How to Write a Children’s Book Families Will Love (+Template)

So, you want to be the next Astrid Lindgren? Or maybe you want to capture the imagination of the littlest ones in your mix? In either case, in order to write a children’s book you need clear stakes, memorable characters, and stories that respect the intelligence of young readers without overcomplicating things. 

This guide explains how to write a children’s book. We’ll focus on storytelling fundamentals, common beginner mistakes, and how to prepare your manuscript for feedback or publication. Whether this is your first time writing for young readers or you’re just looking for a refresher, this guide will help you step by step.

1. Define your age group

Childhood is a time of rapid development, which means that “children’s books” isn’t a single category. So before you start writing, you should know who your reader is. Are they big-eyed 3-year-olds? Or precocious 7-year-olds? Each group has its own expectations around length, language, and structure.

Below, we break down the specific sub-categories of “children’s books” and outline the expected reading ages as well as content of each:

Category	Ages	Word count	Content
Board books	0–3	0–100	Highly visual, very short, and concept-driven (colors, numbers, routines). Text is minimal and designed to be read aloud by adults.
Picture books	3–7	300–1,000	Story-driven but still illustration-led, with simple plots and strong emotional beats.
Chapter books	6–9	1,000–10,000	Short chapters, straightforward sentences, and plots made to encourage growing independence in reading. Stories rely less on illustration and more on plot and characters.
Middle grade	8–12	20,000–50,000	Longer, more complex narratives with deeper character arcs, higher word counts, and themes that take young readers seriously. Illustrations may still be included occasionally.
Young adult (YA)	12+	50,000–90,000+	Often follows teen protagonists, and explores more mature themes through storytelling that often overlaps with adult fiction in terms of scope and style, but without graphic scenes or explicit language.

For the rest of this article, we’ll use the term ‘children’s book’ to refer primarily to picture books, board books, and chapter books, where clarity, structure, and age-appropriate storytelling choices matter most. 

Middle grade and YA follow different conventions — but don’t worry, we cover them elsewhere.

2. Start with a simple, fun idea

The best children’s books are built around simple ideas that engage young readers. They also offer a clear emotional or experiential takeaway. Think of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham: the entire premise hinges on one small conflict — Sam-I-Am trying to convince a picky eater to try something new! It’s relatable, playful, and rooted in a situation many children recognize.

And if there’s one thing most classic children’s books have in common, it’s that they approach the world from a child’s perspective.

Address children’s hopes and doubts

In addition to centering on one main problem or emotional concern, strong children’s book ideas also:

• Reflect situations children recognize from their own lives

• Offer resolution through action or growth, not explanation

• Leave room for curiosity, humor, or surprise

It can help to come up with a story idea  with a specific child in mind — one you know personally. If you’re a parent, teacher, or regularly spend time with children, draw on how they experience the world and what they care about. Think about the things that make them laugh, worry, or feel proud.

Strong children’s stories often resonate because they reflect real emotions. Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes, for example, explores a child’s anxiety about starting school — a concern many young readers share — and offers reassurance without talking down to its audience.

Similarly, Dianne Ochiltree’s It’s a Firefly Night follows a child who catches fireflies on a summer evening, then chooses to release them. Which child wouldn’t be drawn to such a familiar childhood experience that also gently reinforces empathy and care for others?

But of course, emotional connection of the idea aside, you’ll also want to consider its market potential.

Know which themes are selling right now

Looking at what already works can help you gauge whether your idea fits existing reader expectations. While trends shift, many successful children’s book themes have remained consistent over time.

As long-time children’s book editor Brooke Vitale points out, the most popular picture book concepts haven’t massively changed over the years. “Across the board, the top-selling themes for picture books have been bedtime, farm, and ABC.” This is because they’re subjects kids can relate to: bedtime rituals, farm animals and their sounds, and learning to read.

“Also high on the list have been holidays, in particular Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, and the reason for this is because they're marketable.” By marketable, Vitale means that these sorts of picture books are ones that people could easily buy as gifts for children. 

