Creative Writing with Picture Books

"Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery--it's the sincerest form of learning."

George Bernard Shaw

Some children are naturally inclined to sit down and write stories out of their heads. Others are intimidated by blank space on a paper or computer screen. All children need to be exposed to different writing styles and different methods of storytelling, however, and some of the best writing prompts are children's picture books.

Below are some examples of picture books I have used to inspire different ways of writing with my children. I read the book to them and then they had the assignment of imitating the style or premise of the book, but to think for themselves and make their writing their own. I used many of these to teach a specific concept or skill as well.

Any good ABC book can be used, or better yet, read several different ABC books. Then have your children write their own. Their ABC books could have a theme, like a holiday or a sport, or could be completely open ended. 

After reading One Fish Two Fish... we created our own books titled (and thus themed) From There to Here and Here to There, Funny Things are Everywhere, a line taken straight from the book. This was a fun project to get crazy with crazy.

This book is so rhythmical and clever. After reading this book, kids write their own book on colors, with or without rhyme.

All writers need to learn the concept of main idea and supporting it in writing. I use this book to start the discussion. The writing assignment is to then choose some important main ideas and write about them.

This wacky book has so many spinoffs nowadays. It's fun to read several versions and then write your own.

After reading The Friendly Book (Things I Like) we explored writing writing biographical poems about the things we like. I like reading about what they like!

This is another ABC book, but each letter of the alphabet is the first letter of the answer to some clever and challenging riddles. We explored writing riddles after reading this book.

The entire If You Give a... series is so charming. These books were used to teach cause and effect. I used a cause and effect PowerPoint I found online that was based on these books, then we read the books, did some cause and effect worksheets, and then everyone wrote their own story that began, "If you give a...."

This is a fun book to explore words with. After reading this the children had to find some new and interesting words, one for each letter of the alphabet, and then write a story that incorporated all of their "new" words.