How to Write a Children's Picture Book, Vol. 1: Structure

by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock

Recommended by writing instructors and award-winning authors. This volume emphasizes an aspect of children's picture books that has not yet been thoroughly structure. Both concept books and picture storybooks employ very distinctive structures that, once mastered, can be applied to any picture book you wish to write. When so many of the best picture books employ the same structures, it is important to analyze these structures, understand why they work, and learn how to incorporate them into your own writing. This volume helps you do all that. You will see that no matter how carefully you labor over the tone, word choice, plot, character, setting, theme and style of your picture book, you must have a thorough grasp of its structure if you wish your book to succeed. Indeed, you will find that an expert command of structure is the key to writing a successful children's picture book.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Childrens

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2004

Reviews

[Srinidhi.R Srinidhi.R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved it..

[Jennifer]

So helpful!

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Write a Children's Picture Book: Learning from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Corduroy, Where the Wild Things Are, The Carrot Seed, Good Night, Gorilla, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and Other Favorite Stories
by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock (Goodreads Author)
4.04 · Rating details · 48 ratings · 12 reviews
This volume emphasizes an aspect of children's picture books that has not yet been thoroughly investigated: structure. Both concept books and picture storybooks employ very distinctive structures that, once mastered, can be applied to any picture book you wish to write. When so many of the best picture books employ the same structures, it is important to analyze these structures, understand why they work, and learn how to incorporate them into your own writing. This volume helps you do all that. You will see that no matter how carefully you labor over the tone, word choice, plot, character, setting, theme and style of your picture book, you must have a thorough grasp of its structure if you wish your book to succeed. Indeed, you will find that an expert command of structure is the key to writing a successful children's picture book.

[Kirsti Call · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What I liked: As a picture book writer myself, I love the topic of how to write a picture book. Bine-Stock does a great job of outlining how use of mentor texts will help us write better books. I'm a firm believer in mentor texts! (See Reading for Research month or ReFoReMo, which I co-coordinate. It's all about reading stellar mentor texts to improve our writing skills).

Bine-stock basically breaks down many famous and well know picture books into bite sized pieces and analyzes and diagrams their structures so that we can utilize those structures in our own stories. I especially like the last chapter where Bine-Stock walks you through writing your own story using a common story structure.

What I didn't like: I felt the academic language of the book made it somewhat hard to read and a little less than compelling. The content is very good and could have been written in a more engaging way.

[April Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned so much!

I really enjoyed reading through this book, in preparation for writing my next children’s picture book. It gave me a good sense of story structure and a deeper understanding about what makes a good book. I also appreciated the analysis of some of the best picture books to see how they are structured. Great job!

[Beverly McCall · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to Write A Children's Picture Book, Volume 1 is a worthy resource book to add the library of anyone studying the craft of writing. Bine-Stock concisely explains the essence of the picture book structure. I particularly liked how she used authentic picture books to help illustrate her points. By breaking down these picture books the reader easily comprehends her points.

[Tom Krengel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Stars

If you’re looking for expert guidance and a clearly defined roadmap to follow toward the goal of developing your children’s picture books - this is it.

[Randy]

The case studies here get a little repetitive, but picture books are so short you have to go through a great mass of them to really grasp the nuances, etc. (counterintuitive, I know). I like therefore the variety of what she chooses, and many of the structural points she makes. This is worth reading if you're starting to write for children.

[Nancy Freund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed it on YouTube as well. A very helpful guide, not just for children's book writers, but for writers of all genres, both fiction and non-fiction/memoir. Better understanding structure is always useful! And this magical little guidebook makes some very clear points.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to writing a picture book. The author shows how classic picture books are structured. Very helpful for aspiring writers.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful book analyzing the structure of typical picture books. A good tool.

[Jennifer]

Love it!