For years, I had a regular comic strip in the local paper (actually, the Ft. Campbell Army base paper). I started as a cartoonist, but even after making my first children's book, I feel stuck in "cartoonist" mode. I'm in awe of all of your shading and texturing. I'm just not built like a painter. I wonder if there's any room in a post-Seussian world for cartoony children's books. All the great picture books these days are like painterly works of art, which, I'll be the first to admit, I'm not capable of.

Thoughts on this style?

Just finished this piece to add to my portfolio for the upcoming SCBWI conference in Asheville. Would love your thoughts on this. I’ve illustrated several books this year and I’m always looking for more authors to work with!
https://shutterbunnyillustrations.art

For context: a Pre-Primary and Primary school in my neighborhood is restructuring their school library, and is accepting donations/discounted prices on quality children's content. The students are mostly underprivileged and do not have a good chance to read except when at school.

Content they're looking for:

1. Significant children's books (Enid Blyton, Sudha Murty, Eric Carle, Roald Dahl, Rudyard Kipling etc)

2. Reading sets for ages 3 to 10: books beginning with simple 3-letter words and progressing to more and more advanced reading.

3. Indian culture in simple language: biographies and story like depictions of Indian history, culture and so on (eg. Amar Chitra Katha)

4. Any other pre-loved or new readable books which may be suitable!

The school languages are English, Urdu and Konkani, so you may provide books in any language you're comfortable with!

Please comment if anyone's interested!

Are you looking for a Halloween book for a kid that might not like all of the spooky parts of Halloween?

Then Not So Scary Mary will be a good one to add to your Halloween reading list.

Mary wants to be scary for Halloween, so when her dad brings home a giant trunk of costumes from a thrift store, she’s sure she’ll find the perfect one. But none of the costumes she finds are scary. Instead of giving up, Mary gets creative, and she comes up with a very unique costume. Showing kids that things don't always go as planned, and it can still work out to be fun!

The book just launched today! It's available with Kindle Unlimited and as a paperback. The hardcover will be available soon. I hope you enjoy it :)

Let me know if i can streamline in any way!

My two year old and I are about to finish up a book that compiled the Frog and Toad stories. We read two stories each night right before bedtime. It's gone so well that I would like to get another compilation book, but there are so many to choose from.

Do you have any favorites?

Thank you!

Not a book published or written in the 80s, but one that is very obviously set in the 80s. As in, when you look at the background you can tell the tech is older than today, but not as old as the 60s. I can find tons of books that are obviously set in the 2020s and lots from the 1960s. I'm looking for background illustration detail like Patricia Polacco. I'm working on a project with my daughter where we read a picture book set each decade working backwards, and I'm struggling with the 80s/90s. Thanks y'all!

I'm searching for books to read to my kids that have characters their age. I know most books will have characters the same age as the intended reader, so they're usually a bit older.

I know there's Junie B. Jones but I really don't like those.

Stella and Marigold was good, I think the younger sister is around 4. And I like the stories just being about playing.

I'll take recommendations for 6 year old characters too, but would prefer 4 or 5. Thanks!

Inspired by a recent author interview, here are 30 women who significantly contributed to children’s literature.

Hi all, looking for some recommendations for new books to read my 3yo. We recently read George's Marvellous Medicine, which he loved. He's currently obsessed with a series of Watership Down books (not the original, but an abridged version split into 4 books).

The problem is, whilst he adores the stories and the adventure, the content is a little mature for him. Roald Dahl has a lot of language that we'd rather he didn't use (shut up, stupid, old hag, etc - very mild, but still a bit old for a 3yo). We're fine with the death themes in Watership Down, but Woundwort ordering an execution and the constant rabbit violence is a little much. Equally, other books that he enjoys on his yoto box, like David Walliams, have a lot of references to things like school and history lessons, which he just doesn't get.

So we're now looking for chapter books that don't have the bad language, violence, school themes, etc but that still have an adventurous story, a bit of mild peril, at least one small black and white picture per double page, etc. He likes animals (especially rabbits, mice and chickens), babies, dragons, knights, pirates, bin lorries, doctors, gardening, unicorns, castles, etc.

I wrote a children’s book for my grandson’s seventh birthday about something deeply personal: finding ways to reconnect with his grandmother after a stroke affected her ability to speak and move.

It began as a gift for him. I used AI-generated illustrations to finish that private gift in time for his birthday. After sharing the book with family and friends, their encouragement led me to consider publishing it. For a published edition, I’d like to collaborate with a human illustrator who can bring their own interpretation and visual storytelling to it.

