In the words of the wildly successful picture book author Margaret Wise Brown, “To be a writer for the young, one has to love not children but what children love.” This one-day class (taught through the user-friendly virtual platform Zoom) is a fun and instructive chance to approach your writing with the enthusiasm of a child. What could be better in these challenging times? 

We’ll start the day enjoying a range of excellent picture books, reconnecting with the simple pleasure of reading this essential genre. From there, you will learn to analyze picture books to understand how they are crafted. I will cover basics such as word count, page turns, characterization, point of view and tension, and talk about the market for picture books today.

Whether you’ve already written a draft of a picture book or only have an idea, you will have a chance to apply what you’ve learned and write a whole new draft in the second half of the day, taking inspiration again from Margaret Wise Brown who claimed she wrote her own rough drafts in twenty minutes. There will be time to share these drafts with your peers, receive professional feedback from your instructor, and learn how to move from a rough draft to a finished book. Come and enjoy a day full of children’s picture books together with people who truly love them.