2024 Picture Book Writing Challenge

Our 2023 Picture Book Writing Challenge was a great success! About 35 of you participated as we tried new genres, flexed our creative muscles, and grew as writers! I ended up writing nine of the ten genres, plus three other picture books. Even if none of these books ever get published, I love trying new things, challenging myself creatively, and getting stories down on paper. I 100% believe it’s worth every minute!

Who’s in for 2024? We’ve already covered the main picture book genres, so we’ll be digging a little deeper to explore some new, fascinating topics. Remember, anyone can join the challenge—and no one needs to read what you write! We’ve designed this experience to inspire you to learn and grow as a writer and creator, not to pressure you for results. 

How it Works: 

1. Register by commenting on this blog post. 

2. Read the blog posts posted throughout the month for inspiration: an intro to the genre, ten favorite picture books in that genre, and author blog posts.

3. Write a picture book manuscript in the prescribed genre! 

Remember—the Picture Book Writing Challenge is designed as a personal challenge for yourself—no critiquing or sharing manuscripts is needed!

Let the World Know:

Save this image and post to your social media—let the world know you are participating! Tag me at @stefaniehohl so I can like and share your post!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Here’s the 2024 Picture Book Writing Challenge genre list!

Can’t wait to have you join us! Happy writing!

Time After Time: Chronological Picture Books That Can Be Read Again and Again with Christy Chase

We are so excited to have Christy Chase join us today to share information about Chronological Picture Books!

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Christy recently earned her MFA from the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Before that, she taught grades 4-8 in a variety of elementary and middle schools. She has a lifelong love of children’s literature, particularly picture books, which she will read aloud to kids of any age (or adult!) at the drop of a hat. Her two now-grown children have never rolled their eyes at this tendency of hers. She lives in Pawtucket, RI, where she helps the rabbits tend to her garden, occasionally paints just to confirm that creating is a humbling challenge, and teaches Iyengar yoga. 

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Me: How old are you?

Preschooler: 3 and a ½. How old are you?

Me: Guess.

Preschooler: 20?

Me: Close. 

As you probably know, many kids have little concept of time until they reach the age of 3-4-ish, and even then, it might be limited to understanding what was in the past, present, or future. How many times have kids heard, “Two more minutes on the playground!” only to begin a new game? How can writers help kids get a sense of and move through time? 

Enter chronological picture books, which are a gateway to developing a child’s concept of time. These books can cover time itself (seconds, minutes, hours), days of the week, months of the year, and the four seasons. As with language or reading acquisition, associating the unknown with a kid’s concrete experience of the world is important. Therefore, many authors have honed their craft so that their chronological books are not just about time; they often connect to real experiences with family, nature, or everyday events that their readers might experience. Sometimes readers might even find a narrative arc in this nonfiction genre.

Let’s take a look at some books that I think do a great job of teaching about some aspect of time passing.

Books About Time:

A Story About Time: Book 1 - Learning About Increments of Time as we Grow a Garden. By Kaiwin Yeung, illustrated by Sijarjamil. (2023)

I like this book because of its simple text and the way time is connected to nature. As a family creates a garden, readers can see how each activity, like choosing seeds, building the garden beds, and waiting for fruit to ripen, can take different increments of time. On each spread, an all-caps word tells the reader whether the activity might take SECONDS, MINUTES, HOURS, etc. Here we see layers of family, nature, and time coming together.

Read this for a hilarious, child-centered perspective on time:

Five Minutes: (That's a Lot of Time) (No, It's Not) (Yes, It Is). Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Olivier Tallec. (2019)

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Days of the Week:

In the bilingual Spanish/English book Family Poems for Every Day of the Week / Poemas Familiares Para Cada Día de la Semana by Francisco Alarcón, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez (2017), vibrant illustrations show the narrator’s connections to places, family, food, planets, as well as emotions he feels during the week. The history of the name of each day is given in the front matter and referred to briefly in the free verse text. This helps readers learn the names and meanings of the days of the week much better than if the name of the day is just slapped on the page. 

Take a look at Erica Kim’s Kimchi, Kimchi Every Day (2022) and Busy Builders, Busy Week! By Jean Reidy, illustrated by Leo Timmers (2016) for more books that cover days of the week in fun ways.

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Months of the Year:

Oscar the Octopus: A Book About the Months of the Year by Matthew Van Fleet (2019) is a flap book for preschool aged readers. An adorable octopus, Oscar, catches a different sea creature each month. Told in rhyme, this is a fun read that will have kids using pictorial clues to guess the mystery creature before lifting the flap. The author incorporates mention of colors, textures, and sea creatures as the months go by, which provides several ways for a reader to connect with the text.

