If you’re researching how to write a children’s picture book, you’ve probably been touched by a children’s story at some point in your life. Now, you're ready to start creating a picture book of your own.
What’s the first book that you remember reading/listening to as a child? Was it a picture book?
Whether it was a soothing lullaby, a gentle adventure about a bunny named Peter Cottontail, or a rhythmic, Seuss-type play on words, it probably had colorful illustrations on almost every page.
There is a booming children’s picture book market, and for good reason. Picture books are FUN. Dare I say, they are the most fun way to learn how to read. So, why not learn how to write a children's picture book yourself? It can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
Today, we'll provide you with a step-by-step guide to learn how to write a children's picture book. But before we get started on the details of creating a picture book, let's discuss what they are and why they are so important in the world of literature.
A children’s picture book is a book written for young readers that is composed of text paired with visual illustrations, pictures, or images to tell the story.
When learning how to make a picture book, the word choice should be considered carefully. You want to text to make the age and reading level of your target audience.
Picture book authors meet a crucial need in the early literacy of children.
New mothers are urged to begin reading to their four- to six-months-olds, by “lap reading,” which is when a baby sits in a parent’s lap, learning to look and listen.
Reading aloud to children from an early age offers numerous important advantages.
Children’s picture books, however, are not simply for reading aloud to babies and preschool children.
Teachers use good picture books to teach a variety of reading and writing skills throughout elementary school…and beyond!
Children’s picture books are often used to introduce topics in science, history, social studies, and math.
Savvy authors have a specific purpose for writing each book. They also have a specific audience in mind when creating a picture book, while the actual audience may include an unexpectedly wide range of readers (which we’ll cover more on later).
Ready to learn how to write a children’s picture book of your own? Let’s go!
Here are the steps you should follow to learn how to write a children's picture book successfully:
The first step in learning how to write a children’s picture book is to zone in on your big idea.
Why are you learning how to make a picture book? You have a story that needs to be told!
Maybe you’ve jotted some preliminary ideas in a notebook; or maybe the first draft has been filed away on your laptop for 10 years.
Whatever your idea for writing a children’s picture book is, it’s time to bring it to life.
As you begin, it’s important to keep in mind that sometimes a story that you want to write is fraught with such deep, personal emotions that the story just doesn’t end up sounding like a story for a child.
My advice to you: Give your life experience to a fictional character, tone it way, way down, and make a happy ending!
If your story is likely to traumatize a child, your chances of selling it as a children’s picture book are slim.
Or, maybe you have what it takes to write a winning story, but have no idea what to write about.
Who will be reading your book? Who will be buying your book? These are important questions to work through when learning how to write a children's picture book.
Since we’re discussing writing children’s picture books, you might assume your audience is children.
And, sometimes, it will be the child who sees your brightly-colored cover or reads the catchy title, and says, “Dad! I want this book!” But it’s usually the parent, grandparent, doting aunt, or classroom teacher who is out shopping for children’s books.
Keep both shopper and reader in mind as you plan your children’s picture book.
Parents and teachers want a story that is fun to read aloud, so as you write the book, you’ll want to practice reading each line aloud, making sure the words flow without tripping up the tongue.
Teachers choose read-aloud books for one of the following reasons:
Just think about it: There are always kids at every level of reading. Babies and eager nonreaders…young children just learning how to read…older kiddos who are now reading to learn…and adults reading your book to their children and grandchildren.
You have to think of your target reader, and keep them in mind as you learn how to write a children's picture book.
The next step in learning how to write a children’s picture book is to decide on a topic that you can write about with ease.
This means you’ll want to know a lot about your topic, so that you prevent making amateur mistakes. You should know your topic well enough to teach it, or explain it, to children.
For example, when I wrote my first children's book, Grandpa's Tree, I was a new grandma, totally infatuated with my three-year-old grandson. We went on nature walks and I learned to appreciate the long-forgotten world of tiny critters.
But no one wants to read about how wonderful my grandson is to me. So I jotted down blurbs and phrases about our walk…which triggered memories of my own childhood.
Experiences from two childhoods became mingled with a bit of fiction and developed into a poem. A rhythm and cadence completed this fun, fictional tale, and my book was born!
Once you have your topic chosen, the next step in learning how to write a children’s picture book is to decide on the type of story.
Another tip is to think about why you dislike certain picture books. If you haven’t come across any children’s picture books that you don’t like yet, set out to look for some!
Check out your local library or bookstore to browse children picture books for ones you don’t like, and make a list about why you don’t like them.
When learning how to write a children’s picture book, it’s always helpful to remember what NOT to do so you can avoid making the same mistakes.
