Shevstova. n.d.
TITLE Choose your title carefully. It should be memorable, short and convey the story in some way. You can use alliteration (when a number of words that are used close together begin with the same sound i.e. The girl grabbed the golden goose and ran. It is not letters that are the same but sounds i.e. Great and Gigantic do not work but Joke and Giant do.
AUDIENCE Are you writing for a toddler, primary school aged child or an older reader? Does your story appeal to both boys and girls and will adults enjoy reading it aloud?
THEME The best books have a simple theme running through them. It might have a special purpose to it, like counting, alphabet, days of the week, routines of the child's day. Other's incude: families (grandparents, arrival of a new baby, sibling rivalry); emotions (love, fear, sad); kindness; playtime; animals (zoo, pets); children's games; school; events (holidays, birthdays); accepting difference.
CHARACTER Is your character memorable? What's their name, how do they behave? Are they a hero or do they misbehave?
PLOT Your story needs to have a beginning, middle and an end. It may be a conflict that is resolved, a question that is answered or a problem that is solved.
SETTING Where is the story set? Is it a place the child will recognise or is it unexpected. Children can be more accepting of the absurd than adults.
ILLUSTRATIONS Pictures tell most of the story and can tell a part of the story that the words don't. They can add detail and humour and tell a different story from the text. Don't let your pictures and text say exactly the same thing.
LENGTH Picture books are written in a series of scenes. The average picture book is 32 pages long, but the front matter (title page, copyright page, etc.) eats up about four pages so assume you have 28 pages for your text.
Be prepared to write around 500 words. You can of course write more or less but your audience is young children whose attention span is not great. Some award winning picture books use around 300 words.
Create the story first without thinking about the word count, then you can edit if it is too long.
READING YOUR BOOK ALOUD Many children's books contain rhyme, or repetition of a phrase, something the child can expect on each page. Consider the voice, flow, length of words, emotion and onomatopoeia (words that resemble or imitate or suggest the source of the sound it describes, for example: meow, roar, tweet, oink, moo).
Evans, 2012.
Giant waves crashed down on our little boat. I was terrified but my mum hugged me tight and told me, 'Everything will be okay. Don't worry, it will be okay.' Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. It was a dangerous journey, with murderous pirates and terrifying storms, but they managed to survive. Life in suburban Australia was also hard for a small boy with no English and funny lunches. But there was a loving extended family, lots of friends, and always something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram.
Cicada works in an office, dutifully toiling day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his coworkers. But one day, cicada goes to the roof of the building, and something truly extraordinary happens.
Rachel is in the kitchen, warm and safe. Her father is in the trenches, cold and afraid. When Rachel makes biscuits for her father, she adds the love, warmth and hope that he needs. This is a touching story of a family torn apart by war butbrought together through the powerful simplicity of Anzac Biscuits.
'One small spark brought fire awake, winding like a small black snake, fire flickered, fire crept, flames snickered, bushfire leapt'. Inspired by the bushfires that have affected many Australians, Fire is a moving and sensitive story of a natural disaster as seen through the eyes of a cockatoo. The fire mercilessly engulfs homes and land, leaving a devastating path of destruction. But from the ruins, courage, kindness and new life grows.
Pig was a Pug and I'm sorry to say, he was greedy and selfish in most every way. Pig is the greediest Pug in the world. He is ill-tempered, rude and unreasonable. When Pig the Pug is asked to share his toys, something unexpected happens. Hopefully Pig has learned a lesson!
Combining humour and surreal fantasy, Shaun Tan pictures a summer in the lives of two boys. Each spread tells of an event and the lesson learned. As you venture deep into the story, these poetic images become darker, more mysterious and unsettling, drawing towards a redemptive ending that affirms the depth of true friendship, a bond that is equally wonderful and inexplicable. Moments of humour, surreal fantasy, and the sometimes devastating ways we interact with the people we love the most, are presented in Shaun Tan's typical thought-provoking style. (Publisher)
Stanley Paste is small. Really small. And he hates it. But when a new girl arrives at school, Stanley learns that perhaps being small is not so bad afterall.
