How to Write a Children's Book

Written by Mrs. Cassandra Loftin

What are the steps to writing a children's book?

Determine your book's audience.
Learn what makes a good children's book.
Read a lot of children's books.
Expand your children's book idea.
Outline your children's book.
Narrow the details.
Write your book!
Re-read and revise your first draft.
Illustrate your book and add lots of colors to your pages.

How to Identify a Target Audience for Your Book

-Think of an age group for your audience and then make sure your writing is age appropriate for their understanding.
-Think about what you want your audience to learn.

What Makes a Good Children's Book Good?

*The story is easy to follow for your chosen age-range.

-The illustrations are high-quality, meaningful, and professional.
-It's relatable to a wide range of children. (Not just one child, city, state, or country, but something everyone would enjoy)
-Interesting and varied language is used throughout.
-The story includes relatable characters.
-Important and teachable lessons are presented.
-The setting is intriguing.
-Parents would enjoy reading it to their children.

How to Begin your Story:

-Beginning of story. The beginning of your story should introduce the characters, themes, setting of the story, and conflict.
-Middle of story.
-Story climax.
-Ending and Wrap Up.

Tips:
-Know Your Characters.
-Find Your Conflict.
(What is the problem?)
-Identify Your Theme.
(What morals are you trying to teach kids?
-Map Out Your Plot Points.

Elements of a Good Story:

-Children love books about animals, humans, or something imaginary.
-Strong Characters.
-Illustrations (pick pictures that go along with your specific scene for that specific page.)
-Simple Story
-Humor
-Doesn't have to rhyme, but kids do remember your book easier if it rhymes and will want to read it more often because of the flow.
*Children are drawn to a good story which has humour and plenty of action, so keep your chapters short, use cliffhangers and keep the pace relevant to the action. Don't include too much information on one page if your audience is geared towards younger children.

What is the Layout for a Children's Book?

Layout is the act of selecting what words (your story) and what illustrations (your pictures) will go on each page of the children's book. If your audience is for the younger children, this is especially important, since they base their understanding off of the pictures. Your pictures should align with what your specific page is about.

Try to come up with your own storyline, but if you get stuck, you can try one of the following prompts:

~It’s the first day of school and your character finds a note on their locker door with a surprising message.
~Your character is walking down the street when a dog approaches them. They quickly realize that the dog has been abandoned and take in the animal as their own.
~Your character heads out for a typical Friday night out with friends to see a movie, but nothing about the night goes according to plan.
~Your character is spending the evening hanging out at home when suddenly a fond memory of a past time returns to them.
~Your character writes a love story or a love poem about their secret crush, only to lose it in the hallway at school.
~Your character is watching the stars on a summer night. The character is pointing out constellations to a friend when they begin a conversation that will lead them on the adventure of a lifetime.
~Your character is walking along the beach when they discover a hidden pathway.
~Your character is checking the mailbox after school. ~There’s a mysterious letter addressed to them and the only thing inside is instructions.