A Childs Life

A children’s story that is well written will reflect a child’s life. When a child reads a story it gives the child an opportunity to rehearse past, present, and future life events. “Whether thought the literal interpretation of the story, through the message behind the story, or through the meaning and insight derived from the story, children gain valuable experience interpreting the complex emotions at the foundations of their personal worlds.”- Hannah Nuba

Qucik Facts to remember

It is important to remember that your main audience when writting a CHILDRENS book are the children more so than the parents. It is important to remember to write accordingly, using generally short words, sentences and paragraphs. Simplicity is the key to success. Be direct. Do not over complicate the story with twist and turns.

TEXT

When beginning to place type, I thought it would be simple to just make a box and stick type into it. It ended up looking horrible. Then when I began to do research and read actual children’s books I realized no one uses box’s to stick their type in. The typography is just as important as the illustrations. That’s when I decided to combine the type and illustrations together. The first step is reinforcing the text through the use of pictures. It helps children understand the characters and settings. The next step is called description. Every choice I make as an illustrator and author plays a major role in helping the child relate to the book. Choosing the text color is very important. I choose white, because white is innocent just like the main character, Canon. The next step is called the reciprocal “ The story hovers between the words and pictures remove one and the story disappears.” Establishing is the last step. The pictures help establish the story just as much as the words. The pictures help the child engage actively in all the areas that make up the story.

Illustrating Childrens books

When I began to illustrate my children’s book I used bright colors, but after much research I found this to be a horrible idea. What do these colors mean? How do they relate to the story? I had to stop and ask myself. The background colors in the top picture are light, cool tones the sky is a bit grey/blue. The picture below is the very last picture of the children’s book. It is the brightest page of the entire book. The colors seem to be so full of life. There is a reason for these color choices. When you see a character at the beginning of a book and the sky is grey/blue and the colors are dull. Then as the character reaches the end of the book the colors are amped up, bright blue sky’s with bright green grass, shows the progression and potential growth of a character.

PACE

When dealing with the PACE in a children’s book it is essential that you begin the action immediately from the start and make sure that you bring the story to a secure close. For example: The first page starts with Canon immediately walking down to the river, the ending is the two of the main characters hugging goodbye.  If I dragged on the beginning of the story before Canon got to the river the reader would have immediately lost interest. If Canon did not walk down to the river and was automatically placed there then the reader does not have enough time to become excited about the story. Children’s books should generally not include flashbacks, or jumping around in time. Everything should go in a chronological order of events.

Character Archetypes

Before you begin to write a narrative it is important to think about the CHARACTER ARCHETYPES . Character archetypes are character profiles that outline the behaviors or motivations of a character. As a writer it is very important to think about how your character will behave when put into certain situations. Characters archetypes help create a character the reader will deem believable. When I began to think about my main character, Canon, I wanted her to be relatable to the child (reader). I wanted her to be pure and innocent, like a child. When Canon was put into the situation of meeting, Shelly the turtle, she remained innocent and inquisitive.  It is important to stay consistent with the characters archetype. Take the characteristic traits of people or animals that you may know and can use to help the character come alive, from mannerisms to physical traits!

            It is essential that when writing a children’s book you keep a low number of main characters, so the young children don’t get too confused. In a picture book it is not necessary to give a description of your characters. Picture books are mainly visual and the description of the characters will be evident in the illustrations.

THEME

It is important to have a THEME in Children’s books. The books that have been reviewed and deemed best written all have a theme that is important to a child’s development. Its important to keep in mind that the theme can be the developing growth of a character throughout the story. Other different themes include but are not limited to: Coping with life traumas, self-esteem, caring, kindness, consequences of one’s actions, perseverance, and developing a sense of affinity and attachment to others. I wanted to focus on attachment to others. In my character book I focus on the stress of making friends with someone who is different from the normal. It stresses that it is important to expand your horizons and learn about someone new who is not quite like yourself, and who knows you may just have a new friend at the end of it all! The theme is supposed to come in subtly during the story. As a writer its not advised to blatantly state the theme unless you want to be boring or preach-like. In a children’s book it is more important to “show” then “tell.”