A picture book is a book, typically for children, in which the illustrations are as important as (or more important than) the words in telling the story. Picture books are traditionally 32 pages long. In picture books, there are illustrations on every page or on one page of every pair of facing pages.
While most picture books are written for children, there are some great books aimed at older readers.
Picture books traditionally serve to entertain, teach/educate, solve problems and/or discuss children's view of the world.
“The importance of the environment, respect for Indigenous people, racial and gender equality and multiculturalism have been themes in Australian children's books for years. These themes come in waves, and perhaps we're seeing a resurgence now.”
Chandler, 2018.
Other themes include:
Shaun Tan has been illustrating young adult fiction and picture books since 1996 and is recognised as a leading creator of 'sophisticated picture books'. The Lost Thing published in 2000 was described as "Gary Larson meets Jeffrey Smart" and contrasts the casual 'What I did on my holidays' narrative with bizarre, freakishly surreal scenes. In 2002 The Red Tree won Patricia Wrightson Award, NSW Premier's Literary Awards and was an Honour Book in the 2002 CBCA awards. In 2007, Shaun's brilliant wordless book, The Arrival won The NSW Premier's Book of the Year and the Community Relations Commission Award, the 2007 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award and achieved a Special Mention in the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Award.
Allen & Unwin, n.d.
Anh Do, one of Australia's most recognisable comedians from the big screen to the best selling book The Happiest Refugee (winner of 2011 Indie Book of the Year Award and the 2011 Dymocks Book of the Year Award) Anh is one of the most in demand speakers and comedians for corporate events across Australia.
Dymocks, 2019.
Mem Fox has written over 38 books for adults and children including Possum Magic, which has sold over three million copies and is the bestselling picture book ever in Australia. Mem has been presented with many awards including an AM in the 1993 Australia Day Honours for services to the cultural life of Australia; an SA Great Award for Literature in 2001; the Prime Minister's Centenary Medal in 2003; and she was shortlisted for the Australian of the Year in 2004. She worked as an Associate Professor of Literacy Studies in the School of Education at Flinders University, South Australia for twenty-four years and is now an international literacy consultant.
Mem's books with Penguin include Where is the Green Sheep?, Hunwick's Egg, A Particular Cow, Where The Giant Sleeps, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, Hello Baby!, The Goblin and the Empty Chair, A Giraffe in the Bath and most recently Baby Bedtime. She lives in Adelaide, Australia.
Penguin Books, n.d.
Nick Bland was born on a farm in the Australian Yarra Valley in 1973. The son of an artist and a primary school teacher, he spent his early childhood climbing haystacks and making mischief in his father's studio. When he moved to “the bush” at age 6, he discovered a wonderful new world and his creativity bloomed. Nick always told family and friends he was going to be a cartoonist and a writer. It wasn't until 1996, when he stumbled into a bookshop job, that he finally found the medium that would bring those two loves together. Untrained, he spent the next couple of years reading every picture book that hit the shelves and began honing his style as a storyteller and illustrator. He illustrated several readers before sending A Monster Wrote Me a Letter to Scholastic Australia in 2001. Since then, Nick illustrated I Lost My Kisses and created The Very Cranky Bear. He lives in tropical Darwin, where he works as a guardian for 120 aboriginal boys who board nearby. He loves both of his jobs and hopes to combine them in the near future.
Booktopia, 2019.
Libby Gleeson trained as a teacher, but gave it up to travel and to write. She lived in Europe and England for five years, but has since returned to Australia, where she writes full-time. Libby has written more than thirty books for young readers, including picture books, junior fiction, fiction for older readers and nonfiction. Libby’s work has received high acclaim both internationally and in Australia and has won many awards. Her books have been short-listed nine times for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards and Libby has won several times with Hannah Plus One (Fiction for Young Readers Book of the Year 1997), An Ordinary Day (Picture Book of the Year 2002) and Amy and Louis (Early Childhood Book of the Year 2007). Some of Libby’s other books include the picture book Cuddle Time, illustrated by Julie Vivas, and the illustrated fiction title Happy Birthday x 3.