Read Every Month is a New Year: Celebrations Around the World by Marilyn Singer, beautifully illustrated with mixed media collage by Susan L. Roth (2017), for a book that demonstrates excellent verse and vibrant collages. 

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Seasons:

Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh / This is How I Know by Brittany Luby (2021) is a gorgeous bilingual Anishinaabemowin/English book about the seasons, the child narrator is shown with her grandmother out in nature. Readers can find several patterns. Luby uses a four part structure that starts with a question (“How do I know summer/fall/winter/spring is here?”) and ends with the same statement (“This is how I know summer/fall/winter/spring”). The Anishinaabemowin text sits above the English; this makes it fun to try to read both and compare. I found an audio version of this book which deepened my appreciation. While looking at chronological picture books, I found this one to be particularly lyrical and beautiful. 

Seasons, by Hannah Pang, illustrated by Clover Robin (2021) is a visual feast that explores the changing seasons (including dry season/wet season) in a very unique way. 

So, do you feel ready to write a chronological picture book? Using these examples, find the multiple entry points a kid can take on their long journey to understand time. Use craft techniques that will draw your reader in. If you want your readers to remember the days of the week, or whatever your time increment is, play with writing meaningful rhyming poems. Consider layers of content and emotion, connections to people of different ages, to nature, to sound and sight. Find a story. Set a timer and get it done! 

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Thanks so much for joining us, Christy!

You can find Christy on Instagram: @2ndChase or on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/christy.chase.5.

Memoiristic Picture Books with Michelle Vattula

We are so excited to have Michelle Vattula join us today to share information about Memoiristic Picture Books!

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Michelle was born in Boston but spent most of her life in Erie, PA. After she received her Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio, she ventured back to Boston for her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University. Michelle currently lives in the beautiful rolling hills of North Pittsburgh with her Finnish husband, two golden retrievers, and two beautiful boys who are her true inspiration for writing.

Michelle’s debut picture book, THE STALKING SEAGULLS, was released by MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing on April 20, 2021. Michelle is part of the Western Pennsylvania SCBWI leadership team as their New Member and Critique Group Coordinator. She is also a proud member of the Twitter group #Newin19. Michelle is represented by T. J. Kirsch from JCH Literary. She is open for interviews and virtual visits.

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How do we learn about our ancestors, our family? There are various methods of communication used to preserve our valued history in this day and age, like DNA testing. But how do you attach an emotional component to memories? Maybe through diaries, letters, pictures or our own experiences—which leads me to the topic of this blog, memoiristic picture books. 

Memoiristic picture books give us the ability to reflect on a person’s experiences through written and visual representation. They allow us to feel big emotions, whether they come from a place of joy or pain. They allow the reader to relate to these emotions in order to have their own cathartic experiences. In more recent years, great examples of memoiristic picture books have been published and honored by the writing community for their emotional catharsis and relatability. 

The 2022 Caldecott and Newbery Medal winner, Watercress by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin, encapsulates the memory of a young Chinese girl reflecting on her family and family history while surrounded by the task of picking watercress from the side of the road. The story reflects on the little girl’s embarrassment and unwillingness to accept this task until she learns the true reason for the seemingly irrelevant adventure at the side of the road. The memories, although painful, help the little girl understand and appreciate her family and their culture.

What can we take away from a book like this? As stated before, young readers can relate to the little girl’s feelings of awkwardness and shame, while adult readers will understand the emotional component of the mother explaining her desire to utilize a free crop at the side of the road. The story allowed the author to share her own experience with the world while sharing a message about how a different culture reacts to adversity and loss by keeping traditions alive.

So what if you want to write your own memoiristic picture book? When writing picture books that are relatable and filled with emotion, pulling from personal experiences will help capture the reader. Take an inward look at your own personal experiences and pull from those emotions. For example, so many people are now caregivers to their parents/grandparents. Honing in on the trials and frustrations that come from real-life experiences can increase empathy in others going through similar situations.

Personal experiences relating to culture can also raise awareness and increase curiosity about other traditions and cultures. Talk to a parent, discuss what life was like with a grandparent, ask yourself what traditions your family keeps alive and why. Don’t be afraid of difficult topics—most likely, someone else has experienced something similar but has not expressed how it has made them feel.  Most importantly, be true to your own emotions! This will give your story the heart it needs to reach your audience. Best of luck!

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Thanks so much for joining us, Michelle!

You can find Michelle on Twitter @Mmvattula or her website https://www.michellevattula.com.

