Picture Book Style Question

[Jens22]

I recently drafted my first picture book manuscript, which I intend to be for very young readers, 3+.

I wrote the whole thing as dialogue between a girl and her father, minus all the quotation marks and he said, she said. I think with illustrations it'll be pretty clear who is speaking when, but . . . do you think publishers would go for this style?

I appreciate any advice! :)

[Torgo]

Probably OK, but to be on the safe side you might think about telling the reader who's speaking anyway - you could write it like a play script, that'd be clear.

[voxel]

I've seen it done. The major problem is now you've got to tell a story(with goals and complications) in dialogue now.

[katiemac]

Jen, I'm no expert on picture books, so take this advice with a grain of salt.

A problem I forsee are the actual illustrations. Depending on who's doing the pictures, it could be almost impossible to determine what image actually appears on the page, which may not show the father and daughter at all.

Also, without the quotation marks and "said," can you tell who is speaking? Being the author it seems easy, but will an editor or agent follow the dialogue without you sitting there and saying, "Oh, this is the daughter... and this is the father.... the father again..." Etc.

Good luck!

[Jens22]

Thanks, everybody.

:)