Children’s picture books merge prose, poetry, and art into kind of magical paper movie starring whoever wants to be the performer. They serve as gateways to sleep but can be enchanting any time of day.
If you’re interested in writing a picture book…
Gotham is offering a brand-new Picture Book Intensive, in two three-hour Zoom sessions, Saturdays August 9 and 16. If that timing doesn’t work for you or it fills up, just put yourself on the wait list and you’ll be notified when it’s offered again. And you can also work on picture books (as well as other kind of children’s books) in our Children’s Book Writing courses.
A few of my favorite picture books:
Hello Lighthouse (written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall) – We live alongside the keeper of a lighthouse, watching him tend the house and light. Time passes, seasons change, people are rescued, and the keeper finds a wife who gives birth to a child in the lighthouse. And we experience the mystery of nature and life.
Last Stop on Market Street (written by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson) – A boy rides a bus with this grandmother to reach a soup kitchen where they help out. The boy wishes they had a car and he’s not so thrilled where they’re going, but he discovers beauty in the most unlikely places.
Officer Buckle and Gloria (written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann) – A policeman makes regular visits to talk about safety in schools, but the audience is pretty bored until he starts coming with a police dog. Suddenly, his talks are hit—because the dog is doing all kinds of crazy things behind his back.
These books are fiction, but picture books can also be nonfiction. Somewhat adjacent to pictures books are board books (simple concept books for the youngest kids) and easy readers (with limited vocabulary to ease kids into reading on their own).
Picture books are mostly for ages 3 to 7, but you can keep reading them forever.
It may seem like picture books are easy to write, but that’s far from true. It’s quite the challenge to create one good enough to get published, let alone enrapture kids you’ve never met. That’s why we’re here to help.
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In other exciting news, Gotham is about to kick off its summer season in NYC’s Bryant Park, in their outdoor Reading Room. Every Thursday evening, starting July 10, we’ll be offering free 90-minute classes open to anyone who shows up. And this will be the first time we’ve offered our new Writer’s Mind course there. Check out the schedule to see what’s happening when.
We hope to see some of you there!
Alex Steele
Gotham President