Founders Workshop

The Power of a Picture Book

Picture books may be written for the small, but their power is mighty. Sweet and simple as these books may be, the formula for writing a picture book is quite complex. Award-winning picture-book author and Chautauqua Writers Workshop alum Deborah Underwood will show you how to pack the most power into your picture-book manuscript. You will enjoy daily writing exercises, exposure to the best examples of picture-book writing, and intensive, one-on-one critiques of your work. Additionally, you will discuss:

Today’s picture-book market
What makes a good picture book
Narrative vs. concept books
Why a picture book is like a screenplay
Leaving room for your illustrator
Revising for appropriate word count
The perils of rhyme
Making a dummy

Guests will include an art director and a picture-book editor.

Workshop Leader

Deborah Underwood

Deborah’s picture books include The Quiet Book, The Loud Book!, A Balloon for Isabel, Granny Gomez & Jigsaw, and the forthcoming Part-Time Princess and The Christmas Quiet Book. Deborah is the author of the easy reader Pirate Mom, and she co-writes the Sugar Plum Ballerinas chapter-book series with Whoopi Goldberg.

Kate O’Sullivan

Kate O’Sullivan is the executive editor at Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. Kate edits books for children of all ages, including Deborah Underwood’s The Quiet Book. Kate fell in love with Deborah’s unique and authentic “quiets” and knew that the book would resonate with young readers.

Steve Metzger

Steve Metzger writes picture books for children. His first book, The Dinofours: I’m Super Dino! led to twenty-seven other Dinofours adventures. The Dinofours series came from Steve’s experiences as a classroom teacher. He worked primarily with preschoolers and then moved into administration. In addition to the Dinofours, he has written more than forty books.

Workshop Information

September

with dinner

through

September

after lunch

$595

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