VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Last week, I talked about the basic understanding of what a picture book is. Today, I want to cover the plotting, vocabulary and readability of picture books. To rhyme or not to rhyme? One of the greatest questions is should picture books rhyme. That’s totally up to you. If you do decide to write a picture book in rhyme, make sure to the sentences short. There are two rules to writing a book in rhyme: Reduce the distance between beats. Reduce the number of beats. Here are some things to think about if you do choose to rhyme your book: Does rhyme enhance the story? Does rhyme come easily to you? Is there rhythm and meter to back up the rhyme? Does the rhyme make the story sound trivial in any way? Could the same story be told just as well in prose rather than in verse? If the answer is YES to the last questions, you will probably be more likely to sell the story if you write in prose. Of course, how tight the rhythms should be will depend on the moo

“To say that most writers who want to write for children want to write picture books is only a slight over generalization.” ~Tracey E. Dils (You Can Write Children’s Books) Most writers think of picture books when they hear children’s books. A good many writers think writing a picture book is easy because there are few words and the pictures tell most the story. However, as simple as it is to enjoy a picture book, it is one of the most difficult to write.  The Market and Audience: Many think the audience (readership) and market are the same, but truth be told, this is not the case with picture books. Even though picture books are written for preschool to elementary aged children, they are not the ones buying picture books.  What does this mean to you as a writer? You need to know adults are your target market when it comes to promoting your picture book. This also means your story needs to not only appeal to children, but also to the adult buyer. It should appea