I attended an author meeting a couple of years ago where we discussed picture books with nontraditional formats. After the meeting, I wrote a post called Author Meeting Inspiration.
Here is a snippet of that post concerning one of the nontraditional formatting styles:
Alphabet books that tell a story in alphabetical order with limited (1-2) words per page. We looked at the book Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run! by Mike Twohy, which is a great example of this idea. Even though he used only 1-2 words in alphabetical order on each page, Mike Twohy was able to tell a story of a mouse and a dog. The illustrations are definitely important in a story like this. I really liked this concept, so I decided to create my own story following this structure. For our own personal enjoyment, my daughters decided to illustrate the story I wrote. Who knows, maybe my story will turn into another book in the future.
I can’t believe that was already over two years ago! I still have the “book” my daughters and I had created after that meeting. It’s called Aah! Blown Away, Crash!
I took it out a few months ago and brought it to be critiqued at my monthly writer’s group. My group’s insight on a couple of the pages was very beneficial!
Even though there are only 1-3 words per page, I have still gone through a few rounds of editing to get the story just the way I want it (and approved by my group). Now, I have it memorized!
So, why am I telling you this? Well, I am hoping to finally turn this story into a book in 2020. I plan to give some updates throughout the process in the New Year.
Are you curious what all of the other letters stand for? Would you like to see this as a book? I’d love to hear from you!
Brigitte Brulz 