include this.  I suspect that this might be different for other people though - I’d love to hear your views. 

 

10 – Should I include a repeated refrain?

Of the sample I looked at, very few had a strict repeated refrain, though about a quarter had some form of repeated structure.  A lot of those with a repeated structure were by Julia Donaldson and again possibly reflect her songwriter background. 

In deciding whether it works for you, again, I’d focus on the story. If your story lends itself to a repeated verse then great, but there’s no need to include one otherwise.  Your story should lead your rhyme, not the other way around. 

So that’s it! The 10 things that I really wanted to know when I started writing rhyming picture books, but didn’t know how to find out.   

I hope this has been useful, if you have any more questions then come find me on Twitter at @emmett_cath or drop me a line via my website www.catherineemmett.co.uk. 

Happy rhyming!

 

Wow! What a wonderfully thorough look at metre, rhyme and why it matters. Thank you so much, Catherine, for sharing your research and experience with us at Picture Book Den. And to those of you among us writing in rhyme or thinking about it, we very much hope this guest post leaves you informed and inspired!

Bio: Catherine grew up in Newcastle Upon Tyne and spent all of her childhood reading books. When she grew up, she spent fourteen years making spreadsheets and not reading any books at all. After advising a group of young girls to find a career that they loved, she decided to take her own advice. She packed up her husband and her three young boys, moved to rural Essex and started to write picture books.   She now spends her days surrounded by words, animals and noisy boys. When she needs a bit of peace and quiet, she can be found running (very slowly) across muddy fields.

 Bio: Clare Helen Welsh is the author of over 4- fiction and non-fiction texts, either published or in press, including picture books and early readers. She runs a 7 week picture book course for Write Mentor and is a Writer-in-Residence for 2021. Find out more here: www.clarehelenwelsh.com 

 

Our window of tolerance: how do we cope in lockdown no. 3 by Juliet Clare Bell

  

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

 

Great words from Ralph Waldo Emerson, but how do we possibly keep this positive -and preferably creative, too-  as writers and illustrators in the new lockdown?

This isn’t a blogpost full of my amazing lockdown secrets of success. Like many people, I’ve barely coped with much of it. But I asked a few friends, writers and children what had helped them, and I’m determined to steal anyone’s suggestions if they work (I’m hoping you might leave what’s working for you in the comments). So here are some tips from others -and me- which I hope might be useful.

And after one of those difficult days, when we feel we could have done it very differently, we can at least wake up the following morning and “not to be cumbered with my old nonsense of yesterday”…

Someone recently introduced me to Dan Siegel (a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA)'s Window of Tolerance. It's the optimal zone of arousal in which each of us is able to function and thrive (see the diagram below). Environmental changes (amongst other things) can push us out of that window into hyper-arousal or hypo-arousal, and for many of us, we've been pushed into one or other (or both) in response to the fear surrounding the pandemic. There's a useful, short article on people's Window of Tolerance in relation to the current pandemic climate: you can read the article here

 

And there's a really clear video (though six minutes’ long) on what a window of tolerance is and how to get back into your window here:

 

 

Pre-covid, I think I had a reasonably large window of tolerance within which I operated in quite a calm, effective way:

Relatively large window of tolerance

During the pandemic, that window has shrunk considerably:

considerably smaller window of tolerance...

Many of us would like to get our larger windows of tolerance back and here are a few of the ways we might do it…

BE KIND TO YOURSELF

Just to make clear, being positive or productive doesn’t have to mean our usual level of positive or productive. It might just be more than you’ve managed in a while, or better than yesterday, or just anything at all… It’s important to be kind to ourselves and others and to remember that for many of us (see the red writing):

 

 For an interesting, short read from Mars Vista on the pandemic seen through Maslow's hierarchy of needs, click here:

I really find that letting go of days that haven’t gone well (a la Ralph Waldo Emerson) has helped. Fellow PB Denner, Natascha Biebow says on being kind to yourself: “You might not be able to write or illustrate as much as you'd like during these times, but maybe you can read or snatch a moment to daydream ideas whilst doing a chore. Often, I find myself challenging my brain to solve a plot problem or figure out another story quandary in the minutes before I fall asleep. It's something!”. 

Take those somethings!

YA author, Olivia Levez, provided lots of practical tips for staying positive but also says: “On days I’m feeling a bit low, I coddle myself as if I’m my own child, with snuggly blankets, hot water bottle and cosy socks, my comfiest clothes, an indulgent bath”. Things she avoids: waking up to newsfeed, catastrophising, being relentless with goals, tasks, targets, and things that help: listening to birdsong, saying, ‘I’m feeling x’ instead of ‘I’m x’, writing negatives on one page of a journal and turning them into positives on the other. And when fellow PB Denner Jane Clarke’s creativity “goes awol, I turn to jigsaws until it returns”.