Walker Books, 2016.
Jackie French's writing career spans 17 years, 48 wombats, 132 books, 23 languages, 3,721 bush rats, over 50 awards in Australia and overseas, 6 possibly insane lyrebirds, assorted 'Burke's Backyard' segments, radio shows, newspaper and magazine columns, theories of pest and weed ecology and 27 shredded back doormats. The doormats are the victims of the wombats who require constant appeasement in the form of carrots, rolled oats and wombat nuts, which is one of the reasons for her prolific output: it pays the carrot bills.
Dymocks, 2019.
Margaret Wild is one of Australia's most highly respected picture-book creators whose award-winning children's books are loved by children all over the world. Margaret has published over seventy picture books for young children and she has been the recipient of the Nan Chauncy Award and the Lady Cutler Award for her contributions to Australian children's literature. Her books are published around the world and have won numerous awards.
Allen & Unwin, n.d.
Since 1972, Jeannie Baker has been making her collages, many of which are designed to illustrate picture books, but stand individually as works of art. Her unique collages are created from many rich textures, including earth, knitted wool and feathers, which, combined with more usual artists materials, achieve a wonderful three dimensional illusion. It can take Jeannie up to three years to produce a book. Jeannie was born in England but has lived in Sydney for many years.
Booktopia, 2019.
Graeme Base is one of the world’s leading creators of picture books. Animalia received international acclaim when it was first published in 1986 and has achieved classic status with worldwide sales of over three million copies.
Other favourites by Graeme Base include The Eleventh Hour, The Waterhole, Jungle Drums, Uno’s Garden, Enigma, The Legend of the Golden Snail, The Jewel Fish of Karnak, Little Elephants, The Last King of Angkor Wat, the Little Bug Books, Eye to Eye and The Amazing Monster Detectoscope. Graeme lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his artist wife, Robyn.
Penguin Books, n.d.
Aaron Blabey has won a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Book of the Year award for Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, an AFI Award, and his book The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon won the Patricia Wrightson Award in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and also won a Children's Peace Literature Award. Aaron has been included on the Smithsonian Institute's Notable Book List and has been a National Literacy Ambassador. He has more than 3 million books in print and his books are published in over 29 countries.
Penguin Books, n.d.
Alison Lester is one of Australia's most popular authors. She has written and illustrated over 25 picture books, and her first fiction title,The Quicksand Pony, quickly became a bestseller. Her books are published in many languages and are loved by children around the world. Alison's sure sense of colour and design, her humour, and her keen observation of the details of children's lives make her books lasting favourites.
Alison grew up on a farm overlooking the sea and first rode a horse as a baby in her father's arms. She still lives in the country and rides her horse whenever she can. She believes children need adventures and the freedom to imagine. She has always been a bookworm and often reads for hours in the middle of the night. 'I love the way books take you to another world, no matter what's going on in your life.'
Dymocks, 2019.
CLASSIC PICTURE BOOK Typically, a classic is a book that has remained popular and accessible for more than one generation. A few of the best-known and best-loved English language picture books include, "Animalia" by Graeme Base.
WORDLESS PICTURE BOOKS Picture books that tell the story completely through illustrations, with no words at all or a very few embedded in the artwork, are known as wordless picture books. A stunning example is, "Window" by Genie Baker.
BOARD BOOKS Board books are meant for the youngest readers. Board books have cardboard pages to withstand wear and tear from little fingers and mouths.
CONCEPT BOOKS Concept books introduce children to a theme such as the alphabet, counting, colors or shapes. Some can be as simple as “A is for Apple.” A great example is, "Alison Lester's abc".
Children's Department Enoch Pratt Free Library, n.d.