Remember how you pre-planned your writing in elementary school? Your teacher provided all kinds of nifty “spiderwebs,” bubble charts, and a variety of other graphic organizers.
You wondered why the teacher demanded that extra pre-writing step. Well, it’s because graphic organizers allow you to visualize the thinking sequence that’s happening as your brain flits from one possibility to the next.
As a children’s book author, you’ll find that these pre-planning techniques can be very useful!
It doesn’t have to be perfect but, when learning how to write a children's picture book, you should use a graphic organizer to brainstorm your picture book’s outline and sequence.
You can mindmap, use a graphic organizer of your choice, or create a storyboard, like the one in the image below:
A book writing coach can also help you create – and stick to – your plan. Here at SelfPublishing, we pair our aspiring children's book authors with experienced authors who have completed the book writing and self-publishing journey. That way, you're getting advice from someone who's truly been in your shoes.
You know what kind of story you’re going to write and you have it all mapped out – now it’s time for the next step in learning how to write a children’s picture book.
You'll want to set some writing goals and stick to them every day. This will help you stay organized and make actual headway as you write.
It’s time to actually write that book!
So, the million dollar question is: How long should your children’s picture book be?
The average length for a children’s picture book is 32 pages, but depending on the age range your book is targeted at, it may be even shorter.
The word count should be no more than 500-600 words, but this will depend upon your purpose for writing. For children’s picture books, it’s important to let the illustrations tell most of the story.
If you’re struggling to write your book, do some market research. See how successful authors have put together their children’s picture books. Read picture books that have already been published. This will help you get a better feel for how to write a children’s picture book of your own.
As always, be sure to lean on your own creativity to write your story. Only you can tell it the way you want to!
Related: How to Write a Children’s Book (10 Stress-Free Steps)
Along with the colorful illustrations, a children’s book title is what grabs the attention of a potential reader.
Make your title short and catchy! Use wordplay or simple literary elements, but don’t choose a title that confuses the reader.
Create a list of possible titles. If you're not sure where to begin, you can use our free book title generator for inspiration!
Once you have your shortlist, take a poll that consists of both kids and adults to see which titles catch their attention most. This can help you decide on which one to use, but you still have the final say!
You can even draw inspiration from other published children’s book titles by doing some online research.
When your story text is typed the way you want it, another graphic organizer used by authors is a “picture book dummy,” or a mock-up of your children’s book using thumbnails.
This cut-and-tape procedure with paper allows you to turn real pages to see how your book layout will look and feel in the reader’s hands.
Playing with a full 32-page layout template on the computer is great, but always make a paper dummy picture book first!
You can more easily visualize left/right pages and keep illustrations with the correct text as you play around with your book layout.
A dummy can keep you from making a costly and frustrating mistake! For example, if your illustration or photo is supposed to be spread across two pages, the book dummy will keep you from placing those two pages back-to-back.
Yes, you need to edit, even when writing children's books.
Even if you’re a writing pro who knows all about grammar, syntax, punctuation, and style – you still need an editor.
You’d be surprised at how many errors or improvements a professional editor might find in your text.
If you're wondering how to find a book editor, you can check your local area for children’s book editors or search online job markets such as Thumbtack, Problogger, or Upwork.
Once your story is written and polished, the next step of learning how to write a children's picture book is to pair your crafty words with engaging illustrations.
Who is going to illustrate your children’s picture book? Are you a professional illustrator? Are you willing to pay a professional artist for approximately 16 colorful and cute illustrations?
If you choose the traditional publishing route for your picture book, most publishing companies do not want you to submit illustrations with your book manuscript.
Children's book publishers often match their in-house artists to the few book manuscripts they choose to publish each year. This means you might have a say-so in the book’s illustrations, but you might not.
If you self-publish your children’s picture book, you’re completely in charge of finding an illustrator, and you have total creative say-so. You can find illustrators to work with in your local area, or online.
Don't skimp on quality when it comes to your illustrations. Invest in a professional illustrator, and it will show!
When I finally decided to create and publish my first children's picture book, I connected with a talented artist who happened to be my friend’s daughter. We worked out an arrangement where she was compensated per book sold, rather than upfront. We worked together successfully, even though it was long distance, and developed a trusting professional relationship.
For my next children’s picture books, my sister (a budding artist) and I published Grandma’s Lullaby, Grandpa's Hidden Gold Farm, and several supplementary children’s publications about bees and pollination.
Shop around! There are professional artists in the most unexpected places. Just make sure the person is professional, talented, and trustworthy before approaching them about illustrating your book.
You’ve reached the last step in learning how to write a children’s picture book – hooray!