The Bookseller predicts that celebrations and seasonal shifts will continue to be popular motifs in children’s books in 2026. We might expect to see anything from generally snowy books for winter, or books more specifically centred around celebrations such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduations. In these cases, the most successful books tend to focus on broader emotional themes — relationships, growth, or milestones — rather than tying the story too narrowly to a single date.

They also predict an increase in children’s books that refer back to traditional tales and evergreen stories. Taking classic motifs, characters, or stories and rewriting them in a modern take is a great way to bring together parents — who remember these stories from their own childhood — and the next generation of readers. The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane Auch, for instance, reimagines a classic fairy-tale setup by giving its princess a modern, self-directed goal — and pairing it with something kids already love.

Lastly, we can expect to see a couple of new themes emerge over the course of the year as well. The Bookseller highlights gamification, K-Pop and Korean-style illustration, as well as a focus on mental health.

Have your strong core idea? Great! The next step is creating a main character young readers can connect with.

3. Create a relatable main character

The most iconic children's book characters have distinct and relatable personalities. Leo Lionni’s Frederick, for instance, follows a field mouse whose fondness for poetry and art sets him apart from his family’s practical efforts to gather supplies for winter. Another example is Jim Panzee from Suzanne Lang’s Grumpy Monkey. As another outsider who struggles with his “bad temper” while everyone around him is having fun, he captures a feeling many children recognize.

This is important in children’s books. Your main character can be a child, robot, animal, or sentient gas cloud. But what matters is that they feel real to the reader, with their own memorable set of strengths, weaknesses, and emotional stakes.

Define their strengths and flaws

Just like most adult readers, young readers don’t want to read about perfect heroes, but rather characters they recognize. They connect to characters who feel like they could be a friend — someone they could talk to without judgement, laugh with, or even learn from. 

Characters with flaws are important because they mirror the challenges young readers face in real life, like learning how to navigate friendships, school, or even their own feelings. A hero who stumbles, makes mistakes, and learns from them is someone kids can look up to and relate to. Of course, these flaws need to be on the level that a child can understand, so they are often things like being naughty (compared to being mean), being easily scared, or being clumsy.

Relatability also comes from shared experiences. A character who’s afraid of the dark, feels left out at school, or is trying to fit in will resonate with children because those are common emotional experiences. Young readers need to see their own struggles reflected in the characters they follow, which makes the character’s triumphs feel even more meaningful.

It’s also vital that your character has both strengths and weaknesses. Kids are still figuring out who they are and what they’re good at, and characters who also wrestle with these ideas feel more real. They allow kids to understand that no one is perfect — and that’s okay. A character who is strong in one area (like being brave or kind) but has room for growth in another (like controlling their temper or working through self-doubt) teaches readers that strength isn’t about being flawless; it’s about learning and growing.

To help you create characters that speak to young readers, we have these additional resources for you:

• A list of character development exercises to help you explore your characters in depth.
• A free 10-day course on character development, taught by a professional editor.

Besides being relatable in their behavior, your main character should have their own dreams and desires — and the determination to realize them.

Give them agency to reach their goals

As Reedsy children's editor Anna Bowles suggests, don’t forget who the heroes are. “A lot of beginners write about children as we adults often see them: as cute and slightly comical little beings. But what children actually want is stories where they are the heroes, driving the action, facing challenges, and making choices.”

Patrick Picklebottom and the Penny Book is the story of a young boy who goes to buy his favorite book. On the way home, his friends invite him to fly a drone, play video games, or scroll through social media — but he declines and gets home to read instead. And what’s momentous about it is that it’s his decision to do so. Patrick himself calls all the shots. 

Similarly, keep in mind that young readers want to see themselves reflected in your book. It’s their story you’re telling. The story should be about their dreams, and they should be the ones making decisions that drive the narrative forward.

Now, let’s look at story structure.

4. Structure your plot like a fairy tale

Don’t think that the word limit of children’s books exempts you from having to create a satisfying story arc. If anything, structuring your book correctly is even more important, so that you can captivate young readers from the very start, take them on an exciting trip, and culminate it in a gratifying conclusion — much like a classic fairy tale!

Ground your premise in a simple question

One way to achieve such an arc is to think of your story as a simple question-and-answer journey. 

