SHOW, don’t TELL.

As I mentioned in my last post, an important part of writing children’s books is to test it out on kids who are in the age range of your book. Writing for the 3-7 year age range means writing in a different language than for ages 1-3 or 8-11. The ecology of kids is so vastly different from one age group to the next; you all know this from having been a kid. But determining this up front is critical to the success of the book, because it dictates how many words you use, which words you will use, the style of illustration…EVERY detail, EVERY punctuation mark, EVERYTHING.
The most recent trend in word count is economy. Picture books used to contain 1500+ worded stories. Now all the publishers and agents say to keep it under 1,000; even better if under 500. At the same time, you are supposed to “show” and not “tell” your story. Take a look at the pictorial example I have drawn up especially for this post for when you are writing how a character feels:


Does this add up to you?
In short, it is up to YOU as the writer to find that happy medium between word count and showing, not telling.
FYI, Centipede Dragon, A Benevolent Creature clocks in at 704 words. Boo-YAH.