Picture Books
Introduction
Titles
Introduction
I love writing Picture Books, when I have an idea of the right
size. It’s the closest I come to writing poetry, because
the texts are short and every word has to count.
They are the hardest books to write, though, because you have
to be able to tell the whole story in twelve “spreads”,
which is what you call a double-page. That’s not much, if
you think you have to introduce characters, set up a background,
cause some sort of crisis to make the story happen and then resolve
it.
I always want the story to end with a bang, usually with a page
turn in order to have a punch line on the last page. See Henry’s
Baby and An Angel Just Like Me among others.
My most recent picture books are The Colour of Home and
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The story for The
Colour of Home was made up by me but based on the experiences
of lots of asylum-seekers who became my friends.
The Seven Wonders book was rather different. It’s not exactly
non-fiction, but I couldn’t make too much up, because the
purpose was to tell readers about the seven structures that the
ancient Greeks thought were the most amazing in the known world.
The only one left standing is the Great Pyramid in Egypt, so I
started my thinking about this book by booking a week’s trip
to that wonderful country.
The other important thing about picture books is pictures! I have
been lucky enough to work with some of the best illustrators – Caroline
Binch, Jane Ray, Jan Ormerod, Jackie Morris, Chris Riddell, Karen
Littlewood, Christina Balit – they have all been great.
As the writer, I have to remember to leave space for the illustrator,
not only by not producing too many of them but by allowing full
rein to the artist’s imagination, so that she can add her
own contribution and distinctive style to the book.
I'm writing to let you know how much I like Amazing Grace and The Color of Home. As a psychologist who works extensively with children, I think they could be of real help to kids - in understanding issues of diversity and overcoming prejudice and in for kids are struggling to understand war and violence, respectively.
Jacqueline Golding, Ph.D
www.healing-stories.com
My picture books and re-tellings are published by Frances Lincoln, who do lots of multi-cultural books you might be interested in. You can find out more about them on their website.
Titles
Seven Wonders of the World
ill: Mark Robertson
Frances Lincoln 2003
0711219869
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How to be a Cat
ill: Pam Martens
Frances Lincoln 2001
0-7112-1901-X
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The Colour of Home
ill: Karin Littlewood
Frances Lincoln 2001
Hardback 0-71121-940-0
Paperback 0-71121-991-5
Big Book 1-84507-425-4 £15.99
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Three Wise Women
ill: Lynne Russell
Frances Lincoln 1999
0-7112-1423-9
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Clever Katya
ill Marie Cameron
Barefoot Books 1998
1901223-93-0
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An Angel Just Like Me
ill by Cornelius van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu Frances Lincoln
1997
0711211795 (hbk)
0711213097 (pbk)
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Grace and Family
Frances Lincoln 1995
(published in the US by Dial as Boundless Grace)
Paperback 0-7112-0869-7
Big book 0-7112-2192-8
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Henry’s Baby
Dorling Kindersley 1993
1564581969
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Leon's Lucky Lunchbreak
Dent 1991
0-460-880217
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No cover picture available |
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The Babies' Hotel
Dent 1991
0-460-88034-9
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No cover picture available |
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Amazing Grace
Frances Lincoln 1991
0-7112-0670-8
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Catwalk
Methuen 1989
0416089828
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No cover picture available |
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My Grandma has Black Hair
Methuen (pub in US by Dial) 1988
0416018920
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No cover picture available |
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Nancy No-Size
Methuen 1987
0416959806
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A Fine Picnic
Macdonald 1986
0356118592
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No cover picture available |
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Animal Hide and Seek
Macdonald 1986
0356118622
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No cover picture available |
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The Perfect Pet
Macdonald 1986
0356118614
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No cover picture available |
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Clothes for Sale
Macdonald 1986 (pub in US by Silver Burdett)
0356118606
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No cover picture available |
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The Return of the Antelope
(with Willis Hall)
Heinemann 1985
0434942014
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No cover picture available |
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Buttercup Buskers' Rainy Day
(with Chris Callery)
Heinemann 1982
0434931152
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from Amazon
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No cover picture available |
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