10 Favorite Social Emotional Learning Picture Books

Literacy isn’t merely tied to letters, numbers, or words. Social-emotional literacy is just as important for the littlest to the biggest learners! Social-emotional learning means learning how to navigate big emotions, including difficult feelings like disappointment and fear. It means learning how to be kind, even when others are different than we are. It’s about healthy communication and resilience in the face of difficulty and struggle. This type of literacy is powerful and so, so needed in our world. Here are some of our favorites!

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Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari has finished his swim lessons, and he’s ready to jump off the diving board! But as he looks up, up, up the ladder and watches kids jump down, down, down, he realizes jumping isn’t quite as easy as it looks. In fact, it might be really scary. Thankfully, according to his dad, it’s okay to be scared sometimes. With its whimsical illustrative style, this story is fun and relatable for kids and adults alike.

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Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufmann

The illustrations of this sweet rhyming story follow a group of neighborhood kids as they navigate big feelings during playtime in the neighborhood park. Big feelings like mad, sad, inspired, and bold punctuate their experience as they learn to come together as friends. This book is simple and a beautiful reminder that big feelings are normal, and we can always work through even the hardest ones.        

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The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, illustrated by Patrice Barton

Whether he’s in the classroom, on the playground, or in the lunchroom, Brian knows he’s invisible. No one picks him for sports. No one sees his drawings or invites him to parties. When Justin joins the class, nothing seems to change– until Brian makes a choice to be kind. The aftermath of his choice reminds him that maybe he’s not so invisible after all. This book is heart-wrenching and full of hope. It’s the perfect story to spark conversation about the importance of truly seeing other people– no matter who you are. 

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The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

When Taylor’s creation is destroyed, everyone has something to say about it. The bear wants Taylor to get angry, the ostrich recommends hiding, and the snake advises revenge. But Taylor doesn’t want to do any of those things, not until after the rabbit sits by his side and quietly listens. With simple illustrations and a gentle tone, this book is a wonderful reminder of the power of empathy, patience, and a listening ear.

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Danbi Leads the School Parade by Anna Kim

It’s Danbi’s first day at a new school in a new country. Will she fit in? What if she doesn’t? Thanks to another child’s kindness, Danbi’s first day turns out better than she’d ever expected. This beautiful story highlights the importance of being kind, even when others may be different than we are.

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The Good Egg by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald

No matter how good Good Egg is, he can’t get the other eggs in his carton to behave! In fact, Good Egg’s efforts are causing him to crack! It’s not until he takes some time to himself that Good Egg learns not only how to heal, but what it really means to be a good egg among his eggmates. This is a fun book with great illustrations– perfect for all those good eggs out there!

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The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael López

A brother and sister use their imaginations to fly above boredom, anger, and the struggles of fitting in. They learn from their grandmother, who learned from her ancestors, and they inspire others to do the same. With lyrical prose and gorgeous illustrations, this book is a must for every shelf!

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Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival

Ruby was perfectly happy, until the day she found a worry. The Worry follows Ruby everywhere. It gets bigger and bigger. It gets so big, in fact, that it takes up half the school bus! And that doesn’t make Ruby happy—it just makes her sad. Then she meets a boy with a huge worry, just like hers. A must-read, this story not only reminds kids that worries are normal, but it teaches how to handle those worries in healthy, resilient ways. 

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The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly

It’s Asiya’s first day of wearing hijab, and her little sister Faizah thinks she looks like a princess! When other students make unkind comments, Faizah remembers her mother’s wise words and the true meaning of hijab as she follows Asiya’s example of strength and grace. This beautiful story is written in lyrical prose with stunning illustrations. It’s a powerful reminder of the universal need for kindness, family, and inner strength. 

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I Am Enough by Grace Byers, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo

This simple rhyming story reminds each reader, adult and child alike, that we are all enough. Like mountains, we’re here to stand, like champs to fight, like birds to sing, and like the sun to shine. Each one of us has meaning and purpose in this world– and each child needs to read this book!

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I hope you enjoyed these Top 10 Social Emotional Learning Picture Books!

For more great ideas, feel free to check out Top 10 Picture Books with Surprise Endings or Top 10 Picture Books with Repetitive Refrains!

And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss more great ideas and future blog posts!

Picture Books with Surprise Endings with Caroline Kusin Pritchard

We are so excited to have Caroline Kusin Pritchard join us today to share information about Surprise Ending Picture Books!

