Do's and Don'ts

PB DOs
I like to see that the story still contains depth even with the limited amount of words.
I like to see characters that the children can identify with, but is not completely obnoxious.
I also like alliterations, rhymes, and other tools that help make the language magical and fun to read.

PB DONTs
Overly obnoxious children as characters.
Shallow storyline
Images that are borderline scary to the children. (Tim Burton-ish)

This is from my perspective as a writer and a mom. Children at a young age (1-5) like to copy the characters, and are easily effected by the illustrations.

Hope this helps!

DOs:
Lots of color
Not too many words on a page (10-35)
HUMOR--I love PBs that make me laugh out loud
Capture the magic of childhood--how big and noisy and exciting a kid's world can be
A lot to look at on a page (e.g. Richard Scarry)

DON'Ts
Too much story and narration for kids--complicated plot
Excessive preachy/teachiness--PBs SHOULD teach, but in a way that makes kids go "Wow! I didn't know that!"
Text overshadows pictures
Illustrations too real/nuanced--I like big eyes, lots of color, lots happening on the page
Bad retellings of famous stories--if you must retell, it better be GOOD

I like Turkey's comment about how easily affected children are by characters as well. Nice thread.

Hillary said:

DON'T

Write/read/think about Junie B. Jones. That girl needs a smack across the face. Seriously, I've always refused to read her to the kids I nanny. If any one of them ever acted like that stuck-up brat, I'd have their butts washing windows and cleaning rabbit cages for a whole day. I cannot stand her, and I cannot stand thinking kids read about her.

Click to expand...

OMG, my first graders adore her! Roll on the floor laughing adoration.

Which just goes to prove, it isn't B.S. when the agents say, "This is a subjective business and someone else may feel differently." There's room in this world for all kinds of tastes. And kids can vary just as much as grown-ups.

DO:
Humor. Even in a serious book. Any lesson or theme gets through better with a light touch. MANIAC MAGEE and BUD, NOT BUDDY are perfect examples. You can't get more serious than race, prejudice and poverty. And because the books are funny, they've reached so many more kids than they ever would have with a heavy hand.

DO:
Keep it simple. Thanks to JKR/HP, kids' books are getting longer. Sometimes it's necessary to the story, but for a lot of kids, those extra pages are a real barrier. Consider their lives. My 8-year-old is reading one book at school, one book at my house, and one book at his dad's. And those are the free-time books he's chosen. He also has to read another book with his literature circle group that meets 3 times a week, and one story from his anthology text every week. So he's reading a LOT, but if any one of those books is over 100 pages, he's sunk.

Get in, tell your story, wrap it up and move on. Again, you'll reach a lot more kids that way.

Do...
Have great illustrations that are full of colour and that tell something that isn't necessarily in the text.
Humour.
Smart yet age appropriate language. Don't dumb it down; give kids some credit.
Make the story come first, not the message.

Don't...
Use yuck to describe food. (My son has one book like this and it makes me nuts. I don't need him picking that up!)
Be sugary sweet; I don't like books that are perfect for grandparents but won't appeal to the child.
Try to be Dr.Seuss. He made up words and made it brilliant. Imitations usually fall flat.