Picture book editor Cara Stevens, who has written and edited for Nickelodeon, Disney, and Sesame Street, believes that every story should begin with a dilemma. “There's usually a question: Will Mr. Frumble get his hat? Why doesn't Priscilla like chocolate? Why doesn't Elmo want to go to the dentist? These questions are a vital point in diagnosing your story or giving it direction when you're not sure where it's going.”

📼 Watch the Reedsy Live in which Cara Stevens reveals the 20 questions that can help picture book authors turn their ideas into finished manuscripts.

This works best when you tie the central question to the theme you picked in the previous step. If you’re exploring bravery, perhaps your question is “What does it mean to be brave?” Bravery isn’t just about doing dangerous stunts, but can be about overcoming a “flaw” such as fear, showing that being scared is natural, but it’s what you do next that matters. 

Once you’ve identified the story-driving question, you then want the character to face meaningful challenges and doubts. 

Add conflict to the mix

Novels are often about characters dealing with a challenge, and how they change as a result. Children’s books are no different. Even in the simplest of narratives, the character should grow and learn something by overcoming internal and external conflicts.  

You’ve already picked your character in step 3, so you should have a good idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are, as well as their major goals and desires. Ask yourself what type of conflict you can insert into the story that can stand in their way of getting what they want. How does this challenge them and make them grow?

In Richard Scarry’s Be Careful, Mr. Frumble!, the title character goes on a walk on a windy day and his hat is whisked away by the wind. Will he get it back? After chasing it through trains, trees, and the sea, he does. Despite the initial worry, he finds that he’s grateful for the fun that losing his hat brought with it. 

Or think again of Patrick Picklebottom, who just wants to read his book: his conflict is created by his friends’ requests to do other things. By the time he reaches home, he has learned to say no and prioritize what he values most.   

Whatever journey you set your characters on, it’ll have to fit within the standard picture book’s length.

Keep it under 30 pages

It’s easy to fall in love with your story and characters — and you should! But be wary of overwriting as a result. Children's books have rather standard lengths, depending on their type, and it’s important to stick to them to ensure your book is readable for your target audience. 

The average word count for a standard picture book falls between 400 and 800, with a length of 24 or 32 pages. The page count includes the copyright and dedication page, as well as your author bio to let readers know who you are, which means your story has to be told within 30 pages or less. With so little room, you’ll have to be mindful of the number of characters you introduce and the number of plot points they will encounter.    

At this point, you have a lot of story elements cooking and a structure to mix them in. But before you do that, you’ll want to think about the secret ingredient — style.

5. Make the story easy to follow

Your core audience is at a crucial stage of their mental development and is currently mastering basic literacy skills. This calls for a few considerations as you write and edit your children’s book.

Start the story quickly

Young readers benefit from clear momentum early on, so jumpstart the action with some sort of hook in the first few pages. Here, clarity matters more than surprise. The ‘hook’ could come in the form of an intriguing character or an inciting incident that kicks off the entire story, for instance. 

The inciting incident of Dr. Seuss’s classic The Cat in the Hat, as you might recall, is the arrival of an intriguing character. After setting up a scene with two bored siblings, Seuss introduces a mysterious cat who invites himself into their home. Is the cat good or bad? Should he stay or should he go? The reader understands that the cat brings chaos with him, and the story is set in motion. 

Once the story has started, it’s just as important to maintain a steady pace. Each scene should ideally act as a little hook of its own, building the tempo or raising the stakes until the story's resolution.

Another important thing to consider is your choice of words.

Use age-appropriate vocab

There are many great places to show off your bombastic grandiloquence, but a kid’s book is not one of them. Children won't be impressed by four-syllable words — they'll only be confused by them. 

 

That said, children's editor Jenny Bowman often tells her authors that, when used intentionally and sparingly, the occasional big word can be welcome. “Children are smarter than you think, and context can be a beautiful teacher.” 

To figure out the most fitting vocabulary for your story, read other books for kids in your age group, or memorize famous word sets for early readers, like the Fry and Dolch lists or the Children’s Writer Word Book, which feature the most commonly used words for children’s books depending on their age. 