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Caroline Kusin Pritchard (she/her) is a children’s writer and former educator. She has worked across the education field, including teaching brilliant third graders and building online educator communities. Her debut picture book Gitty and Kvetch (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster) was a Tablet Magazine Best Jewish Children’s Book of 2021.

Caroline is currently an MFA Candidate in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has multiple upcoming picture book and middle grade projects that she is excited to share more about soon, including Where Is Poppy? (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024). Caroline lives in Palo Alto, CA with her husband (Tavita), two kiddos (Afi and Manu) and their 120-lb dog (Misha).

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I hate surprises. I hate surprises so much that I read the Wikipedia plot spoilers before watching a new movie. I’m a real blast to have around, if you can’t tell. But I love surprises endings in picture books. There is nothing like the “WHAT! Get. out. of. here!!!” that comes with subverting the expectations of not just kids, but adult readers, too. 

Surprise twists are often untethered from the constraints of our collective socialization. Many times they are irreverent, expressing a hope that we never thought to name out loud. What matters most is that these surprise endings reveal something true— about the world, the characters at their core, or even ourselves.  

So, how to achieve the stunned reaction you felt after watching Sixth Sense for the first time? (If only Wikipedia was around back then, I could have saved decades of terrified, sleepless nights…) You achieve this reaction with a stack of post-its, of course! 

Fill 20 post-its with 20 possible endings to your story. Yup. 20. Because that first idea, the one you’re sure no one will see coming? We have to remind ourselves that it was our first idea for a reason… that we saw it coming. Even if you end up in the zip code of your original ending, listing out 20 fresh possibilities will likely offer a new layer you hadn’t yet considered.

Take my debut picture book Gitty and Kvetch, illustrated by Ariel Landy. I knew from the very beginning that Gitty was schlepping her curmudgeonly bestie to put up a perfect painting in their perfect purple treehouse. My big surprise? That the painting was a portrait of Kvetch all along! M. Night Shyamalan-level brilliant, right? Sure, this premise mostly holds in the final version. But 20 post-its later, I suddenly had a stack of fresh layers to bake into the ending. A backstory! An apology! A surprise party! A storm! But the real surprise? The one I never saw coming until I physically pieced the post-its together in a scene straight out of A Beautiful Mind? Kvetch is the one who saves the day and surprises Gitty in the end! You’ll have to read the book to find out how (or hopefully someone will make a Wikipedia page soon so that you can spoil it the proper way).

Here are eleven of my favorite picture book surprise endings, many of which were suggested from friends (complete with their Instagram accounts, too!). I’m not including descriptions because, let’s be serious, I can’t trust myself not to spill the beans.

Recommended by @kristapritchardolson

Recommend by @mrschavaezreads

Recommend by @imaginejoy

Recommend by @practiceed_positivity

Recommend by @anotherlibraryhaul

Recommended by @shoshbg

Recommend by @bookoholicmom

Recommend by @erinentrada

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Thanks so much for joining us, Caroline!

You can find Caroline on IG @carolinepritchardwrites, Twitter @carolinepritch, and her website at www.carolinekusinpritchard.com.

Constructing a Cumulative Story with Sandy Asher

We are so excited to have Sandy Asher join us today to share information about Cumulative Books!

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SANDY ASHER has published over two dozen books for young readers, including the acclaimed picture books Too Many Frogs! and Chicken Story Time, along with hundreds of stories, poems, and articles in Highlights for Children, Ladybug, Hello, and Spider, among others. She's also edited several anthologies. With All My Heart, With All My Mind: 13 Stories About Growing Up Jewish won the National Jewish Book Award for children's literature. Writing It Right: How Published Children's Authors Revise and Sell Their Stories provides a unique look at the revision process of 20+ authors. Sandy has also adapted many of her books for the stage, including Chicken Story Time. The American Alliance for Theatre and Education has honored her with three Distinguished Play Awards (for A Woman Called Truth, In the Garden of the Selfish Giant, and Jesse and Grace: A Best Friends Story), as well as the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award and the Sara Spencer Artistic Achievement Award for lifetime contributions to the field.  

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THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT -- AND YOU CAN, TOO!

Constructing a Cumulative Story

by Sandy Asher

Here's how to build a cumulative story.

Lay out a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Add your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Upholster with fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Choose your decor: surprise and humor

that suits the fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Complete with a roof of meaning or theme

that shelters your decor: surprise and humor

that suits the fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers the images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Good luck!

That bit of advice is inspired, of course, by the classic cumulative story, THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.  

Note the building blocks: repetition, strong images, lively rhythm, surprise and humor, and meaning or theme.  Look for them in the final verse of "Jack":

This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built!

