How to write a children’s book: step-by-step guide and template

This guide takes you from the first idea to a printed copy on your child’s shelf: age, idea, hero, structure, pages, rhythm and pictures. There is a 16-page template you can copy. It is written for parents, grandparents and teachers who want to write a story for kids at home or in class, not a guide to professional publishing.

Step 1: decide who your children’s book is for

Your reader’s age decides almost everything else.

• Ages 2 to 4: very few words per page, often a single sentence. Repetition, sounds and familiar things: bath time, wellies, the dog.
• Ages 4 to 6: a simple plot with a problem and a solution, two to four sentences a page, room for a funny detail in the pictures.
• Ages 6 to 8: a longer story, more dialogue, a hero who tries more than once. Many children start reading it themselves.
• Ages 9 to 12: chapters rather than pages, real tension, characters who change. That is a different project, closer to a short novel.

Write for one real child if you can. A book for “children in general” tends to be vague; a book for Isla, who is four and loves diggers, tends to be specific and alive.

Step 2: find the idea and the hero

Most good picture book ideas fit in one sentence: someone wants something, and something gets in the way. “A small snail wants to reach the party before it ends.” If you cannot say yours in one sentence, it may be two books.

Then build the hero:

• One strong wish, simple enough for a four-year-old to repeat.
• One clear trait: brave, clumsy, curious, shy. Readers like being able to guess how the hero will react.
• One detail to draw: a red scarf, one floppy ear, a hat that is too big. It helps whoever illustrates, and little readers love spotting it.
• The final idea. Grown-ups and friends can help, but the hero should solve the problem in the end.

Stuck for a starting point? Our story ideas for kids list has more than forty, sorted by theme and age.

Step 3: give it a beginning, a middle and an end

• Beginning: meet the hero and their wish within the first two or three pages. Do not explain too much; start on the day something changes.
• Middle: the problem. A classic pattern is three tries: the first fails, the second fails differently, the third works. Each try can be a little funnier or a little bigger.
• End: the wish comes true, or the hero discovers something better. A last page that echoes the first, with a small surprise or a quiet moment, closes the book gently.

Writing for bedtime? Keep the most exciting moment in the middle and let the last pages slow down.

See how a 16-page picture book is paced: read our sample book

Step 4: one page, one scene (a children’s book template)

A picture book is a series of moments that could each be drawn. Plan one scene per page: if two things happen on a page, split it; if nothing changes between two pages, merge them. Here is a 16-page plan you can copy:

• Page 1: the hero at home, and their wish.
• Page 2: why it matters, or what stands in the way.
• Page 3: the hero decides to act.
• Page 4: setting off; a new place.
• Page 5: the first try.
• Page 6: it goes wrong (funny or gentle, never cruel).
• Page 7: a new friend, or a clue.
• Page 8: the second try.
• Page 9: it goes wrong again, a little bigger.
• Page 10: the low point; the hero almost gives up.
• Page 11: the idea, ideally the hero’s own.
• Page 12: the third try.
• Page 13: it works.
• Page 14: the wish comes true, or something better happens.
• Page 15: going home, sharing it, saying thank you.
• Page 16: an echo of page 1, changed. The final picture.

Copy it into a notebook, one line per page, before writing a single sentence of story. You will see at a glance where the book drags or rushes.

Step 5: write a story for kids that sounds good read aloud

• Short sentences. Mostly one idea per sentence, with the odd long one for a breathless moment.
• Concrete words. “A muddy blue welly” beats “some footwear”. Children picture nouns and verbs, not ideas.
• Repetition and rhythm. A line that comes back on every try (“Not yet,” said the snail. “Not yet.”) gives children something to join in with.
• Dialogue. Letting characters speak moves the story faster than description, and gives the reader voices to play.
• Room for the pictures. Do not write “the red balloon floated over the green hill” if the picture shows it. Write what the picture cannot: a sound, a feeling, what someone says.
• Rhyme only if it comes easily. A forced rhyme is worse than none; plain words with a good rhythm read beautifully.

Then read it aloud, first alone, then to a child. Every place you stumble is a place to fix. Watch where they fidget and where they lean in. Our guide on how to tell a story to a child has tips on pace and pauses.

Need a second story while yours takes shape? The first book is free

Step 6: illustrate, lay out and print it for the family

You do not need to be an artist. Children treasure books with wobbly drawings by someone they love.

• Draw it yourself, or with your child: a pencil sketch on each page, coloured with felt tips.
• Ask the family artist: an older cousin, a grandparent, a friend who doodles.
• Try collage: cut-out paper, leaves, fabric, or photos of toys arranged into scenes.
• Write the text first and leave a space; the pictures can come later, one page at a time.

For a home-made book, fold sheets of A4 or US letter paper in half and staple them along the fold: four sheets give sixteen pages, five give twenty, with room for a cover and a title page. Keep the text in large, clear letters, away from the fold. Print two copies if you can: one for reading to bits, one for keeping.

Your children’s book manuscript: a few honest words

If you dream of going further, a few general points. A children’s book manuscript is often just the text, typed with clear page breaks, and picture book texts are usually much shorter than people expect. Publishing is a world of its own, with its own rules and long waits, and this guide does not pretend to cover it. Whatever happens next, a story your own child asks for again and again is already a real book.

Another way to make a children’s book with your child

Writing a book takes weeks, and some evenings you want a new story tonight. With AI-Koma Kids, your child chooses in pictures a hero from the characters on the site, up to two companions, a world, an adventure and a mood, and can add a value such as patience or honesty. Each character has its own personality, which you find again from book to book. The story is then written and illustrated page by page in a few minutes: 16 pages for ages 3 to 5, 18 for 6 to 8, 20 for 9 to 12, to read on screen or print as a PDF.

Your child is never drawn; their first name, if you add it, appears in the text, when the narrator speaks to them or the hero thinks of them. It can even help your own writing: read one together and talk about where the problem starts and why the ending works.

Make a picture book from your child’s choices, the first book is free

Then 5 books for €5.99 or 10 for €9.99 a month, no commitment