One of our Christmas jigsaws, and we did finally find the missing piece (in case it was bothering you)...

Be kind. We need to have basic needs met before we can feel as creative as we might want to. In these extraordinary times, many people's safety and other basic needs are not being met and we may not always be able to create as we would like. But in case you’d like to try…

 

STRUCTURE

Most people mentioned how having a structure helped them. One child always writes down what she plans to do the following day before she goes to bed. She writes it on a fresh piece of paper each night, rather than in a notebook, so that each piece of paper feels like a new day (very Ralph Waldo Emerson!).  

YA author, Olivia Levez, also finds that: “structure helps. I curate my day to give plenty of treats between writing sessions: yoga, hot chocolate and biscuits, a walk with a friend.” One of my daughters and I have started going out for a half-hour walk before coming home for school/work and it’s lifted our spirits and started the day feeling energised and ready for it.

I've been surprised, but really pleased, to find that this first week of school lockdown has actually been productive. I’ve been struggling to feel motivated for a while now, but with the children working hard in their rooms all day with live lessons, I’m actually finding it easier to be focused than when they were at school last term. Not wanting to slack off whilst they can’t has really motivated me.

WORKING TOGETHER, REMOTELY

Our local SCBWI group used to have a write-in once a week. We’d meet together somewhere (usually at mine), and just write together. Clearly we can’t do that anymore (although the children have been a bit of a proxy for that), but it’s possible to recreate it to some extent online. Early on during the first lockdown, I did some online write-ins with fellow picture book writers from my local SCBWI group. We’d log in on zoom, say hello and what we were planning on writing, and then just write. I could look up and see them writing away and they could see me. Sometimes it’s easier to stay writing when someone can see what you’re doing! After a bit writing slump, I think I’m ready to start doing it again. If you haven’t tried it, it’s worth a go…

CONTACT WITH OTHER WRITERS

Jane says “I live on my own and online meetings are keeping me going… [and the] meet ups with fellow authors and children’s poets keep creativity ticking over as we set each other small writing challenges every week”.

Every time I meet online with other writers I remember how much it sustains me. In a normal year, I’d see writers in person most weeks, have monthly local meetings, weekends away in small groups of writers I know well, and in bigger groups of writers I know less well. These events are such an important part of my life. I live with three teenage children whom I adore, but spending proper time away with adults is so important, and surrounding myself with writers is great for writing but also for the inspiration and energising. I forget so quickly how important it is (because I’m thinking of practical day-to-day things for the family) but talking to other writers on video calls regularly, whether it’s one to one or in a group is a great way to feel positive. And I know we still have to wait for it, but we’ve started talking tentatively about writing weekends away later in the year when it’s ok again. It’s still a way away but just talking about it makes it feel real and gives us something to look forward to.

Online SCBWI nonfiction conference which was really stimulating...

ACCOUNTABILITY

Natascha says: “I've recently re-connected with my critique group and we've decided to make each other accountable by meeting every month and sharing our work. Having a friendly group or even just another person to help you focus and spur you along is very encouraging. (If you don't have a critique group, I'd recommend joining the SCBWI for a supportive and welcoming community)”.

Like Natascha, making myself accountable to someone else really helps me keep going. I’m very fortunate to have a brilliant accountability partner, fellow picture book author Rebecca Colby, and we meet weekly online. We’re discussing something that’s really important to both of us, and I always come away feeling more inspired, even if I’ve not got much done.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO BE CREATIVE

Maybe have a go at a different kind of art. Children's author Mo O'Hara says: “I have discovered that writing books is not my only way to be creative. I’ve written poems and songs and loved it!  I’m also allowing myself to be  interested in exploring drawing and crafts too.  I’ve always been too scared of being terrible  to try but thanks to extra time in Lockdown and the ‘Zero f***s ‘ to give attitude that comes after 50 I have decided to let myself have a go even if it turns out I am terrible.  Who will ever know?!!!”

 

EXERCISE

Most people I asked talked about exercise, including yoga (both online and alone). I’ve just started my first ever online yoga course and even though I never ‘got’ yoga before, it’s working for me now. If you’re like me and need more motivation than normal, you could try doing it with a friend (it really helps that mine’s run by my sister-in-law and I know some of the other people doing it).

I also copied my accountability partner and got an exercise bike with a laptop table on it

 which means I can cycle during our accountability sessions, phone calls or watching any zoom events that don’t require my looking or sounding professional

I have yet to learn the art of looking calm and professional whilst pedalling...

