Word counts! Words count!

Pictures in books? They help children connect them with the words on the page, and the meaning of those words. Richard Scarry books often taught the names of new objects by their images. Often, the illustration will give background knowledge or clues to the story’s plot, and offer vocabulary development.

Picture book word counts through the decades have had several general shifts, and some interesting changes. For instance, in the 1920’s and 1930’s they were quite long. A few popular children’s books for the youngest were up to 1,000 – 1,500 in word count. During this time period many of the books published weren’t written with too much thought to lavish illustration in accompaniment. The stories, as written, could usually stand on their own with little art embellishment.

Eventually that trend changed course. Around the 1950’s? The average length of picture books dropped to 500-600 words on average. Since then, the word count has varied depending on the decade, but really not by too much. In addition, keep in mind that “picture books” have a wide age range – from toddlers to age eight.

These days, many authors agree on a 500-word target when writing picture books, but publishers and editors will have their own ideas and submission needs. Do they want lower word counts because of the current climate of busy days and parents desiring shorter story reading times?

Since the early 2000’s, there has been a clear dropping of word count lengths in picture books from years before. Still, there are exceptions and considerable variation. But it is less common to find 600-word plus book lengths.

If you’re a writer considering word counts for your picture books, try thinking of each page having one line, maybe two. That’s easy for a child to follow. Then you’re heading toward your book having about 500 words. This is a good place for ages 4-8 and falls into a 32-page format. Board books are for the younger crew, shorter, with less pages and subsequently less words.

Trust that your story will call for how many words it needs simply by its very nature. And if a publisher, a friend, or just you, yourself, love what you’ve written, and need to adjust your word count, well- that’s what editing is for! Write what you love, trust yourself, and remember every words counts in its own way.

My 2021 picture poetry book is about 800 words. You can find SPIN A CIRCLE! here: Spin a Circle!