Your book is written, illustrated, and ready to go. What now? It’s time to get it published!
There are two options: Try to pursue a traditional publisher or self-publish your book. This detailed report on self publishing vs traditional publishing will help you decide which route is best for you.
The basic difference is that traditional publishing is extremely competitive and time consuming. It requires you to send your manuscript to agents. If a literary agent for children's books accepts you, your manuscript will then be sent to publishers.
Once your manuscript is accepted by a publisher, you will be offered a book contract and the publishing company will take care of the production process, However, you’ll most likely be in charge of marketing your book yourself.
On the other hand, you can self-publish your children’s picture book – which means it’s all up to you. You determine when you want to publish your book, and are in charge of the entire production process.
This means that you have to hire professionals to do the things you may not be able to do yourself – like editing and illustrating. You’ll also need to learn which self-publishing companies are best to publish and market your book.
Because there are multiple steps involved in self-publishing your book, it requires a whole new article on the topic. You can use this detailed guide on how to publish a book to learn the exact steps you’ll need to take.
We also recommend investing in a self-publishing course, which is extremely helpful for first-time self-published authors.
Regardless of how you choose to publish your book – the bulk of the work of how to make a picture book is done by this point!
You’ve learned how to write a children’s picture book, and have successfully brought your vision to life.
It might be tempting to think that writing a children's picture book is easier than writing a full-length novel. However, a picture book actually requires all the same major storytelling elements that a novel does — such as well-drawn characters and an intriguing plot — just in a much smaller space.
The good news is that if you can achieve these things (with engaging illustrations to boot!), you’ll be poised to inspire the imaginations of young readers, who are always looking to welcome their next beloved picture book into their library.
To help all the aspiring authors who want to be the next Maurice Sendak or Margaret Wise Brown, we’ve put together this eight-step guide for how to write a children's picture book — plus tips for editing, illustrating, and publishing it!
Let’s start with the basics...
Successful picture books are the ones that strike the right balance between appealing to two different audiences: while a picture book is intended for children, it’s ultimately the parents who decide whether or not to buy it — or to read it aloud. (That being said, appealing to and entertaining adults shouldn’t take priority over the children you’re writing your children's picture book for.)
Luckily, coming up with an idea for your picture book is essentially the same as coming up with an idea for any book, for any age category. It’s how you present that idea that will differ. For instance, your picture book idea might center around specific childhood experiences, such as:
But when you strip those ideas down to their core, you’ll find that their concepts are universal:
In that respect, successful books don’t connect with readers because they present an idea that’s never been explored before. They succeed because they convey topics in new and interesting ways. Sure, Goodnight Moon has been helping parents put their children to bed for over 70 years. But you can be sure that stories about bedtime will continue to hit the shelves for a long time to come, provided that they look at the topic from different angles or act as an educational tool.
To ensure your idea is solid, ask yourself the following questions:
If you’re struggling to nail down the core concept of your book, this guide to story themes might help. Or perhaps it’s inspiration you’re after, in which case this list of the best 100 children’s books of all time is sure to get your creative wheels turning!
As mentioned before, the way you tell your story should depend on the intended reading age of your children's picture book. This includes everything from illustrations and marketing, to almost every other aspect of your book.
Let’s take a quick look at the different types of books that rely on illustrations, as well as some popular examples of each.
Chapter books — for readers between 9-11 years-old — also typically contain illustrations. However, they’re often black and white sketches as opposed to full-color illustrations, and the pictures are used to complement the story rather than to help tell the story. If you’re looking for more in-depth details on the reading ages of various kid lit, check out this guide to writing a children’s book or sign up for the course below!
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Even though many kids are able to read to themselves by the time they’ve graduated to the picture book and early reader categories, all books that rely heavily on illustrations are often still read aloud. That’s why rhyming in children’s books is pretty common — it creates a fun and engaging vocal storytelling experience. (Still, rhyming is not always a good idea for picture book writers — more on that below!)
Besides prose that sounds good out loud, there are a number of other factors to keep in mind regarding the narrative style of your picture book:
If you’ve ever casually dropped a word into a conversation with a child, only for them to ask you what it means, and stump you as you try to find a way to explain it, you’ll know the importance of tailoring the vocabulary of your picture book to the age range of your readers.
This, again, means striking the right balance. You want the vocabulary you use to be accessible to children. At the same time, you also want to offer young readers the chance to expand their understanding of language — aided by the illustrations. As children's editor Jenny Bowman says, “Children are smarter than you think and context can be a beautiful teacher.”
If you’re unsure whether the vocabulary in your book hits the right note, your best bet is to read other picture books to compare, and to get feedback from parents and children themselves. (But more on that later.)
