Picture Book Advice From the 17th Texas Book Festival, Part 1 — How Children See the World

Carmen Oliver

Austin State Capitol where the Texas Book Festival is held every year

Cool dry air descended on the Austin capitol for the 17th Texas Book Festival but the authors and illustrators shone under blue skies. Many attendees had difficulty choosing which sessions to attend because of the smorgasbord of topics but be that I was moderating for award-winning authors Candace Fleming and Liz Garton Scanlon on Sunday, I focused on picture book panels and events.

One of my favorite comments from the weekend came during the We Wrote a Picture Book Together and We’re Still Talking panel with authors/illustrators Philip C. Stead and Erin Stead and Eric Rohmann and Candace Fleming. All the panelists agreed that understanding how children see the world is the key to successfully creating picture books that resonate with kids.

Candace and Eric visit art museums a lot, and she pays particular attention to how children interpret art. They may not have the verbal sophistication to describe the art but they know how to convey the right feeling.  Eric said an example of conveying the right feeling is the Steads picture book Bear Has a Story to Tell and how they captured an autumnal sense and childlike longing.

It’s difficult to create this unless you’re really connected to your childhood or still living it. Philip Stead thought Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann tapped into this as well and was the best unknown book of 2011, a tip I capitalized on after the session ended.

Philip C. Stead & Erin Stead at the 17th Texas Book Festival

So if you’re a picture book writer or illustrator how do you go about understanding how children see the world?

  • Be an observer like them, exploring and noticing the tiny details. The cat that scampers into the road gutter, the tiny hole in the fence to peer through, and the rocks they overturn to find pill bugs. Listen to them talking in classrooms, doctor offices, playgrounds and art museums.
  • Read, read, read. Philip attributes writing his first draft of Bear Has a Story to Tell in forty-five minutes to reading over 20,000 hours of children’s books. Of course, he’s quick to point out that the language wasn’t perfect but all the scenes were there and he along with Candace both write freehand on lined paper in order to slow down and think about what it is they want to say.
  • Focus on what intrigued you as a child. Was it stepping on an ant hill and watching the soldiers defend their fortress, releasing a balloon into the sky and seeing it slowly disappear in the atmosphere, or throwing a ball onto a roof and guessing which side it would roll off?

Then take your pen or pencil and push your chair back from the computer screen and draft a story or two, the old fashioned way. It seems to be bearing fruit for Candace Fleming and Philip C. Stead.  So shake your apple tree and see what falls out.

Check back on Friday, November 16, 2012, for Part II on picture book advice from the 17th Texas Book Festival!

Happy writing!

Carmen Oliver was born and raised in southern Manitoba, Canada, part of a larger region referred to as the Red River Valley, where lakes are plentiful and lands are fertile. She splits her time between living in Matlock, Canada and just outside of Austin, Texas with her loving husband, three beautiful kids and one scallywag dog. In 2003, she left behind a career as a programmer analyst to follow her dream of inspiring children with stories. Her published work has appeared in family and children’s magazines and a regional newspaper in Texas. She’s a children’s book junkie and still has one of her favorite books Sandman’s Stories of Twinkle Toes by Abbie Phillips Walker on her night table. Stories that her grandmother used to read to her before bedtime, and she looks forward to the day when her books are being shared the same way. When she’s not working on her own stories, she’s mentoring students with their writing and contributing to ReaderKidz, a website devoted to fostering a love of reading in kids, K-5. She also serves as the Assistant Regional Advisor for the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Please stop by and visit Carmen’s website at www.carmenoliver.com or her blog Following My Dreams…One Word at a Time http://carmenoliver.livejournal.com