Product Description

Writing picture books is not easy. Picture books are a unique form of writing with a large audience of 2- to 8-year-olds, and they must appeal to both the adult purchaser and the child listener/reader. They are generally 32 pages long and must be tightly focused and told partly through illustrations. And novice picture book writers make a lot of mistakes--and get a lot of rejections from publishers flooded with inappropriate manuscripts. From this book these writers will learn the writing and revision process that will lead them to creating more salable picture book manuscripts. Ann Whitford Paul covers researching the picture books market, creating characters, point of view, plotting, tips on writing rhyme, and more—all the lessons writers need to write great picture books that will appeal to both editors/agents and young readers/parents. She uses a mix of instruction and hand-on exercises, often asking readers to cut, color and paste their way through revision.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42676 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781582975566
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Ann Whitford Paul is a well-respected author of 16 picture books, as well as a well-published poet. She teaches picture book writing through the UCLA extension program, is a frequent speaker in the U.S. and abroad.

Customer Reviews

One of the BEST in this market!
This book is one of the few books on writing that I have found to be highly effective in producing results! When I was only half way through reading it, I had already come up with two new ideas for children's books and three ways to revise/improve ongoing manuscripts I've been working on. The book is exceptionally well-written, personal yet professional, with many practical, useful ideas for how to improve your writing and become an objective critic of your own work. I absolutely love this book and rave about it to everyone! From great descriptions of well-written children's books that are helpful to writers to effective measures to take with our writing to make it stand-out to relating writing to the needs of children and parents, this book has plenty to offer for the aspiring and experienced author. I highly recommend it!

If you're trying to write picture books, you've got to have this book!
I took a class presented by Ann Whitford Paul at last year's LA SCBWI conference. I found her to be an excellent teacher and very knowledgeable. I was pleased to buy a number of her books and have her sign them.

I was delighted to see that she had written a book specifically for PB writers. It is very well laid out and clearly written. She includes examples of everything she is talking about and includes the names of recently or classic published picture books that are excellent examples to refer to. I highly recommend getting the books you're not familiar with out of the library and read them, referring back to this book for Ann's comments.

At the end of every chapter, Ann includes a preview of what the next chapter is about, and a "Before You Go On" list of suggested activities to do with your manuscript, so you can improve it before you read further.

I have many books on writing for children, but this is the best one by far. Thank you, Ann, for sharing your knowledge with us.

A most instructive book
This author has written 70 children's picture books and knows what she is writng about. She has taught children's writing classes at UCLA and brings her expertice to this book to help budding authors like myself. I found her book very helpful and instructive in writing my own children's book. She has put together perscriptions to help others who wish to be published. I highly recommend this book. If you have questions contact me at [...]