Tips for Picture Book Writers Who are Not Illustrators

I have been fortunate to have created books with many wonderful illustrators: Jeff Berger, Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Troy Cummings, Guy Frances, Alison Friend, Goro Fujita, Arthur Howard, Victoria Hutto, Dan Krall, Jeff Mack, Scott Magoon, Dave Mottram, Lynn Munsinger, Mike Reed, Angela Rozelaar, Dan Santat, Bob Shea, Michael Slack, Liz Starin, …

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National Book Festival – 2018! (+winners announced)

A week ago I attended an outstanding event for book lovers — the National Book Festival in Washington DC. For those of you who’ve never attended this colossal event, here’s a brief fly-on-the-wall summary. But first, let’s start with the Author Gala on the Friday night before the festival. The …

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DAD AND THE DINOSAUR dazzles — for readers and writers

Dad and the Dinosaur

Recurring elements are one of my favorite features in picture books. Picture books are shorter affairs, so the writer has to fit a plot into a tighter-than-normal space. To make the story hang together and feel like a coherent whole, there often are words, phrases or themes that repeat throughout …

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Picture Book Barcode Bonanza

Last month on 100 Scope Notes, Travis Jonker shared a wonderful post called “The Art of the Picture Book Barcode.” Now I have always loved spotting a well-placed barcode on the back of a picture book. Seeing a collection of that kind of awesomeness? What more could I want?! I thought it would be …

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Just Right Endpapers

Endpapers are the first pages and the final pages of a picture book. They work much like the curtains at the open and close of a play. While many books’ endpapers are a solid color, others give the reader so much more. For instance, endpapers can create a mood. Number One …

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