Picture books aren’t read, they’re performed.
The very act of reading a story out loud to a child forces the reader to add inflection, dramatic pauses, and even ad-lib some commentary. Where the pages are turned can add (or detract) as much from the experience as the quality of the story itself.
Picture books are almost always 32 pages long. There is no mysterious artistic reason for this; it’s simply how the printing presses work. If the book is longer, it will go up in 8-page increments, but most publishers don’t risk this added expense on new authors. The 32 pages includes the endpages (the white or decorated pages at the beginning and end of the book), the title page, and the copyright/dedication page. So the author has an average of 26 pages to tell the story. In general, the first page of text is a righthand page, and the last page of text is on the left.
Read more
Too many posts to handle? If you missed out on a great post from last month, here’s a quick digest of the top posts that you may want to check out:
- Body Language – A Writer’s Secret Weapon
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 in writing tips – Comments: (1)
We’ve all heard “show, don’t tell”. It’s pretty much the first piece of advice a new writer hears. But how best to make that truism come to life?One way is to give your characters a vivid body language. How we move, manipulate our facial muscles, even cross our legs tells a great deal about our inner dialogue. As a writer, the more you understand about body language, the more you can avoid telling, and really begin showing.
- Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-02-03
Posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 in Uncategorized – Comments: (0)
Orwell’s 6 Rules of Writing: http://is.gd/i8Y6 Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # It’s Love a KidLit Author Month. Isn’t every month?
http://snipr.com/b6hzh Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # Schools becoming ‘anti-reading’ zones, claims author: http://is.gd/i8Vi Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # Lee & Low New Voices winner announced: http://twurl.
- Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-02-04
Posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 in Uncategorized – Comments: (0)
Current children’s book reviews from PW: http://jijr.com/l8U Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # Get up to speed on kids’ pop culture here: http://kids.yahoo.com/ Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # 100 Fun & Useful Search Engines for Writers http://snipurl.com/b8yux Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # New @ the Clubhouse: Four free software programs for writers.
- Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-02-10
Posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 in Uncategorized – Comments: (1)
Fascinating exhibit: Kid’s Books of the Soviet Era: http://budurl.com/zq4p Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com – Home of the Fightin’ Bookworms! # Librarian Action Figures! http://budurl.com/t2km Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com – Home of the Fightin’ Bookworms! # Cool 19th century children’s books, scanned in full color. http://fleck.com/pSK5h Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community # New @ The Clubhouse: “Backstory: Giving Readers More Than Meets the Eye” Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.
- Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-02-25
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 in Uncategorized – Comments: (1)
¡qǝʍ ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ ʇxǝʇ uʍop ǝpısdn ǝʇɐǝɹɔ http://flipmytext.com/ Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com children’s writers’ community # Need an agent? Here’s where to find one: http://www.agentquery.com/ Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com , Where Children’s Writers Meet # Jen Robinson’s weekly kidlit roundup. Always a must read: http://jijr.com/s2G Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com , Where Children’s Writers Meet # How to find writing contests: http://short.
If you enjoy the content on this site, please make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed.
