Writing A Book for Preschoolers
I decided to set a new challenge for myself. I read frequently to my three year granddaughter, Phoebe and her twin, William. The books they choose for me to read to her, have very few words and repetition. So with that in mind I decided that this would be my next book. Since we are just beginning to come into fall, I decided that this would be the theme for the book. I asked my older grandchildren to help me decide how do we know when it’s fall. They came up with many of the same ideas that I had!
“So what are the signs of fall?”
Generating a Concept
The concept was easy to build. In New England there are plenty of signs of the change in season. So I answered these questions.
What is a sign of fall?
How do I keep the wording simple for my young listeners?
Tying It All Together
This book is tied together by the repetition of the sentences… “It’s fall when” and the repeating of the question, “How do we know when it’s fall?” I also chose to end the book with days getting shorter and the scene of a child going to sleep.
Illustrating the Story
I thought a long time about what I would like to show to describe fall both in words and pictures. I wanted my pictures to be very colorful and to appeal to a young reader. I decided to do my illustrations using my Procreate program on my IPad. I love what it efforts me the ability to do. Because the program works in layers, it allows me the opportunity to try out a background and to change it without having to redraw the foreground. The different different brushes that are available add to the designs.
Your Turn to Create a Story
So now its your turn to try writing a story. I am thinking that the seasons would be a great place to start. I’ve done fall, maybe winter is next and then spring and summer. Or perhaps writing about how a seed turns into a flower or a vegetable. Keep your sentences simple and your illustrations colorful! You can do it! Give it a try.
