How to Write a Children’s Book - The Writer’s Toolkit
My name is Eve Heidi Bine-Stock. I am an award-winning author of more than 150 children’s picture books. I am excited to offer this course to share with you important writing techniques that will make your own book shine.
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My name is Eve Heidi Bine-Stock. I am an award-winning author of more than 150 children’s picture books. I am excited to offer this course to share with you important writing techniques that will make your own book shine.
My name is Eve Heidi Bine-Stock. I am an award-winning author of more than 150 children’s picture books. I am excited to offer this course to share with you important writing techniques that will make your own book shine.
There are plenty of courses on “how to write a children’s book.” So why one more? Because this course offers something the others don’t: A close look at word choice; word placement; sentence structure; sentence flow; and scene building. This is the course you need when you’re editing your first draft, and later, when you’re fine-tuning your story to make it the best it can be.
This course is for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced children's book writers. It will be helpful if you have already written a rough draft of a children's book, because the assignments relate to your own story.
In this course, you’ll learn how to choose words to give your story meaning and cohesion. (Cohesion is the “glue” that holds the story together.)
You’ll learn how to change sentence structure to emphasize the information that’s important; and to ensure that sentences flow easily from one to another.
And you’ll learn how to begin a scene, how to end it, and how to create the Beats of action-reaction that make up the scene.
We’ll study techniques used in the best children’s picture storybooks, so you can apply them to your own writing.
What's inside
Learning objectives
- You’ll learn how to choose words to give your story meaning and cohesion. (cohesion is the "glue" that holds the story together.)
- You’ll learn how to change sentence structure to emphasize the information that’s important.
- You’ll learn how to change sentence structure to ensure that sentences flow easily from one to another.
- You’ll learn how to begin a scene, how to end it, and how to create the beats of action-reaction that make up the scene.
- You’ll learn how to choose words to give your story meaning and cohesion. (cohesion is the "glue" that holds the story together.)
- You’ll learn how to change sentence structure to emphasize the information that’s important.
- You’ll learn how to change sentence structure to ensure that sentences flow easily from one to another.
- You’ll learn how to begin a scene, how to end it, and how to create the beats of action-reaction that make up the scene.
Syllabus
Introduction
Introduction to the course; who the course is for; what you will learn.
Word Choice & Word Echoes
You will learn how changing one word can change the entire meaning of a children's story. You will be able to apply what you have learned, to make judicious word choices in your own story.
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Syllabus
Introduction to the course; who the course is for; what you will learn.
You will learn how changing one word can change the entire meaning of a children's story. You will be able to apply what you have learned, to make judicious word choices in your own story.
After completing this lesson, you will be able to create a smooth transition in your own story by re-using a word.
You will understand that short, simple sentences tend to have the stress at the end.
You will learn how a comma can change the rhythm of a sentence.
Changing the word order can highlight a special character or situation.
You will be able to change the stress and rhythm of a sentence by using certain kinds of words.
You will learn about Parallelism, the repetition of words, phrases or rhythms which have a similar structure.
You will learn how writers can satisfy the readers’ expectations of the Known-New pattern.
You will learn that the reader expects a follow-up sentence to pick up with the focus of the preceding sentence.
You will learn the importance of sentence order for setting up your story.
You will learn techniques for writing actions and reactions in your scenes.
You will learn how to craft a Link, which is a transition between scenes.
You will learn techniques for signaling the beginning of a scene.
You will learn techniques for signaling the ending of a scene.
You will learn techniques for signaling the ending of a story.
Review of writing techniques you've learned.
Bonus information.
Good to know
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Activities
Read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle
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Reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' will provide you with an example of a well-written children's book that effectively uses the techniques discussed in the course.
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Read the book and pay attention to the word choice, sentence structure, and scene building.
Review grammar and sentence structure rules
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Reviewing grammar and sentence structure rules will help you understand the techniques discussed in the course and apply them effectively in your writing.
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English Grammar
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Review basic grammar rules, such as parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation.
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Study different types of sentences, including simple, compound, and complex sentences.
Sentence structure practice exercises
Show steps
Completing sentence structure practice exercises will help you apply the techniques you learn in the course and improve your sentence-writing skills.
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Sentence Structure
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Identify and analyze different sentence structures.
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Rewrite sentences to improve clarity and effectiveness.
One other activity
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all four activities
Offer to help other students in the course
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Helping other students in the course can reinforce your own learning and build a sense of community.
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Answer questions in the course forum or discussion board.
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Form a study group with other students.
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Offer to review other students' work.
Read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle
Show steps
Reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' will provide you with an example of a well-written children's book that effectively uses the techniques discussed in the course.
Show steps
- Read the book and pay attention to the word choice, sentence structure, and scene building.
Review grammar and sentence structure rules
Show steps
Reviewing grammar and sentence structure rules will help you understand the techniques discussed in the course and apply them effectively in your writing.
Browse courses on
English Grammar
Show steps
- Review basic grammar rules, such as parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation.
- Study different types of sentences, including simple, compound, and complex sentences.
Sentence structure practice exercises
Show steps
Completing sentence structure practice exercises will help you apply the techniques you learn in the course and improve your sentence-writing skills.
Browse courses on
Sentence Structure
Show steps
- Identify and analyze different sentence structures.
- Rewrite sentences to improve clarity and effectiveness.
Offer to help other students in the course
Show steps
Helping other students in the course can reinforce your own learning and build a sense of community.
Show steps
- Answer questions in the course forum or discussion board.
- Form a study group with other students.
- Offer to review other students' work.
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