Courses

Outstanding picture books (typically for children ages 3 to 8) can have a lasting effect on their young audience. These wonderful books give children a chance to understand their own internal and external worlds and live vicariously through memorable characters. Often offering both humor and empathy, picture books validate children’s emotions and foster imagination. We’ll examine the texts of contemporary and classic picture books by authors such as Phyllis Root, Martin Waddell, Deborah Underwood, and Jacqueline Woodson, looking at how stellar writing propels these stories forward.

This course will focus on how techniques such as creating appealing characters, developing conflict, structure, pacing, vivid language, and read-aloud-ability all combine to capture the emotional heartbeat of the story. Students will discover their own voices and stories through fun and absorbing in-class writing prompts and share their writing experience in breakout groups. Practical tips on the publishing world will be addressed, including the interplay between text and illustration, how to format a picture book manuscript, and how and why an editor chooses a particular illustrator to pair with the author’s text.