When working on your children’s book, do you have a children’s book example in front of you, an already published book that you absolutely love and adore?
How do we develop our own writing style? Practice? Absolutely! But something just as powerful is to have something (or someone) to learn from. And that’s something we can easily achieve when we curate our own number of hand-picked children’s book examples.
Whenever I begin writing a new children’s book, I first get inspiration from what I call my very own Library of Inspiration. This is such a powerful concept I developed over the years, that I believe every aspiring children’s author should know about.
So today, I want to share with you:
- What exactly is a Library of Inspiration
- Why you should consider putting one together yourself
- My own children’s book example collection
- How you can put together your own Library of Inspiration
1. My Library of Inspiration = Collection of Children’s Book Examples
A Library of Inspiration is essentially a collection of children’s book examples that I have compiled over the years, either by ‘borrowing’ them from my sons’ shelves, or by purchasing them, one beautiful book at a time.
It is a concept that I made up a few years ago, when I realized I love and am drawn to a particular style of children’s books. Just like we have our favorite mystery writers or novelists, we often also have a certain type of children’s book we’re drawn to. And as children’s authors, this is often also the type of book we aspire to create ourselves.
2. Why We Should Always Have a Children’s Book Example
I believe that by having a Library of Inspiration, we more easily find, develop, and fine-tune our own style of writing.
My Library of Inspiration only consists of about 15 children’s books, and many of them are part of a series. These books are my absolute must haves. They are always spread all over my floor whenever I’m in writing mode.
They inspire me. They fill me with joy. And they always remind me of what we can accomplish with our own creativity and imagination.
3. My Children’s Book Example Collection
I adore rhyming books, so the majority of my Library of Inspiration is made up of stories written in verse.
But because I also write and ghost-write in a number of different styles, other genres are also part of my collection of about 15 children’s books.
Here are a few books of my Library of Inspiration that I have curated over the years. They have been chosen based on their beautiful rhymes, their style of illustrations, or for various other reasons that make me want to write using these different styles.
The Lorax (by Dr. Seuss)
| AGE: | 5-9 |
| WORD COUNT: | 1815 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 72 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
Here, I absolutely adore how the story ends and how it makes me feel as well as think, a feeling I want to instill in little ones with my own books as well.
I usually stay well below the word count of this book, but The Lorax illustrates so beautifully how to switch back and fourth between 2 different times. It’s almost like having a story within a story.
The Little Blue Truck (by Alice Schertle)
| AGE: | 0-3 |
| WORD COUNT: | 230 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 30 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
I absolutely adore this Little Blue Truck series. The rhymes are so beautiful and simple, yet so expressive and fun. This style of writing also uses patterns throughout the story, something especially little ones love and adore. So whenever I plan on writing a book with an alternating pattern, this is the book I use for inspiration.
Green Eggs and Ham (by Dr. Seuss)
| AGE: | 3-7 |
| WORD COUNT: | 769 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 65 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
I love that even though we have a word count of 769, the text only uses 50 different words. The entire story is told using only 50 words, rearranged in many different ways. This is so helpful, especially whenever I need a reminder that when it comes to writing children’s books, our words and sentences don’t have to be fancy.
Llama Llama (by Anna Dewdney)
| AGE: | 2-5 |
| WORD COUNT: | 346 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 40 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
Llama Llama books will always hold a special place in my heart, as they’ve inspired me to write my very first children’s book in rhyme. They are so sweetly written and the illustrations are absolutely endearing. That’s the style I try to adhere to when writing for 2 to 5-year olds.
Happy Birthday To You (by Dr. Seuss)
| AGE: | 5-9 |
| WORD COUNT: | 1650 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 64 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
This book is my favorite book of silly, made-up words. The message woven throughout this story is just so powerful, and beautiful and so, so important to hear by little ones! Yet, it’s not at the forefront of this book. Instead, it’s masterfully woven into the story. This book is my reminder that a deeper meaning can indeed be combined with a silly and fun story.
Jamberry (by Bruce Degen)
| AGE: | 0-4 |
| WORD COUNT: | 111 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 32 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
With only 111 words, this children’s book is absolutely amazing! I don’t often write children’s stories this short, but when I do, I always have this book right next to me.
The power of this story lies in the listing of fun words to combine and say out loud, such a beautiful technique used by author Bruce Degen.
Giraffes Can’t Dance (by Giles Andreae)
| AGE: | 4-9 |
| WORD COUNT: | 482 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 32 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
The words of this children’s book are just absolutely divine, and make me feel so empowered and inspired. Here, the reader is taken on a journey, leading us from not believing in ourselves to finding our own voice. I love how this story illustrates this internal journey, and use it to get inspired whenever I’m trying to showcase a transition in my own book characters.
Pig the Pug (by Aaron Blabey)
| AGE: | 3-5 |
| WORD COUNT: | 246 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 32 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
This book isn’t really for toddlers, yet it is such a short story with only 246 words. Author Aaron Blabey did such an amazing job saying so much with so little. So whenever I want to keep my story shorter than I usually would, this is my to-go-to children’s book example. I also love the simplicity of the cover as well as the fun and creative title of this book.
