Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication

This is an excellent guide for any children's book author. It goes into more detail about writing your story than most books for children's authors. I didn't read every word in the book but I read much of it while working on my children's picture book, 'Slow Down Turtle', for publication. I particularly like chapter 15, 'The Importance of Word Count'. This book does not cover self-publishing, which is what I did. The newer edition of this book has 4-5 pages on the subject and she doesn't seem to be a fan of it. That's fine as it is not for everyone and I won't knock off a full star because of that. For me, it is more a 4.5 star. Her approach is to find a publisher for your book. There are plenty of books that address self-publishing though and there is much good info about that on Amazon's and Ingram's author area of their web sites. However, I think if she had some good basic information about self-publishing, even with mentioning her reservations about it, that it would be a more complete book. But it is still highly recommended.

I'm a children's book editor, and I review books about writing and publishing regularly on my site, The Purple Crayon. I've excerpted this from my review there--you can read the review in full on my site.Writing Picture Books manages to do two things very well. It deepens the reader's understanding of picture books, and what children get from them, while also providing comprehensive practical help in the writing and revising of a picture book. There may be another book that does these things equally well, but if there is, I haven't encountered it. Paul gives examples from and mentions many books by name throughout, and unfortunately a complete list of those titles was left out of the book by the publisher; however, you can find the complete bibliography on Paul's site, so no great loss.This book will be useful for anyone writing picture books, no matter what their level of experience may be. Beginners will find it useful throughout the process of writing and revising, while more experienced writers will turn to it for ideas when they hit a particular problem.I've also heard from writers that many of the techniques that Paul teaches can be used in other kinds of writing, including novels. One author commented that "she has the best info. on 'show don't tell' that I've found."As an editor, I have also found the book useful when working on a manuscript and not being able to put my finger on a problem, or as a resource to which I can point a writer for specific help. I'll be keeping it handy.

If writing a PB could be reduced to a recipe, Ann Whitford Paul knows the "secret" ingredients. However, at the outset, Paul acknowledges that PB writing can't be reduced to a single, fool-proof recipe. (Words, plots, and characters can take wing--seemingly by themselves, or go underground--refusing to appear in your conscious eye.) Nevertheless, Paul has written a book covering the fundamental ingredients necessary for producing a PB. This book is laid out in a logical, step-by-step manner. She provides exercises and to do lists for each chapter. She covers the structure of a picture book, storytelling techniques, plotting, character development, poetry, rhythm, diction, syntax, and the critique process. Then she covers the submission process and the follow-up work you need to do once you land a contract. And she provides exercises to generate more story ideas.Also, Paul is like a friend who leads you through the attitude adjustments necessary to become a professional writer. I especially appreciated her openness about the pain of waiting for a response from a publisher, dealing with rejection, and dealing with marketing. This is a PB workshop in book form. It is the most comprehensive book I have read regarding picture books. (And I have read several writing-for-children books.)Due to economic cutbacks, I do not buy books as often as I used to. But I consider my money well spent on "Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication". I would not be surprised if this book becomes THE reference for PB writers.

The book has a lot of wonderful suggestions for improving your writing and great advice specific to picture books (which makes it unique from other writing guides). I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of writing and/or publishing a picture book because it will help make your manuscript more readable to your reader, more accessible to your audience and more attractive to agents/publisher. In fact, I'm willing to say this is one of the best advice books I've read about writing picture books.I would NOT recommend buying books from cherrybooks (Amazon marketplace seller) if you are on the western side of the US. Even though I bought two books from the same area of the US and paid the same amount for shipping, it took cherrybooks twice as long to get the book to me than the other seller. When the book finally arrived, it was dinged pretty seriously on the corners, but since I needed it for a writing class, I didn't want to go through the hassle of returning/exchanging it (the class would be almost over by the time I'd get the book exchanged)

Very good details about writing books for young people. I found myself making notes all the way through to refer back to and am confident I will improve my writing as a result of reading this book. There are a few typos towards the beginning and she repeats the same examples quite a lot, but it’s still worthy of five stars.

Está bien si es lo primero que lees sobre teoría para escribir. Si ya has leído unos cuantos, este libro no aporta mucho nuevo. Tiene buenos consejos y ofrece una buena guía, salvo en lo que se refiere a la estructura de la historia; propone la de tres actos, que a mi gusto se queda corta y un tanto anticuada

As a complete beginner to writing children's illustrated stories I found this book to be just about perfect. There is not a lot of technical jargon. It has given me exactly what I wanted to know about the topic without making it sound like some sort of mystical rocket science. There are concrete examples of the correct and incorrect way to write for children. I have read a lot of books out there that talk around the subject without really getting to the "how-to" part. This book gets right into that. I would recommend it to any one who wants to know "how" to write picture books.

A well written introduction to writing stories for children, although clearly written from the point of view of the writer, not of the illustrator. The book gives plenty of useful advice and inspiring tips and is especially useful if you already have a story idea to be realized or a manuscript to be polished. Particularly interesting for me were the (two!) chapters on point of view and the chapter on poetry. No other book I have read on writing children's books treats this topic in an equally informative and clarifying way (which is maybe not surprising, given that the author has published a number of rhymed books). As an aspiring illustrator, I missed a more extended treatment of the relationship between text and image, which is at the core of picture books. Much better books for this aspects are Uli Shulevitz'"Writing with pictures" or the beautifully illustrated volume by Martin Salisbury.Nevertheless, a concise, informative and engaging book.

One of the best books for learning how to write a picture book that sells. She gives examples and goes into detail about different kinds of picture books. It is agreat help.