Oh my goodness. A new platform and everything feels so ... new! But here I am, committing fingers to keyboard for my first Substack Newsletter.
This space is where I’ll be pondering poetry, picture books and verse novels. That’s what I write, and love. For me, they’re the perfect combination, because picture books and verse novels are both about the brevity and beauty of words. And that combination is pure poetry.
On the first Friday of the month - that’s today! - I’m going to be linking in with the Poetry Friday* crew, a fabulous, supportive community of writers and readers who love … poetry!
This first post has been inspired by a bunch of boys in Year 3 in Tasmania – one of my Author PenPal classes. Recently they asked me what three things I thought made a good picture book. And that got me thinking ... In true Kat-style, my first list had a little more than three things on it. But I’ve whittled it down to these.
Words are poetry; Even if a picture book doesn’t rhyme, there still needs to be beauty in the brevity; wordplay, alliteration, assonance, rhythm, – and yes, even rhyme. Just for the fun of it. Even without the need for metre and pattern. Our writing needs to be poetic.
Re-readability; For kids and adults. There needs to be layers of meaning so that repeat reads reveal new things. Perhaps there’s something hidden in the illustrations that you don’t notice on the first read. Perhaps some of the imagery or humour in the text was overlooked. Or perhaps it’s just such a beautiful/funny/heartfelt book and you want to go back and capture those feelings all over again.
Text and art complement and complete. Narelle Oliver once said that ‘A good picture book can’t be read over the radio.’ The illustrations are an integral part of the story’s success. As authors, we leave space for illustrators. But illustrators don’t just fill those spaces. They create new spaces. They create layers authors didn’t even know were needed.
Sometimes I get a little frustrated that I can’t illustrate – because a publisher would surely get a better vision for my story if I could illustrate, right? But the truth is, every one of my illustrators have brought more to the book than I had originally envisaged. Because of them (and publishers and designers) the books are so much better than I had ever imagined. I’d have missed out on so much, if it was just ‘my’ book.
So – that’s my three things. What do you think makes a great picture book?
Next fortnight I’ll share some thoughts on what my young Tassie penpals think makes a good picture book. There was one answer that stood out above all others. I wonder if you can guess what it was ...
* Poetry Friday is a global link-up of kidlit poetry lovers, that takes place each Friday.
If you’re interested in reading more, the August hosts are:
4 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
11 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
18 Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone
25 Linda B. at TeacherDance
Your #3 - text and illustrations. Word sounds and visual imagery have always been a powerful combo for me. Cool logo, by the way. And katsss whissskersss. See?! Adorable
I left a comment yesterday but made it from my phone. I don't see it and frankly don't remember what I wrote. Some sort of congratulations, I'm sure. Oh, and I loved your #2 advice which is not something I was thinking about when I wrote my very first board book (publishing in 2025!) I want to keep the re-reading factor in mind for the next one, though. My 2 year old granddaughter has whole books memorized. It is an important thing to remember. When we write PB as poetry, the natural lyrical language of it becomes re-readable.