It’s not just the vocabulary that needs a double-check. Also consider your characters, their behaviors, and the environments they inhabit 一 they should all be tailored to resonate with a child’s life experience! A talking eagle who’s a corporate lawyer working on a big M&A case might not be as relatable as a little mouse on her first day at school.  

If you’re uncertain if you’re on the right track, the best thing you can do is road-test your early drafts with their intended audience.

Ask a child what they think

Read your story out loud to children and parents in your social circle. Pay attention to how it sounds with an audience, and whether it invokes an emotional response. Kids are usually pretty honest, so their feedback will be some of the most valuable you’ll receive.

Aim for a few rounds of reactions, and incorporate their suggestions as much as possible. Only once you have thumbs-ups from your young readers should you begin to think about your next step, which is to start combining your words with powerful visuals.  

6. Consider repetition and rhyme

Picture books often feature repetition, rhythm, and rhyme. Figurative language like this adds a musicality to books, making them a pleasure to read aloud. Children will want to have their favorite stories read to them repeatedly, so parents will greatly appreciate it if the words fall trippingly off their tongues when doing so. 

🤔 Should your picture book rhyme? Listen to editor and children's author Tracy Gold's opinion on Reedsy Live.

Let’s have a closer look at why repetition and rhyme are so common in kids’ books.

Repetition facilitates understanding

You can use different types of repetition in picture books. You can even use it (see what we did there?) to structure your story, pace it, or reinforce a certain point or concept. When executed well, you’ll create a nice build-up that kids can pick up and easily follow.

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith, which uses repetition extremely effectively, starts with the narrator walking down the road and spotting a donkey. The first sentence is repeated in every scene, along with the donkey sound. (Hee Haw!) Then it adds a line describing the donkey 一 its appearance, mood, and music taste (a sort of donkey dad joke). But that’s not all: each scene adds a short, rhyming description of the donkey, which, as the book progresses, keeps building up into an amusing climax. 

Building the story incrementally through repetition and rhyme can be powerful. But remember, it’s not compulsory — and not all rhymes are created equal.

Not all picture books rhyme

In recent years, many children’s book editors have advised against rhyming in your book. That’s because it’s quite difficult to rhyme well, and children's book agents are able to spot a bad or derivative rhyme from a mile away. That said, if you’re a master of the perfectly unexpected rhyme and you think your book demands them, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go for it.

Llama Llama Red Pajama is packed with rhymes from start to finish — the title itself is quite literally a rhyme. It’s a simple story of a cria (that’s a baby llama!) waiting for their mother to comfort them at bedtime.   

If you’re writing in verse and rhyme, always read it aloud. Ask yourself if it feels forced, excessive, or awkward in any way, and whether the rhyme contributes to building the story. If it doesn’t sound quite right, you can always see what it’s like without the rhyming.

According to writer and editor Jennifer Rees, you can sometimes achieve even better results without forcing it. “So often, I get some really sing-songy stuff that forces the reader into a rhythm that people think is fun — but in truth, it just drags on. 

“There are so many gorgeously written picture books that do not rhyme but they just sound beautiful. Someone has really paid attention to how the lines read and how each and every single word sounds when you read it out loud.” 

There are also a few more literary choices to consider as you write your story…

7. Write with illustrations in mind

In contrast to many other types of books, where words alone are sufficient to tell a story, illustration-led children’s books rely on text and illustrations working together to create a more immersive experience. Whether you’re planning to bring in an illustrator or pick up a pen and brush yourself, you should always be thinking of pictures when you’re drafting your manuscript.

Think in terms of scenes

Think of your book like a (very) short movie. Every time you flip a page, you enter a new scene that holds the potential to surprise your young readers. To achieve this effect, consider placing your surprises strategically on the other side of page turns. 

To help you visualize the flow of your story and its pacing, try using a storyboard template to mock up your visuals and match your text to the right scenery.

Let the visuals do the talking

When self-editing your manuscript, try to cut unnecessary sentences and let the visuals do the talking instead (by showing, instead of telling.) There’s no need to squander your precious word count describing the weather or a character’s clothes if the pictures can do the same. 

Instead of writing them into your manuscript, include those details in your art notes so that your illustrator will know precisely how to represent them.

Once you’ve written and rewritten your children’s story, consider bringing on board a children’s book editor to polish it further.

