4 Essential Elements of Successful Children’s Books
Many writers think writing a children’s book must be easier because they’re so much shorter than adult fiction. But as any fashion designer or chef will tell you: when something appears simple, there is nowhere to hide imperfections. Moreover, there are lots of children’s books out there, so a new children’s book needs to stand out in a crowded market.
If you’re considering writing a children’s book, you can increase your chances for success by bearing these four crucial elements in mind: marketability, content, polish, and presentation. By building these strengths into your manuscript, you can improve the chances of children loving your book — and schools, libraries, and bookstores recommending your book to caregivers. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what makes a great children’s book!
Marketability
Let’s start at the end: the market. It may seem overwhelming at first, a massive dragon that’s impossible to conquer. In reality, “marketability” is simply a way of identifying who a book is for. How old are the intended readers? Where do they live and what kind of school do they go to? What does their family look like? Do they have certain abilities, beliefs, demographics, body types, or illnesses that are reflected in the story? The market organizes all of this information into brackets for reading level and subject matter so that readers (and caregivers of readers) can find the right books.
But, like that scaly dragon, the market has its weak spots: topics or demographics that are vastly under-represented. One way to stand out is by writing a book that fills a gap. But how do you find out what’s missing?
Start by visiting places where lots of books are found — like bookstores and libraries — and reading. Read books in the same category in which you are looking to write. For example, if you want to write a picture book, spend as much time as you can reading picture books. Consider what’s currently being written about, the various approaches to the writing and storytelling, and what kind of stories are missing.
If you’re still unsure what to write about, practise curiosity. Think back to when you were younger and ask yourself what kinds of things interested you. What events did you look forward to with excitement? What mysteries did you want to solve? As a little one, young kid, pre-teen, and teenager, how did the kinds of books you enjoyed reading change? If you didn’t like reading at all, what kinds of books might have gotten you interested in giving reading a try?
Reflecting on the ideas and genres that interested you as a child is a great source of inspiration. But remember, some years may have passed since you were little, and the language, interests, methods of play, and access to technology may have changed greatly since then. So, it’s important to look at what trends are working for kids today.
Content
A stellar idea is a great starting point, but to succeed, children’s books need to meld words and pictures to convey their story.
The words need to be appropriate for the intended reader’s grade level (called a “reading level”). There’s a fine line to walk between challenging a reader so they can learn new vocabulary and just discouraging them. Sentence structure, grammar, and complexity also factor in.
Should a book rhyme? Rhyming works best in books intended to be read aloud, so if you’re stumbling over a line, revise it. To be effective, rhyming books should employ poetic skills like rhythm, alliteration or assonance, metre, and enjambment. If reaching for a rhyme twists the sentence into awkward constructions, it won’t work for readers.
Length is another important factor, not only for readers’ attention spans but also for production cost. Children’s books (at least lower middle grade and younger) are usually printed in colour, which is more expensive. As readers get older, they can read longer works, and their books transition to black & white interiors with sections or chapter breaks.
The pictures need to be appropriate for the age of the reader, too. Typically brighter colours and simpler shapes are more engaging to younger children (who are likely still being read to, rather than reading on their own). The art style for children’s books tends to be whimsical, cartoony, or fun, while older readers begin to prefer more fantastical, realistic, or painterly styles. Of course, there is some wiggle room here, depending on the book’s subject matter.
The illustrations also need to support the story. With picture books, the art actually does most of the talking — think Where the Wild Things Are. As readers age up, the words carry more and more of the story, while the pictures support, then occasionally punctuate, and finally merely accent the written portion. There are exceptions to this rule, like graphic novels… but that’s a whole different topic.
Finally, the art needs to speak to the audience. When images are crafted to look like one of the author’s family members, this will either limit the reach of the book, or simply not matter to readers. It becomes a nice Easter egg for the author but nothing more. That disconnect between what’s important to an author and what has impact in the market can sometimes be a shock. The important thing to remember is every element of the book’s content should be serving its readers.
