Posts by Simone Kaplan

““How did it get so late so soon?”
― Dr. Seuss

Children have a different sense of time than adults. Explore all the ways that children experience time, how adults experience it, and how the differences might lead to tension.

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“To find a friend, one must close one eye. To keep him, two.”
—Street chant collected by Norman Douglas

Explore friendship—both the making and keeping of friends—from the point of view of a six-year-old. And what you might need to notice – or ignore.

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“Do I hear the voices of my characters? Are they beginning to talk to me so that when I start to write the dialogue, I’ll have real characters talking? Have I incorporated specific syntax and word choice as part of those voices?”—Linda Seger

Here you have one picture book master recognizing the genius of another! Pick any picture book by Maurice Sendak and look at it from the point of view of the elements listed above: words, rhythm, psychology, design. Then select another picture book you love – no matter who wrote it—and do the same. Your analysis is sure to enhance your writing!

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“Maurice Sendak is the daddy of them all when it comes to picture books—the words, the rhythm, the psychology, the design.”
—Anthony Browne

Here you have one picture book master recognizing the genius of another! Pick any picture book by Maurice Sendak and look at it from the point of view of the elements listed above: words, rhythm, psychology, design. Then select another picture book you love – no matter who wrote it—and do the same. Your analysis is sure to enhance your writing!

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“A stick may become:
• a fishing rod near real or imaginary water
• a spurtle* to stir “porridge” in a mud kitchen
• a tool to nudge a football that is stuck in a tree
• something to throw, float, snap, ping, bend, hide,
add to a pile, burn, tie to something else, split,
catapult or discard.”
—Theresa Casey and Juliet Robinson

* According to Merriam-Webster, a *spurtle* is a chiefly Scottish term meaning “a wooden stick for stirring porridge.” Now you know!

Set your timer for 8 minutes and, without lifting your pen from the paper—or your fingers from the keyboard—make a list of everything a stick could become during imaginary play. Choose one and create a story or picture-book manuscript around it.

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It’s the oddest things that people remember. Parents will arrange a birthday party, certain it
will stick in your mind forever. You’ll have a nice time, then two years later you’ll be like ‘There
was a pony there? Really? And a clown with one leg?’
—David Sedaris

Write about a birthday party. See if it can become a picture book.

One that the protagonist attends as a guest, as a peer, a sibling, a grandparent—and or as the
person the party is for. One that was amazing or one that was challenging for the protagonist.

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From Wibbleton to Wobbleton is fifteen miles, 
From Wobbleton to Wibbleton is fifteen miles. 
From Wibbleton to Wobbleton, 
From Wobbleton to Wibbleton, 
From Wibbleton to Wobbleton is fifteen miles.
—Nursery rhyme

What happened on that journey from Wibbleton to Wobbleton?

And why was it undertaken?

Use the journey to structure a story.

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“In the summertime, when the weather is hot, you can stretch right up and touch the sky.”
—Mungo Jerry

Tell the story of what happens one summer.

Summer camp, the period between kindergarten and first grade, the summer before kindergarten, or choose an aspect of summer that appeals to you and write about that.

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“’The cat sat on the mat’ is not the beginning of a story, but ‘The cat sat on the dog’s mat’ is.”

—John le Carré

Tell the story of a time when the cat sat on the dog’s mat.

Or tell the story of a time when the dog sat on the cat’s mat.

Or tell the story of a time when a child felt that their space had been invaded.

See if you can turn it into a picture book manuscript.

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