In this picture books for beginners tutorial you'll be shown how to make a picture book page in word and powerpoint.
Possum Magic by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas
Grandma Poss makes bush magic, and the best of all her magic is the spell that makes baby Hush invisible. The fun begins when Grandma Poss forgets what it is that will reverse the spell.
Source: Booktopia
Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey
Pig is the greediest Pug in the world. He is ill-tempered, rude and unreasonable. When Pig the Pug is asked to share his toys, something unexpected happens... Hopefully Pig has learned a lesson!
Source: Booktopia
Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Pamela Lofts
In this classic Australian picture book, a dingo catches a wombat and wants to cook him in a stew. But all the other bush animals have a plan to save their friend. They trick the dingo into using mud, feathers, flies, bugs and gumnuts in his stew, and the result is something the dingo will never forget!
Source: Booktopia
Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles, illustrated by Rod Clement
Tired of his life as an emu, Edward decides to try being something else for a change. He tries swimming with the seals. He spends a day lounging with the lions. He even does a stint slithering with the snakes. But Edward soon discovers that being an emu may be the best thing after all. And so he returns to his pen, only to find a big surprise awaiting him...
Source: Booktopia
Are we there yet? by Alison lester
Join Grace and her family on their adventurous and sometimes funny expedition. A warm, heartfelt story based on an actual journey undertaken by the much-loved, award-winning author and illustrator, Alison Lester.
Source: Booktopia
Nighty night! by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Kerry Argent
It may be time for bed, but these baby animals don't want to say good night!
It's bedtime on the farm, but the baby animals aren't ready to go to sleep. Mother Sheep, Father Duck, Mother Hen, and Father Pig are in for a big surprise when they go to tuck their little ones in: none of the babies are in their own beds! Once the bedtime mix-up is finally straightened out, the parents realize the fun has just begun! Instead of sleep, the baby animals want another story, a drink of water, kisses, and more-anything to delay going to bed. Will these baby animals ever be ready to say "nighty night?"
Source: Booktopia
Alpacas with Maracas by Matt Cosgrove
Macca and pal Al are the best of friends and LOVE spending time together.
When there is an opportunity to enter a talent contest, they just can't resist.
But what will their act be? Will they shimmy and shake? Dance and prance? Whatever they choose it will surely be a performance to remember!
Source: Booktopia
Too Many Pears by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
Pamela is a cow with a problem. She loves eating pears and won't stop at anything to sniff them out and eat them up. What will stop Pamela? Too Many Pears is a lot of fun and a great book to read aloud and share. It is full of both Jackie French and Bruce Whatley humour.
Source: Booktopia
The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland
In the Jingle Jangle Jungle on a wet and windy day, Four little friends found a cosy place to play. Moose had marvellous antlers, and Lion, a golden mane. Zebra had fantastic stripes and Sheep . . . well, Sheep was plain. When four friends encounter a cranky bear, Moose, Lion and Zebra all think they know how to cheer him up. But it is plain, boring Sheep who has the answer!
Source: Booktopia
Animalia by Graeme Base
Animalia is a book like no other. Abounding with fanciful, gorgeously detailed art, it is an alphabet book, a guessing game, and a virtual feast for the eyes. Each page features one letter and images related to that letter -- as well as a hidden picture of Graeme Base as a child Animalia will entrance any child or adult who enters its fantastical world.
Source: Booktopia
Grug by Ted Prior
Once the top of a Burrawang tree fell to the ground and became...Grug! This classic Aussie hero is back from the bush to enchant a new generation of youngsters!
Source: Booktopia
Banjo and Ruby Red by Libby Gleeson, illustrated by Freya Blackwood
A funny and touching story of antagonism and love by award-winning author Libby Gleeson, with illustrations by internationally acclaimed Freya Blackwood. Freya Blackwood's stunning illustrations perfectly capture the endearing personalities of boisterous Banjo and head-strong Ruby Red.
Source: Booktopia