People your stories with "real creatures", and real places even when they exist nowhere but in your imagination. Keep in mind that this process is as important to our culture as any other work. This is a long-lasting contribution that may inspire young creators who will command the future. Enjoy the process, but remember the responsibilities which are inherent. We don't just write these things for our children. We also write them for untold generations who will see and appreciate what we do here.

Randolph Caldecott wrote about a runaway horse. In this day there are few people who have read his aged book, but many will benefit from the process and philosophy he held - making children's books something more and instilling them with the same values and comprehensive content that we expect from adult literature.

On the pragmatic side. Remember that the initial consumer is the adult parent or buyer who looks for interesting worthy examples to give to children. What they enjoyed as children, or what they can imagine enjoying by the child within. We also write for the child within that adult. As the parents buy, so the children will read what is provided.

Last time I mentioned that the text for children's books is often put together in poetic formats - rhyming and prose with the intention of capturing imagery with word art and alliteration. As in music, there is often a stanza that serves as a musical chorus or repeated litany to coax the imagination and keep a mind that might wander on track They also serve to emphasize the point and provide tints and shades of meaning to make the reader think more fully These devices are relatively easy to conjure into existence, but can be difficult to polish and refine into authentically appropriate forms that serve the purpose. Sometimes too much fiddling can have a negative effect on the result.

Images are a big part of children's books, whether written or drawn, they paint the pictures we see when we read the books and influence how the story is accepted or remembered. Whether we choose picture book or story book, the job of the illustrator is integral. Remember that we are telling two stories, one with words and word pictures and one with pictures, designed to stand alone apart from the writing to convey almost the same story as the words, but designed to augment and enhance the experience of the word pictures. Neither should be dominant, as far as we are able to control such things.

Materials

1. class text- Text - "How to write and illustrate Children's Books and get them published" consultant editors: Treld Pelkey Bicknell and Felicity Trotman -Quarto Publishing plc ISBN 1-58397-013-0
2. wireless lined journal notebook removable pages 3 ring holes
3. a 3-ring binder, with dividers
4. Writing & drawing implements, a set of color markers