1 + 1 = 3: The Equation of Picture Book Writing

In which text plus illustration equals so much more

photo: courtesy of Holly Flauto Salmon

Do you remember the commercial about the person carrying peanut butter running into the person with chocolate? Writing a picture book is like that. But better.

Of all genres and writing forms, the picture book stands apart. There is an alchemy born of that equation, 1 + 1 = 3, and it is magic.

What is a picture book?

It is most often a 32 page work of illustrated text, with an intended audience ranging from infant to second grade. The length of text can range from less than 50 words to 1000. But 800 is now considered long. Board books — those blocky heavy card books intended for infants — should be very low in text — and for older readers, ages 3–7, aim for about 500 maximum. (For the record, 300–400 is currently considered optimal. Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is ten sentences and 338 words in length.)

The model of 32 pages comes from pre-digital times, when pages had to be in multiples of 8, because of the way they were folded for printing. While printing has changed, the rhythm of those 32 pages is still with us. (Writers do absorb the rhythm of their genres and forms.) But those 32 pages become 28, by the time the front matter (copyright page, dedication, etc.) and end papers work out. So it is advisable to “storyboard” or create a “dummy” to play with how your text will break into 28 pieces.

Your audience is free of preconceived ideas

One of the most exciting qualities of working in this area is that your audience is the only audience that does not have preconceived ideas of how stories should be, and this is a treasure. It means that picture books are some of the most experimental pieces on the bookstore shelves. (Check out works of David Wiesner, David Macaulay, and Jon Scieszka.)

Here’s where it gets challenging: every single one of those few hundred words has to perform double- or quadruple roles. The story is going to connect with the young audience and give them some wonder or laughter or such nourishment as to calm and make sleepy-good (as opposed to yawn-boring) AND the story also has to be a joy to read for the parent or caregiver, who is reading the thing every night for weeks, possibly even months, if it is a beloved story. The story should work simultaneously on more than one level. After the words do their quadruple duty, the illustrations fill in all the gaps plus. Peanut butter and chocolate. 1 + 1 = 3.

Some picture book principles are hard to mess with

Emotion

What growing up is all about. These stories are child-centric, although the main character can be a “child stand-in” — which might mean an older adult, or an inanimate object such as teddy bear, toaster, or train. And it is key that adults do NOT solve the problem.

Children are growing — physically, mentally, emotionally — in ways that adults no longer are. Children worry and love, strive to connect, and experience fear, guilt, anger, frustration, joy, and wonder, with intensity and often with little time from one emotion to the next. Consider motivation. What is the character’s motivation? Plotting is dependent on characterization; characterization is dependent on emotion. (Note sentimentality is not the same as emotion! Throwing in a fuzzy animal character is not the same as exploring a child’s genuine need for some answer.)

Humor

Humor is critical in work for children. Note it in your readings and in your own work. And in the children in your life. What makes for humor? Sometimes in picture books, the humor is not in the text, but is found in the visuals. At times, it’s the juxtaposition of the text and visuals that creates the humor. Sometimes it is birthed in the writer’s mind, and some note was added to the manuscript (which the writer can do, but only when absolutely necessary), and at other times it grows from the illustrator’s work. Children reading, and being read to, love to find and interpret such bits. This connects them with the story, and is affirming for them, when they discover what tickles when not blatantly in the text. Even in the most serious picture books, there is always room for visual humor. Check out Cynthia Rylant’s Dog Heaven, about death, and note the floating-in-the-sky dog biscuits as well as other bits of levity. The style of painting is so reminiscent of a child’s work, which in itself lightens the tone and mood. And, together with the text, pulls in the reader.

Patterning

Includes the use of refrain and repetition. Consider the repetition in the Mrs. Ming books (Sharon Jennings):

“Mrs. Ming had just turned off her bedside lamp, plumped up her pillows… when she heard a cry. ‘Oh dear,’ sighed Mrs. Ming…”

and this patterning continues throughout.

And the refrain from the Franklin books (Paulette Bourgeois):

“Franklin could slide down a riverbank all by himself. He could count forwards and backwards. He could even…”

Each of the Franklin stories begins with a variation of this.

Patterning can also include contrast: Parents in the Pigpen, Pigs in the Tub (Amy Erlich) It’s all in the title.

And accumulation: The Book That Jack Built (Jon Scieszka)

“This is the Picture / That lay in the Book that Jack wrote…”

These are elements that children love to hear and see. Onomatopoeia and sensory words can be quite delicious in a picture book, but with the sensory, do ask yourself what can be cut and left to visuals, and do cut on second draft.

Vocabulary

These books are read by adults, so do not limit the quality of your words. Do ascertain the words you use are contextual; they should be understood aurally even if the audience is not familiar with them.

Resolution

A surprise or twist can come at the end, but not shock: all story elements should be included within the first 25% of the story.

The difference between picture books and “illustrated” books

“Illustrated” books generally have longer text and are intended for older children. And this is KEY: if you were to read aloud an illustrated book from across the room, with the child unable to view the illustration, nothing would be lost. Think audio story, or old radio offerings.

Focus on story first

Sometimes you set out to write a picture book, and you produce an illustrated book, and vice versa. First focus on the story you are trying to tell, and then see how it develops before throwing a label on the project.

Just know that without the images, a picture book is not a whole story. And as the writer of a picture book, you need to write with this in mind. Visualize the story and understand that what you leave out of the text is at least as important as what you leave in. This means that on first draft or even second, you write it all. You write, and over-write, until you understand what can be taken out. And then you take out. In addition to visualizing images, you need to be aware of the manipulation of white space, and to consider page turns, and how they fall within the text.

The ego and what to let go

The tricky part — at least in terms of ego — is that the illustrator will bring to the story their own vision. In this, it is a collaborative art form, akin to drama, when the writer leaves actors and director and editor and a host of others to bring their work to the whole. And the author stands back.

Once the picture book text is contracted by the publishing company, the process is placed into other hands. Yes, the writer is involved but ultimately the decisions about who will create the visuals, and how the book will appear, and even where are the page turns and how is the text laid out… all those decisions are not in the writer’s hands.

If you are a screenwriter, you’ll be okay with this; if you are a novelist, it can be hard to accept.

3 is bigger than you

But remember the 3 in the equation: it is bigger than just the text. It is bigger than you. There is something meaningful in allowing this process to happen. There is trust involved, and there is respect for other artists’ work to shine. There is recognition of the midwifery of the publishing and editorial team.

My own experience with this process, and the processes of the other picture book writers I know, is notably free of complaints about the end results. (Though there may be grumblings in the process.) I think it fair to say that the process works, and reputable publishers, working with experienced editors, produce some wonder-filled work.

There is little more rewarding than seeing a young reader with your picture book in their hands. It warms the heart!

photo: courtesy of Holly Flauto Salmon