Dragons Love Tacos (by Adam Rubin)
| AGE: | 3-7 |
| WORD COUNT: | 501 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 40 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
This is one of the few non-rhyming books I truly adore and simply had to add to my Library of Inspiration! I absolutely love how the book seems to be talking directly to the reader, using the same words and tone little boys and girls would be using. This book is so much fun to read out loud, with different moods, speed, and intonation! So whenever I’m trying to make my characters speak directly to the reader, this is the book I let myself be inspired by.
If I Built a Car (by Chris Van Dusen)
| AGE: | 3-5 |
| WORD COUNT: | 688 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 40 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
This children’s book showcases so much incredible imagination! I love how the author begins and ends all of his books in this series in the very same way. It’s the perfect example of my Story Ending Formula I shared in this article right here. Whenever I feel my book’s character isn’t dreaming big enough, I pull out and read this book right here.
Rosie Revere, Engineer (by Andrea Beaty)
| AGE: | 5 and up |
| WORD COUNT: | 793 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 32 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
I adore the entire series by Andrea Beaty! I love seeing how the author is still experimenting with her style, as her writing slightly differs between her books. And it’s absolutely wonderful to see slightly more complex stories expressed in rhyme. These books inspire me so much every time I open one of them.
The Word Collector (by Peter Reynolds)
| AGE: | 4-8 |
| WORD COUNT: | 310 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 40 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
Your Library of Inspiration doesn’t just have to be made up of children’s books that inspire you with their writing. The Word Collector is part of my collection of children’s book examples, because I’m such a big fan of Pete Reynolds’ illustration style.
They are very simple and minimalistic, yet, so expressive and fun. I also love how he often incorporates the text into his illustrations, making it swirl and dance all over the page. So this is the book I look at whenever I need inspiration for the illustrations of any of my new books.
The Magic Tree House (by Mary Pope Osborne)
| AGE: | 7-10 |
| WORD COUNT: | 11,797 |
| PAGE COUNT: | 144 |
WHY I LOVE IT & HOW I USE IT:
I am such a big fan of Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series. I referred to it quite heavily when I wrote my own middle grad chapter series. I love looking at the way each of her stories is organized, the length of her chapters, how and when she weaves in her black and white illustrations, and how she ends her stories so the reader is already set up for the next story to come. This is such a clever series with so many golden nuggets to learn from.
Note that for each of these books, I jotted down the following information:
- Cover image
- Age it is written for
- Word count
- Page count
- Why this book is part of my Library of Inspiration
The Age & Page Count of your Children’s Book Example:
The age and page count can be found in each book’s Product Details section on Amazon, by scrolling past the book description and the About The Author section:
The Word Count of your Children’s Book Example:
The word count can be a bit trickier. But don’t worry! This amazing site right here has thousands of books already catalogued, including their number of words. Simply enter the title of the book or the name of the author you’re looking for into the website’s Quick Search bar and hit Search.
If the book you’re looking for is part of this website’s collection, it will be displayed on the next screen. Go ahead and click the book cover, and then scroll down until you see the row containing the word count. If you’re unable to find the book you’re looking for, it may not be part of their collection, and you might have to do it the good old-fashioned way and count the words yourself. But hopefully this method will help you with the majority of the books in your Library of Inspiration.
Why This Book is Part of your Children’s Book Example Collection:
Jotting down why you are including each of these books in your Library of Inspiration will be especially helpful if you’re planning to write in different styles or for different age groups.
Here, I generally write down what it is that makes me love the writing within each book. Is it the length of the sentences? Is it the way the story begins? Or the way it ends? Is it the simplicity of the used vocabulary? What is it that made you add this particular book to your Library of Inspiration? What is it that you’re trying to emulate and are planning to make part of your own writing style?
For example, here’s the reason I gave for loving Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs And Ham:
I love that even though we have a word count of 769, the text only uses 50 different words. The entire story is told using only 50 words, rearranged in many different ways. This is so helpful, especially whenever I need a reminder that when it comes to writing children’s books, our words and sentences don’t have to be fancy.
4. Creating Your Own Children’s Book Example Collection
Creating your own collection of children’s book examples doesn’t have to be complicated. You can start by simply noticing the children’s books you’re naturally drawn to.
What book do you love reading to your kids over and over again? What children’s books draw you in and are fun to read aloud?
Go ahead and simply start creating a list, adding and collecting all the information I mentioned above. Eventually, however – over time – I would like you to own all of these books that are part of your collection, simply because you will want to have easy and quick access to these stories, as well as their illustrations.
Note what these books have in common, and what makes them unique. These are all clues as to what your own writing style may eventually look like.
If you have a favorite children’s author and/ or book that you’d like your own style to be inspired by, start collecting these books in order to begin developing your own, similar writing style. And the other way around works of course as well: if you already have a certain writing style in mind, you can try to find authors and books that match that style.
REMEMBER: The number one objective here is to (over time) find our own, unique writing style. And we can do so much more easily and quickly if we have a collection of children’s book examples to guide and inspire us.
~ Eevi
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I do have a list of favorite picture books but thanks for encouraging me to make it more telling with reasons why I like each book. Like the site to get word counts too… thanks.
I’m so happy to hear this, Catherine! And you’re so, so welcome! This word-counting website has been such a life- and time saver for me too!