When I wrote that title today, I didn’t mean, “It’s simple to do…,” oh, no! I meant “simplistic.” You write very simply to tell a story, and it should be a story about simple things — not concepts.
- Image via Wikipedia
For example, if you tried to tell as story about Santa Claus (well, it is Christmastime), for example, you’d probably fail. Think about the hard words: North Pole, Santa Claus, and OMG… reindeer! Babies have no conception of any of that. None.
Babies know Mom, Dad, bottle, maybe sister or brother, blanket, warm, smile — they don’t know the words, but they know that the concepts those words present are all around them. So, that’s how you write!
Pretend you’re a baby just for an instant.
What are you doing? Probably not much. You generally sit still in one place. You’re not even considered to be a toddler yet. You aren’t walking.
How do you feel? It depends on the seasons. You could be warm or cold. You could be itchy. You could feel wet or gushy. Or, you could be hungry and ready to cry if someone doesn’t come up with the goods.
And what do you see? A cat, a dog, a bird, the car, outside, trees, flowers, snow, tables and chairs, and guess what…
You don’t know what ANY of it is!
That’s where the baby writer comes in. Teach babies what they’re seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. They need to know these things! 🙂
Baby books are generally hard — called “board” books. Sometimes, they’re even plastic. They’re durable and small so babies can hold them in their hands. So, you don’t have a lot of room. You need to consider your plan. What are you trying to describe?
Here’s how a baby book might be:
My Crib
p. 1: Teddy Bear
p. 2: blanket
p. 3: stars (in the mobile, you see)
p. 3: soft
p. 4: sleepy
And so on. Think sensory, sensory, sensory. And then, the artists illustrate your words to show babies what they mean. They don’t get much of it to start, but as they get older, it will help them to understand the world a little better, which is cool.
And if you keep your baby book simple… you could have a runaway best seller.
