5 Qualities of an Irresistible Picture Book

Howdy! As a new addition to the Blogettes, I’ll be sharing my adventures in kid-lit from the perspective of a children's book buyer, bookseller, and a lifelong lover of children's books. I'll show you how book buyers (or at least this book buyer) choose what fills their store's shelves and how much of an impact bookstores and passionate booksellers can have on the sales of your book.

I’ve always been a “book person”. My mother tells me that my very first outing as an infant was to the library, so, in the same way that some people may dip their baby’s feet in the ocean, I’ve always had my nose in a book. At 16, after months of hounding the management at my local independent bookstore, they finally caved and gave me my first bookselling job. Although my personal reading tastes have grown over the years to include a little from most every genre, I never outgrew my love for the magic of children’s books. I’ve since worked as the Children’s Section Manager at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, and as an educator in various locales and capacities. Now things have come full-circle for me and I am back in my hometown of Albuquerque, working as the Children’s Book Buyer for Page 1 Books, a fantastic local indie store here. It’s a wonderful thing to spend my days connecting people (especially young people) with books!

The question I'm now asked most often is how I choose which books make it to the shelf, especially with all the fantastic new picture books on the market. I’ve found that when meeting with reps, looking through catalogs and reading ARCs, it really boils down to five qualities that will determine whether I take a chance on a new picture book.

5 Qualities of an Irresistible Picture Book

1.    Read-Aloud Potential

The first thing I do when presented with a new picture book is read it aloud. Usually I'll read to myself or corner whichever unfortunate co-worker happens to be nearby, but I've been known to use my Saturday Storytime kids as guinea pigs to gauge reactions to a new book. It’s incredible to me how many books created for the pre-reading set really do not hold up well to being read aloud. Whether a narrative or concept book, if the language and pacing don’t grab me, I can be fairly certain that they aren’t going to grab the parents and educators who will ultimately be purchasing and reading these books.

---

2.   Dynamic Illustrations

Illustrations are a BIG deal for me. I look for illustrations that do more than illustrate the words on the page. Beautiful images that add to the story or even create a second narrative will make the difference between an OK book and one that I just have to purchase for the store and then handsell like crazy. It’s no secret that well-done illustrations can add layers of meaning to a story, or even tell a story on their own. I’m a big fan of books like Wiesner’s Mr. Wuffles or Becker’s Journey and Quest, which have nearly no words and still stand up to either shared storytelling aloud or hours of independent exploration. Dynamic illustrations will stimulate even the youngest imaginations and help pre-readers make important connections between the images and text. One more thing: I know that many authors can be hesitant to hand over their manuscript to a professional illustrator, but please don’t try to do them yourself if that is not your area of expertise. The illustrations really can make or break a book!

3.   Language

I’ve already mentioned how tremendously important pacing and language are to the success of a picture book. Successful language will be clever, age-appropriate and will beg to be read again and again. I can sell a book with a word count of 5 or 1500, provided the language is playful, deliberate and keeps the pages turning. Unlike some other kid-litters, I don’t have a problem with rhyming books- if they are done right! Getting the rhythm and pacing right is difficult enough with prose, and adding rhyme to the mix can easily make text sound awkward or forced. The story needs to stand on its own without relying on rhyme to “dress it up”, otherwise the whole book will fall flat.

4.   Clear Audience

Very few picture books will have truly universal appeal, so before I purchase a book, I need to have an idea of who I am going to sell it to. This target audience should be made evident by the author and should be in the front of their mind during the entire creation of the book. If audience comes first, a book will have a much more cohesive look, language, and voice, and the book will be more successful. That said, I personally have an aversion to “lesson” books. Even books that are presenting a particular message can do so without being preachy and can allow the readers to think and draw conclusions on their own. Although some parents and educators do ask for “issues” books, if they are not created thoughtfully, kids will see right through them and grab a different book from the pile next time! I'm always on the lookout for books that speak to an audience that is under-served or that add something original to a very flooded market. Nope, "kids" is not an audience! Take into consideration the specific age, cultural background, interests and needs of the kid you are writing for, and also that of the adult who will hopefully be buying your book.

---

5.   Shelf Appeal

The ever-changing landscape of bookselling means that most bookstores, especially us indies, have shrinking real estate and growing selections of great new books to choose from. Some of that shelf space will always be occupied by backlist favorites that sell well year after year, so the space (and budget) for new frontlist titles is even smaller. Not only do I have to consider the content of the book and the cover design, but even the design of the spine and the physical size and shape of the book come into play. Less shelf space means less face-out display space for picture books, so the book's title and spine should be special enough to stand out from the pack. First Second Books wrote a great piece about spines that you can check out here. For our purposes here at the store, a book shouldn't be so large that it doesn't fit upright on a typical shelf (this leads to books being damaged or shelved sideways), nor should it be so small that it will get swallowed up by other books. Even the greatest picture book can't thrive without readers being able to find it!

I'll have plenty more to share about buying books for kids and teens in the weeks to come, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have about the world of book buying, bookselling, promotion and events. What would you like to see?

-Jessie

---