Sources say this may be the original cumulative story, dating back (roughly) to the 16th century. What does it mean? Maybe back then something we no longer recognize. Or maybe the goal was simply to paint a topsy-turvy village in a few bold strokes. Or maybe it's just meant to celebrate clever use of language. Whatever the original intent, it remains fun to read and has inspired countless variations, including the equally well-known THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY, interpreted and reinterpreted by many authors and illustrators.

You'll note that rhyme isn't included among my building blocks. Rhyme is nice if you can manage it, but it’s not always possible or needed. Focus on the essentials, and you're well on your way. The variations are endless. Wikipedia defines cumulative stories simply as those in which "action or dialogue repeats and builds up in some way as the tale progresses."

My own CHICKEN STORY TIME, illustrated by Mark Fearing, uses the basic building blocks.  

As with "Jack" and "the Old Lady," there's constant repetition, but, in this case, the repetitions don't fold back on themselves.  They move the story forward: "Story time at the library.  One librarian.  One story.  Children.  And a chicken."  

There's a steady build:  "One week later.  Story time at the library.  One librarian.  One story.  More children.  More chickens." 

Weeks pass until there are so many children and chickens, the librarian is overwhelmed.  But she's resourceful (pun intended) and gives each child a book to read to small groups of chickens. 

I found it helpful to work backward.  I thought about everything I wanted in the finale, then eased my way toward it. I knew the librarian would be overwhelmed, and I knew her solution. I got there step by step, layering on repetition, strong images, lively rhythm, surprise and humor, and meaning or theme.  Children who were listeners at the beginning became readers at the end.

It's enormously satisfying to craft a tight-knit story that packs a mighty punch in style and content. Done well, it makes for a fun read, too.  Try it!

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Thanks so much for joining us, Sandy!

You can find Sandy on her website at http://sandyasher.com or watch her on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/sandyplaywright.

Humorous Picture Books with Michelle Vattula

We are so excited to have Michelle Vattula join us today to share information about writing humorous picture books!

Michelle  was born in Boston but spent most of her life in Erie, PA. After she received her Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio, she ventured back to Boston for her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University. Michelle currently lives in the beautiful rolling hills of North Pittsburgh with her Finnish husband, two golden retrievers, and two beautiful boys who are her true inspiration for writing.

Michelle’s debut picture book, THE STALKING SEAGULLS, was released by MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing on April 20, 2021. Michelle is part of the Western Pennsylvania SCBWI leadership team as their New Member and Critique Group Coordinator. She is also a proud member of the Twitter group #Newin19. Michelle is represented by T.J. Kirsch from JCH Literary. She is open for interviews and virtual visits.

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What makes a story memorable? Many things contribute to a memorable story—the characters, the arc, the twist at the end. But what about humor? Humor brings about a sense of silliness and ease which can allow the reader, and listener, to react to the book, thus leaving a permanent mark in their memory. But what makes a picture book funny? With various types of humorous picture books, humor can be quite subjective. Books are like people—they are all different, and you don’t have to enjoy them all—meaning, it’s all preference. 

When my children were young (ages 1-3), they loved books that incorporated different sounds, noises, and unpredictability. For example, Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton addressed the noises animals make, and in the end, incorporates the reader to join in on the sounds. Participation seems to keep a child’s interest and increases the chances that they will want to read the book again. Peek a Who by Nina Landen is another book that allows the reader to participate throughout the book by guessing and subsequently making the sounds that are found on the following page.

As children get older, they continue to love silliness, especially when dealing with  relatable humor.  Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein perfectly demonstrates something a child would actually do during a bedtime story, making it relatable—thus, funny. Speaking of animals, it is not hard to go wrong with animals that are acting like humans. A perfect example of this, and one of my all-time favorite picture books, is Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin. I mean, how could typing cows demanding heated blankets via a go-between duck not be funny? LOL. Similarly, Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae has wild animals dancing human dances…I mean, dancing animals!

Of course, you can’t discuss humorous picture books and not talk about bathroom humor. What kid doesn’t get a kick out of reading about underpants and going potty? Classic stories certainly come to mind, such as Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi. A few other great stories surrounding potty humor are: The Story of the Little Mole Who went in Search of Whodunit by Werner Holzwarth & Wolf Erlbruch and Pirates Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. 

This is just a small sample of great humorous picture books to read to your kids. Again, humor is subjective, so while you may think something is funny, your kids may not. It is all about finding the right fit and simply enjoying a good laugh.

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Thanks so much for joining us, Michelle!

You can find Michelle on Twitter @Mmvattula.