Children's Books

Yesterday... nope.

Tuesday.

I can't ever keep days straight...

Anyway, on TUESDAY, which was not yesterday, I spent the whole day at UVU for the Forum on Children's Literature. I found it to be most awesome.

Here are some reasons:

1. I got a free pen.

2. I got a free water bottle.

3. My name tag said Rebeccah Pitcher. How cute is that? I love having Pitcher be my last name.

4. I got to meet lotsa authors, (real live authors!)

5. I bought a few books, and had them signed.

6. I got to have a professional author critique a chapter of my book. (Yes, so, it was Carol, but still: awesome!) Also, I had to try to spell critique many times before I remembered it had a Q in it.

7. I learned the step-by-step procedure for writing a picture book.

8. I learned it so well that I will now teach you.

For especially my mother, who keeps saying that she will write a picture book:

First, a picture book has 32 pages. (almost) Always.

Pages are divided thus:

pg1: title page
pg2: info, like copyrights

pg3: STORY BEGINS.

But think of it like this, or open up a picture book, pg1 is a single, and pg3 (your beginning) is technically on a double page spread, but its a single too, because pg2 has boring things on it. SO pg3 has to be self-contained. (At least as far as text goes)

pg3: Story begins, and you can introduce the topic. But picture books, like poetry, have natural pauses and breaks, and the places where you feel like pausing or breaking...

those are the places you turn the page. (I made a page-break here by adding an elipses! after breaking, didn't you pause? THAT's where you turn the page.)

pg3-6: You can introduce the topic, like this, over those four pages you can say "Kathryn's room was always neat and clean. Nothing was ever out of place... [blah blah blah.] Even her hampster's cage was always tiday. Except her bottom dresser drawer; it was filled with candy. She never shared it with anyone and no one knew it was there but her."

pg7/8: introduce conflict: "But one day when Kathryn got home her bottom drawer was open! Someone had stolen a piece of her candy!"

pg9-29ish: Try to solve the problem three times and fail. "Kathryn knows one of her brothers is stealing her candy, so she lays a trap to catch him, but falls asleep and wakes up and candy is gone! She hangs a cage from the ceiling, but it falls when she goes to get a drink and there's no one in it when she gets back. Too bad her hampster can't tell her who's been sneaking around. Finally Kathryn lures all her brothers into her room and pretends to leave, waiting to see which one will take the candy. None of them do! She looks over to complain to Marigold her hampster, but she's not in her cage!"

pg30-31: Solve the problem. "She's in the bottom drawer eating Kathryn's candy! It was her all along!"

The last page, though, always has to be an "Aha!" moment. You can't just solve it. Often times its in a picture only. Like a picture of Kathryn and Marigold the hampster eating the candy together. Kids know, even if grown-ups don't, that that means Kathryn isn't mad. Everything will be okay.

Or in Can't you sleep little bear? It's when he says "I brought you the moon," and the last picture is just of them standing, looking up at the moon.

or in Where the Wild Things Are its that line, "and it was still hot."

It's not enough that dinner was there, or that Max made it home. That is only satisfying.

Not "aha" worthy.

But dinner was still warm. On that last page, when you thought the story was through, and you thought, "at least he's back safe," then you can add "and things will be okay."

Now YOU can do it. Write a children's book.

But first look at these pretty pictures to inspire you: The Picture Book Report.

They're illustrating novels.

What a novel idea.

It wouldn't let me post any pictures.

Also, it keeps screwing with my spacing.

p.s. Love me inspite of my puns.