On the note of helping young ones expand their vocabulary and reading skills: repetition plays a key role in many picture books!
The use of repetition allows children to anticipate what the next word or sentence of a story might be, encouraging them to participate in the act of reading and following along.
Examples include Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, and One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom. Oh, and almost anything from Dr. Seuss, of course!
As with repetition, rhyming can help children anticipate upcoming elements in a story. It can also contribute to a more fun, memorable reading experience — how many of us can still rattle off “I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam, I am!”
However, as all aspiring picture book authors know, it’s incredibly tough to get rhyming really right. An otherwise wonderful book can be brought down by sloppy rhyming, and unless you’re Dr. Seuss’ equally-talented grandchild, publishers will likely be wary of your rhyming manuscript. So deciding to go the rhyme-time route is taking a risk.
But if you decide that rhyming is the style for you and anything else simply won’t do (see what we did there?), remember that the story should always come first. Don’t sacrifice plot or any other important story elements for the sake of your rhymes.
Point of view refers to the perspective of the narrator. If a story is told from…
Deciding what POV you want to use is a big decision when it comes to how to write a children's picture book, and all of them have their own strong suits, depending on the story you’re telling. Love You Forever, for instance, is a book about unconditional love and is a comforting read (of course, until you’re older and suddenly it becomes a real tear-jerker!), so it makes sense that the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, using second person language like “you.”
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Find out which literary luminary is your stylistic soulmate. Takes 30 seconds!
Learn more about each narrative perspective in this guide to point of view.
Writing a picture book is not an opportunity to scale back the work that goes into creating realistic, well-rounded characters with their own motivations, struggles, strengths, and weaknesses. Yes, you’re telling a story with far fewer words than a novel, and you have the benefit of using illustrations to help convey meaning, but your characters should still feel like real people.
Think back to the books you enjoyed as a kid. Likely, they stand out to you because you loved or related to their characters. If a parent or guardian knows their child has become a fan of a specific character, they’re also far more likely to continue buying more picture books about that same character. So taking the time to write fully-realized characters will not only allow you to hone your craft, but it’ll also allow you to build a fanbase.
Keep in mind that characters don’t need to mirror kids to appeal to them. You don’t need to worry about alienating your customer base by writing characters that don’t look, sound, or act as they do. Indeed, striving to create a cast with as broad appeal as possible is a ticket to creating forgettable characters. Don’t be afraid of cooking up unique characters that will connect with children in their own special ways — think about how many kids hold animals, aliens, or anthropomorphized objects near and dear to their hearts.
To help you out on that front, we’ve got three handy resources:
Don’t forget to consider the significance of providing children with access to characters that represent them. Read up about the importance of diversity in children’s books here.
A piece of advice extended to all authors, “show, don’t tell” actually puts picture book writers at an advantage because of the illustrations that accompany their books! And you should absolutely rely on your illustrations to convey things to readers, allowing you to save your limited word count for other things.
Of course, the concept of “showing” by employing sensory details in your writing still applies to children's picture books, too. For instance, in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, author Judith Viorst doesn’t need to repeatedly remind readers about how annoyed Alexander becomes throughout the day. He does so by focusing on the frustrating events Alexander encounters, and by using the illustrations to elaborate on how Alex is feeling. Consider his disgruntled expression and tersely folded arms in the image above.
One tip for making sure your picture book shows instead of tells is to look for instances of the words “is,” “are,” “was,” or “were.” Double-check if any of the sentences associated with these words are telling the reader something you might be able to show them instead.
Brush up on this golden rule of writing with this comprehensive guide to “show, don’t tell.”
As we just mentioned, every word really needs to count in a book with so few words. So the first step of your editing process should be to go through your book line by line, and for each one consider: is this line crucial for my story? If the answer is yes, carry on. If it’s no, remove it!
After you’ve finished that, go back through your manuscript looking for any spelling or grammatical errors.
Once you’ve gotten your manuscript as polished as you can, it’s time to seek out feedback from the most honest beta readers out there: children!
If you have friends or family with children, ask them to read your book to their little ones, taking note of their feedback. Bonus points if you can watch someone reading your book to a child, as you’ll not only get their reaction, but you’ll also get a chance to hear what your book sounds like read aloud by another person.
There are also a number of great communities for children’s book authors out there that you can join for critiques and feedback.
Finally, if you want to be really sure that your picture book is ready to capture the imaginations of young readers, consider working with a professional editor. Editors pull from their insight into the publishing market they specialize in to inform their feedback — so the benefits an experienced children’s book editor can provide your story are significant.
