Writing a Children's Picture Book
Start Date
Package
Writing a Children’s Picture Book
Turn your ideas into fully-fledged storybook texts for 2-6-year-olds with advice from a successful author.
Tutor
David O’ConnellLength
5 weeksLocation
OnlineWriting Goal
Start writingPopular children’s book author and illustrator David O’Connell guides you through the unwritten rules of how to write children’s picture book texts and is ideal for inspiring someone who wants to learn the fundamentals behind writing a picture book text.
The CBC course was where my career as a children’s author began. I had a little baby at the time, so the flexibility to watch the videos and do the weekly tasks in my own time was perfect for me.
Author of I Am NOT a Prince
Writing stories for very young children is lots of fun, and can seem very simple. But there’s great skill involved in bringing those memorable characters and colourful worlds to life – and you have just a small number of carefully chosen words in which to do it.
We will demystify the children’s picture book publishing world and help you to understand what children’s publishers look for in a submission.
Tutor
David O’Connell
David O’Connell is a writer and illustrator living in Brighton. He works mostly in children’s books, particularly humorous picture books and young fiction. His best known books are The Naughtiest Unicorn series, the Sunday Times bestselling How to Grow Up and Feel Amazing (both as illustrator) and The Chocolate Factory Ghost (as writer). His first book was Monster & Chips, the first of a series of funny (and revolting) adventures of ‘hooman’ Joe Shoe whilst working at the Monster Diner of friendly monster Fuzzby Bixington. He then collaborated with the brilliant Sarah McIntyre on the picture book Jampires! After illustrating the Creature Teacher series by writer Sam Watkins, he worked with illustrator Francesca Gambatesa on a series of picture books all about families, as well as illustrating Boyband of the Apocalypse books for funny writer Tom Nicoll.
WHAT DOES THIS COURSE GIVE YOU?
- Video modules: Work through six modules comprising teaching videos and substantial notes from David O’Connell, providing a clear path from inspiration to a finished picture book.
- Writing tasks: Custom tasks from David to help you learn practically and designed to help you progress the planning and writing of your story.
- Resources & notes: Comprehensive teaching notes and reference materials, include a reading list, a glossary of useful children's publishing terms, and a template showing how a children's picture book should be set out.
- Professional feedback: An expert CBC editor will give brief written comments on several of the students’ practical assignments each week. Students are also given the option to purchase an end-of-course tutorial with an expert editor.
- Student forum: Find your writing community on our private student forums. Upload your completed writing tasks, give and receive peer-to-peer feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and the CBC team.
COURSE SCHEDULE & DELIVERY
Our online courses are designed for flexible learning. Allocate your own study time and take part from wherever you are in the world. Each week, we recommend spending at least four hours on the course.
WEEK 1
DiscoveryWEEK 2
Inspiration and ideasWEEK 3
CharacterWEEK 4
TechniqueWEEK 5
PlanningWEEK 6
Next Steps
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
All students will be given the option to purchase feedback on their final task from a CBC editor.
- CBC report: For an additional fee of £155, you can obtain a detailed 500-word report on your work (of up to 3,000 words) from one of our CBC editors.
- CBC report + tutorial: For an additional fee of £260, you can obtain a 500-word report from one of our CBC editors and have a 30-minute video or telephone tutorial with them to discuss your work.
Looking for our illustrating a picture book course?
If you would like to develop as a writer and illustrator, why not enrol now for the ten-week course: Writing & Illustrating a Children’s Picture Book, which brings together the teaching from bestselling author illustrators David O'Connell and Sarah McIntyre.
GIFT THIS COURSE
Encourage your writerly friend or loved one to get creative! We have £230 digital gift vouchers available, enabling you to buy any six-week online course as a present.
