How To Create Picture Books

On our way home from shopping today, we decided to stop at the local Salvation Army. The boys needed a few more golf balls to put around with on the lawn. As usual, I headed straight for the books and I got some cool ones -- a book about Iroquois Indians, one about bats, a cat book for Neil, an Arch book to add to my collection, along with a hardcover Charlie Brown book. I have a few of those, so I guess I'm now collecting them.

Another book I bought was called How To Create Picture Books by Mike Artell. It came out in 1994 and was published by Monday Morning Books, Inc. It is actually in a workbook form and is tagged as a step-by-step guide for young authors and illustrators. It's for kids ages 7 and up. It's a guide to teach kids everything they should know about writing a book. Some of the things that are covered include ...

Getting ideas
People-watching
Sure-fire plots
Picture outlines
Beginning with a bang
Improving the story
Eye-catching devices
Planning layouts
Drawing creatively
Drawing from life
Varying point of view
Using borders
Handling color
Creating a great cover
Lettering with pizzazz
Binding the pages

Basically, it's a book designed to guide kids from starting with an idea and turning it all the way into a bound book. I have only skimmed through it, but it looks pretty cool. It also talks a little about picture books in general, gives information about authors, and checklists for ideas, writing, art, and so forth. My boys are really into writing, especially Nathan and I've already found him reading it earlier. I looked on Amazon and see it is out of print, but there are quite a few used ones you can buy from sellers. I paid a dime for mine. Not too bad, huh?