If you want to dip your toes into the idea of working with a professional editor, you can sign up for a free Reedsy marketplace account and request quotes from a number of different children’s editors at no cost — including some who have worked with popular authors like R.L. Stine and Daisy Meadows!
Over 2,000 of the best picture book editors are on Reedsy. Sign up to meet them today!
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At this point your children's picture book should be complete! You can now turn your sights to illustration and publishing.
If you’re hoping to have your book traditionally published, you can skip this step and go straight to the next. In just about every case, if your book is acquired by a publisher, they will want to choose their own artist to take care of the illustrations. In fact, sending a publisher your already-illustrated manuscript could harm your chances of landing a book deal as it may prevent editors from seeing how your book fits them. Think of it as going to see a house you’re interested in buying. If the place is covered with the current owner’s personality, you might have a tougher time seeing yourself living there. If the house is presented as more of a clean slate, you might walk in and spot the potential right off the bat.
Now, if you’re planning to self-publish your children's picture book, you will absolutely want to hire a professional artist to do the illustrations — unless you happen to be Eric Carle and possess both excellent writing and illustrating chops. Here's how to find the right illustrator for you.
Ultimately, the illustrator you hire will have input regarding what sorts of illustrations tend to work with the kind of book you’ve written. That being said, you should absolutely go into the process of finding the right collaborator with an idea of what you like. Head to your local bookstore and spend time browsing through the picture books there. Make notes of illustration elements you do or don’t like. Alternatively, scroll through these book illustration examples for inspiration.
These are three key things you want to have in mind before you start looking for an illustrator. You want to know how much you can afford to spend on illustrations, how much work you need to be done (for instance, how many pages need illustrating and what type of illustrations you’re looking for), and what date you need the work completed by. This information will all play a big role in scouting out the designers that are right for your project. But remember, you may need to adjust your expectations as you start talking to illustrators and begin to get an idea of how much they typically charge and how long the average turnaround time is.
This is the best way to come up with a shortlist of illustrators you’re interested in working with. As well as getting a sense of their work and whether it’s up your alley, you should keep an eye out for their credentials: have they illustrated picture books for your age group before? Have they illustrated characters that resemble yours before? And so on and so forth.
Once you’ve finalized your shortlist, start reaching out to illustrators by telling them about your book, and the budget, brief, and deadline details you worked out beforehand. If you’re looking for a secure environment to scope out experienced illustrators, sign up for a free Reedsy account to gain access to our vetted marketplace of professional illustrators. You’ll be able to check out their portfolios and past work experience with just the click of a button!
Over 100 of the best picture book illustrators are on Reedsy. Sign up for free to meet them!
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If you’re not yet sure which publishing path you want to take, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
If you want to dictate the amount of time it takes to bring your book to market, have the final say on all creative decisions, and keep a much larger percentage of royalties, then self-publishing your picture book is likely the right move for you.
That being said, self-publishing also means that you need to be willing to do all the marketing and distribution work yourself — and the costs associated with publishing your book will all have to come out of your own pocket.
For many authors, one of the biggest draws of self-publishing is accessibility. The picture book market is notoriously competitive when it comes to landing a publishing deal. It can be a very long game with an unclear outcome. So if your primary goal above all is to see your book published and available for little readers, stick to self-publishing.
Here some resources to help you along the way:
In a plot twist that everyone saw coming, the benefits to traditional publishing coincide with the potential pitfalls of self-publishing. Those benefits include wider distribution and greater chances of seeing your book stocked in brick-and-mortar stores, a production team who will work on the book at no cost to the author, an advance against sales, and at least a degree of book promotion — though even with traditional publishing, authors are expected to shoulder a portion of marketing efforts as well.
On the other hand, there’s the inaccessibility, slower publishing timeline, less creative input, and smaller percent of royalties that we also mentioned above.
If you’re set on traditional publishing, don’t forget to consider independent publishers and small presses, who might be more likely to take a chance on an unknown children’s author.
Here are is some extra reading to answer more of your trad publishing questions:
Finally, whether you’re planning to self-publish your book or go the traditional route, this free online course is a great resource that breaks the process of publishing a picture book down into manageable steps.
Get your picture book into the hands of little readers everywhere with this 10-day online course. Get started now.
And there you have it: how to write a children's picture book in eight steps. Whether you’ve landed on this blog post at the very start of your writing journey or in the middle of the publishing process, remember to keep the goal of reaching young readers in mind every step of the way. Bonus points if you can approach this often-challenging endeavor with a sense of childlike curiosity and fun 😊
Are you in the process of writing a picture book? Tell us about it — and ask any questions you might still have — in the comments below!