Polish
Remember how we talked about simplicity giving mistakes nowhere to hide? That’s where polish comes in. You’ve probably seen a few typos while reading — even in bestselling books! Ten errors in a 100,000-word book (only a 0.01% error rate) isn’t a big deal. But ten errors in a 300 word manuscript? Now it’s a 3% error rate, and every one of those errors could be misinforming a child.
I’m not trying to be sensationalist. Children’s books may be included in schools or libraries, so if a teacher or librarian is debating between two children’s books on the same topic, they’re not going to take the one riddled with mistakes. The grammar, punctuation, spelling, and consistency of children’s books needs to be pristine.
Likewise, the artwork should be professional. Not clip art, not a badly-scanned napkin sketch, not a family photograph. Even children’s books with seemingly “juvenile” illustrations, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, were done by a professional cartoonist who took into account composition, page use, and comedic effect. While certain legacy projects suit amateur artwork, like a student anthology, to succeed in the market, artwork needs to be set up to print cleanly, with clear contrast, accurate CMYK colours, and high resolution.
On a deeper level, polish also means digging into the message of a book and how it’s presented. Are the word choices age-appropriate? Are teaching moments presented effectively? Some of this polish comes from working with great professional editors, illustrators, and agents. Some of it comes from “market testing” — which means asking kids what they think.
Kids are usually pretty forthcoming about whether they like something or not. If they get confused, bored, or offended, they’re not likely to give the book a second chance. In other words, it didn’t serve their needs. Authors with kids of their own often test out their material at home, but authors might also read to kids at schools, libraries, or send their manuscript to professional readers (like childhood educators, child psychologists, or librarians) for feedback.
Presentation
From the moment a children’s book opens, it should take its reader on an adventure. A good book designer can ensure all the elements — from the obvious (like illustrations and text) to the subtle (like pagination and font choice) — are cohesive, intentional, and effective. Colours should support the emotional experience of the child (usually linked with the book’s themes or lessons). Font choices can support readers who may struggle reading on their own, such as those with dyslexia. The flow of the text from page to page also delivers suspense, anticipation, or comedic impact, causing you to hold your breath until the page is turned.
Children’s books use the whole page, right to the edges, unlike adult books with their rigid margins and blocks of no-nonsense text. This freedom enables such visual tricks as dynamic double-spread illustrations; alternating borders for point-of-view changes; flip-book illustration elements (like in the Animorphs middle-grade series); diary pages interrupting narrative (as in the Larklight lower-YA trilogy); or book design masterpieces like the Caldocott Honor winner, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, which “misplaced” the Table of Contents and put the copyright page in upside-down because “no one reads them anyways.”
What’s outside the book is equally important. Cover presentation is the first thing potential buyers will see (either in store or online), so a book’s success can often falter right here… before anyone even opens the book. Children’s books, typically being thinner than other books on the shelf, don’t have a lot of spine width to declare themselves. They rely more heavily on a popping cover design: something with attractive colours, clever (but legible) title text, and audience-appropriate artwork.
Back cover copy is often shorter than on adult books. Sometimes this is because the About the Author and About the Illustrator blurbs are moved inside to the end of the book instead. The About the Book blurb needs to do double duty as well: its initial marketing copy appealing to a potential child audience and drier “guidance” copy that’s intended for the purchaser. For instance, fun, bright, simple introduction explaining what the book is about — without spoiling the ending! — and then a “perfect for 5–7 year olds interested in learning about computers.”
Successful children’s books make a promise with their cover and deliver with their contents.
Children’s books may appear short and sweet, but the thought and attention put into these four aspects can elevate a children’s book to greater success. The dragon that is the book market may be huge and scaly, but it’s not impenetrable. Hopefully this information will arm you to look critically at successful books and understand why they work so well and empower you to create a children’s book of your own that can claim its place on the shelves — and in children’s hearts.