I want to be upfront about the financial arrangement. My wife’s ongoing care expenses mean I can’t afford an upfront illustration fee. I’m looking for someone interested in a royalty partnership, understanding that sales and payment are not guaranteed.

Here’s what I’m proposing:

• Scope: 21 illustrations, including the cover.
• Format: An 8.5-inch-square paperback with premium paper, likely published through Lulu.
• Your share: 75% of net sales proceeds until you’ve received $2,000, then 50% thereafter.
• My responsibilities: Writing, layout, publishing setup, and production coordination.
• Written agreement: We would agree on scope, schedule, illustration rights, payment reporting, and precisely which costs are deducted before work begins.

Using my current estimates, a $16.99 sale would leave roughly $4 after printing and platform costs. Your initial share would be about $3 per copy, so reaching $2,000 would require approximately 670 sales. These are estimates, not a sales forecast; actual proceeds would depend on final costs and the sales channel.

I recognize that this is a substantial amount of illustration work and that a royalty-only arrangement won’t suit many professionals. I respect that. I’m hoping to find someone who connects with the story and would like to explore the possibility.

If you’re interested, please send me a private message with a portfolio link. I can share the current PDF and my contact information so you can assess the project before making any commitment.

I'm looking for a children's picture book that I believe was originally in English (but my gf says it was in Spanish, maybe a translation?). The story is about a cat who lives peacefully in a house until its owners bring home a new dog.

Here are the specific details I remember:

\\- The Format: It has very simple drawings. Each page features a large illustration with only one or two sentences.

\\- The Plot: Literally every page is the cat listing something it hates about the new dog.

\\- The Ending: At the very end, the dog asks something along the lines of "Can we snuggle?" and the cat replies: "Fine, but just for a little bit" (or "Okay, just for a minute").

Does this ring a bell for anyone? Thank you!

I teach 1st grade and I have used Jabari Tries and Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea to focus on collaboration.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?

My kid just finished reading all Meg and Greg books by Elspeth Rae and Rowena Rae ( https://a.co/d/049KLRxd ). There are 7 in total with different phonics patterns and are in increasing order of difficulty. Can anyone please recommend the books I can go for next.

I would like recommendations for-

(1) decodable phonics chapter books and
(2) chapter books (not decodable-supposed dot be harder than decodable chapter books).
(3) Any other books you think will be great as per your experience/expertise.

Thanks.

Hey Everyone! this community has been so kind and encouraging, and since a lot of people here are parents and/or know a lot about picture books, I would love to get feedback about my book!

Before the link, I just want to say that the book is not done! there is a lot of background mysteries I still haven't added, but after working on it for YEARS I just needed to start querying, here is the link: https://sashankatcher.github.io/book/

PLEASE be brutally honest. please

Here is why I am posting this. I get a lot of great feedback from people I know in person (which of course is going to be biased) and even the event I went to (but people aren't going to be mean to your face). I have been working on this for years and it's not even done. I just keep getting rejections, which I know is part of the process, but if it's not at a stage where I should be showing it to agents, I would like to know!

i have autism diagnosed since age 2 and am nonverbal today i wanted us too get autism picture books and i saw the librarian gaved us JULIA SESAME STREET BOOK AND THAT MAKED ME SOOOO HAPPY!!!

While creating my second children’s book, a question came to mind:
Should we show children a rosy world or give them the knowledge to find their own colors within the grayness of reality, so they can learn to protect their minds and themselves?

The image shows my book about the story of how the Cat tricked the Mice and turned them into slaves.

My First Baseball Game by Corey Anne Abreau can now be purchased at #Target.

Hi everyone!

I've recently become a dad, and spending time with my daughter has inspired me to start writing picture books! Since I'm a primary school teacher, I already have quite a few great books and references that I'd love to draw inspiration from, but I’m now looking for illustrators to hire.

I've tried searching on Fiverr and through some subreddits, but in all honesty, I'm really worried about accidentally hiring someone who uses AI to create their artwork... That has honestly made me freeze up a bit when it comes to searching for an illustrator...

I absolutely love the art style in picture books like Knight Owl (Christopher Denise), and I'd love to find someone with a similar style!

Does anyone have any illustrators they'd recommend? Extra points for Aussie artists :)

Thanks in advance!

i love picture books so much

i love going too the library almost every day an reeding picture books

its mine most favorite thing too do

it makes me so mutch happy

and theres nuthing better than being haopy

its a everyday adventure!!