Making your book follows a formula.

This is the basic path:

You have the script of the story complete

You have an idea of how the characters are to be illustrated, style you want.

We work out what are the key scenes to illustrate

I sketch out the characters and scenes

You okay that design-how they look

I story board the entire book as a guide/template

The illustration proper begins, page by page

I insert the text as we go along

The book’s intro, end pages (decorative)

are illustrated

The cover is illustrated

Editing-proofreading

formatting —readying to pint

Test print

Complete.

A children’s book is usually 32 pages in length.

It can be longer or shorter I’ve completed books of 32 pages —45 pages to 136 pages. The classic length is the 32 page and is the industry standard-guide.

To be successful the book must follow a simple quest, a simple problem to be solved.

‘Where is Santa?’

‘Who stole the biscuits?’

‘How do get my parents to buy me an Elephant.?

The book that sticks to this works.

Poetry and rhyme.

If the author can make the story into rhymes- all the better. Rhymes give a musical flow and elevate the story into authenticity -it’s as if the story is an old well respected tale when good rhymes are used.

There’s much to learn , observe, and do as a book is made-characters may inspire additional text or scenes, ideas may arise as the book takes shape.

If the ideas enhance the central theme, support it or give additional viewpoints about it, one can add them.

Understanding illustrations is important -one’s concept of a scene must be transferable to 2-D artwork; Drawing ’a dog that is happy but also annoyed at having no breakfast whilst the boy brushes his teeth’ doesn’t translate to a drawing.

Authors are aided by sketches, sketches they do themselves (no matter how simple -stick figures are fine)Doing this gives reality of what the concepts look like on paper, and what realistically can be illustrated.

Each scene has one specific theme or emotion or event and that is the power of that scene. Complication and ‘showing everything’ doesn’t work. Simplicity makes for better images and the imagination of the reader isn’t blocked by information-meaning overload.

Comedy.

Comedy is very powerful, very valuable. A book may have a serious message, or important education, but without comedy it will be a drag.

There are many ways to introduce laughter, humour, and hilarious viewpoints, scenes and characters. These will make the book enjoyable, memorable and maintain attention.

Words.

The text: choice of vocabulary.

Always keep it simple. Do not use fancy words, there are books out there for kids which have words that the parents aren’t sure of let alone the kids.

There is an occasional desire to add ‘clever’ difficult words, in order to ‘teach new words’ This never works, it interrupts the story. If it is an important word, necessary in the story -explain it, otherwise don’t introduce difficult words.