8. Self-edit and scan for common issues

Even strong ideas can lose their impact if they’re weighed down by issues that could have been easily avoided. These pitfalls can creep in during drafting or revision, and being aware of them early can save you time — and make your story clearer and more engaging for young readers.

Below are the most common things to keep in mind as you go through your own manuscript:  

1. Talking down to the audience. Children are quick to sense when a story is being overly instructive or moralizing. Instead of spelling out lessons, let meaning emerge through action, consequence, and character choice.
2. Overcomplicating the story. Too many characters, subplots, or shifts in focus can overwhelm young readers. Children’s books tend to work best when they center on a single goal or problem and follow it through to a clear resolution.
3. Underestimating the importance of pacing. Lingering too long on setup or repeating the same beat without escalation can cause the story to stall. Each scene should move the story forward or deepen understanding of the character.
4. Writing for adults instead of children. While parents and caregivers may be the primary buyers of picture books, the story itself ultimately needs to resonate with its intended readers — in language, perspective, and emotional focus.

A careful revision pass, ideally with feedback from children or fellow children’s book authors, can help you spot and fix these issues before they undermine an otherwise solid manuscript. It can also help save you some money when it comes time to hire a professional… 

9. Work with a children’s editor

If you've gotten feedback from a child, self-edited extensively, and still feel your children's book isn't quite there, consider hiring a professional children's editor. Their years of experience will both improve your storytelling and make sure that your book is ready for the market.

Fortunately, we have the best children's editors right here on Reedsy, many of whom have worked with major authors like Daisy Meadows (author of the Rainbow Magic series) and R.L. Stine!

There are two types of children’s book editors you may be looking for:

Developmental editors. These editors will look at your story’s backbone, from characters and settings, to the story plot and concept, and make sure it’s solid and ready for the market. They will also comment on whether you used rhyme and repetition wisely, if you need to change the time frame or point-of-view, and suggest other potential improvements.  

Copy editors. The copy editor will correct your typos, spelling, and grammar, assess your choice of words, and make comments to ensure your text is perfectly polished. 

Often, you can find a single editor to handle both services — they’ll give your book a developmental edit, provide any notes for revising your draft, then copy-edit the manuscript once you’ve made the changes.

Read our post on children’s book costs to find out the average price for each service. If you’re self-publishing, there’s one important part of your budget you’ll want to put aside: that would be to hire a skilled illustrator to bring your words to life.   

10. Get an illustrator to add some visual magic

If you want to publish your book traditionally, skip this step: you don’t need to bother looking for an illustrator. It will be handled by the agent or publishing house who will represent or publish your work, as they prefer to be in charge of that. Just prepare your picture book query letter and start pitching agents. 

If instead you’re planning to publish your picture book yourself, you’ll have to locate your very own Quentin Black. We wrote an in-depth guide on how to hire a children’s book illustrator, but one of the most important points is to determine your ideal illustration style.

Identify the visual style for your book

What style best captures the mood and world of your story? Perhaps your book is for very young readers, who will enjoy bright, bold, and graphic illustrations. Perhaps you’re aiming at a slightly older audience, who’ll appreciate whimsical characters and a more muted color palette.

Each illustrator brings a distinct touch to their human characters, from intricate linework to striking realism, edgy designs to gentle human-like figures. You’ll have plenty of options to choose from, depending on what you’ve envisioned for your book. 

To find your ideal professional, gather a range of references to make sure you have ample inspiration and “mentor texts” to refer back to. Browse through your favorite kids' books, or the portfolios of some professionals — like the wonderful illustrators on Reedsy Marketplace — and identify what you like and don’t like. This post on 30 children’s book illustrators will be a helpful jumping-off point in finding visual references and the vocabulary to describe what you’re looking for.

While some artists might welcome a challenge, and enjoy trying out a new style, the best way to guarantee results that you like is to find an artist whose style already matches your vision fairly closely — rather than asking them to fit a square peg into a round hole.

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And there you have it! Once you've completed these steps, you'll have a completed children's book ready for publication. Make sure to check out our guide on how to publish your children’s book for more information on how to get your story in the hands (and hearts) of your young readers.