And I copied my sisters and got a fitbit! Prior to the first lockdown, I’d hardly done any exercise (apart from countless school runs for years) in twenty years, so that’s definitely something positive I’ll take from this… (I’ll take all the positives where I can!). And we’re even doing some Just Dance (which I’m terrible at but is lots of fun).

NATURE

Most writers I spoke with talked about the importance of nature for them.

Mo O’Hara says “I am making myself go for long walks” (note the making myself. It’s the same with me. I have to make myself because I don’t generally want to. That’s where structure works for me. Anyway, Mo continues:

"Connecting with nature is a great way to re-centre yourself… I had no idea there were soooooo many parakeets in London parks!!!!” 

Surely no parakeets here, Mo?
But look more closely...
There really are!!!

I also discovered the same in my local park in Birmingham (where do all those parakeets come from)?!

(anyone else reminded of Cockatoos, here?)

(c) Quentin Blake, Cockatoos

Jane also goes for regular walks: “seeing nature continuing and even flourishing through all this is uplifting”.

This tree on our terraced block never fails to lift my spirits

When we had snow on Friday morning of last week, we knew it might be our only chance so we left the house in the dark and took the sledges to a local park and the children sledged quickly before coming home, eating breakfast and starting school at 8.45am.  

We’re snatching moments more than we would have done because we need that buzz to keep us going. One of my children met up for a five-minute snowball fight (socially distanced, of course) with her school friend and neighbour during breaktime. I love the spontaneity for joyful activities and it’s a brilliant reminder to me, too, to enjoy unexpected things.

a random sundial on a walk...

And specifically thinking of creativity, something that’s quick and structured (it happens every day in January) which is great for boosting creativity is:

STORYSTORM

I’ve been doing Storystorm and its predecessor, PiBoIdMo (created by the wonderful Tara Lazar) for years now. If you’re struggling to feel creative, there’s a daily blogpost that encourages you to come up with a new idea every day. I've not started properly yet this year (unlike other years) but I’m hoping that this blogpost will encourage me to practise what I preach. I read my first Storystorm post of the year today (Day 10 as I write) - and not only did it get me thinking creatively –which is nice, I came up with three ideas, and the topic of the post was so relevant to what I’m writing today. It’s just what I needed to hear, with Kirsten Pendreigh finding joy in the journey. She was talking about process over product and I'd urge you to read the post. It’s just what I needed to hear.

If you’re looking for other ways to get motivated (or re-motivated with your story) and you’ve been questioning the point of it in this current climate, listen to this short video by Teri Terry, who wrote to herself in the first lockdown to get her back into it:

 

READING

Mo O’Hara talked about an unexpected positive of covid insomnia: it gives her more time to read! “I’m getting through my ‘To Be Read’ pile much faster because I’m reading more late at night”. But has anyone else been struggling with reading? I was, massively–at least until a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve been really distracted, and wanting distraction (with background noise on all the time). Reading didn’t feel distracting enough, and it was too quiet. So a couple of weeks ago I started with distracting noise in the background, and tried reading again. The joy of writing picture books is that reading picture books is part of the job, so I started by reading a few picture books, then a few more, and within a few days, I was reading children’s novels again, and nonfiction, and a week later, I’m reading Victor E Frankl’s Yes to Life (In spite of everything) which feels extremely relevant at the moment:

Yes to Life (In Spite of Everything) Victor Frankl

And the distracting noise? It only took about five minutes before it go really annoying and I was ok to read in silence. Last night, I put on a yoga Spotify playlist, and that was a great background to reading when I didn’t want silence but wanted something calm. If you’re struggling with reading, I’d really recommend it. It’s helping, creatively, too.

SMALL THINGS

We can look for the small things that make it a bit easier. I’ve bought a really cheerful furry blanket cover for my bed so my work space –which is my bedroom- looks less like a bedroom. But it also doesn’t look like an office. I’ve taken out the desk, and put in a small sofa and some plants so it feels really calm. And it helps!

I’ve also discovered the calmest place in the house –in my daughter’s bedroom:

It's an egg chair that she's filled with blankets and cushions, with fairy lights around it and surrounded by a blanket to block out most light!

And my lovely daughter has kindly allowed me to sit in it and read/reflect.

It has an instant calming effect and I love it

We want to be within our window of tolerance so we can cope with everything that’s going on around us, but also so we can flourish and be creative and help others navigate these difficult times. I hope that some of these suggestions are helpful in expanding your window –if it’s shrunk like mine certainly has- and helping to bring you back into it when you’re pushed out. I’d love to hear what works for you –and any tips you have so please do leave a comment if you can.

Be kind to yourself. This too shall pass. x

Clare is the author of over 35 books, including eight picture books. Her website is www.julietclarebell.com.