Simone Kaplan, Author at Picture Book People

Picture Book Prompt 4

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.

Picture Book Prompt 3

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.

Picture Book Prompt 2

“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.

Picture Book Prompt 1

“’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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