Children Deserve Better Than AI-Generated Stories: How to Avoid AI scams, Create an Authentic Book, and More

The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle – Issue #04

Here’s your fourth edition of the KidLit Creator’s Chronicle! It’s a long one, but I encourage you to read all of it. It’s such an important topic.

Lately, I’ve noticed a significant increase in children’s picture books being published with AI. It’s very easy to recognize the AI-generated illustrations, and if you look inside many of these books, it’s clear that the stories are also AI-generated.

I even received an email recently from someone in the publishing industry that I’ve respected for a long time, and to my dismay, they were promoting software to create “high-quality picture books” using AI. I went and checked an example of a book created by this “superior” software, and let’s just say, the quality of the text and illustrations was deeply disappointing.

It made me realize that many people simply don’t understand what makes a high-quality picture book, which is why they struggle to distinguish between a well-written, well-illustrated book and a second-rate one.

AI-generated stories leave much to be desired, and the illustrations don’t have the magic or consistency needed to make a children’s picture book come alive. It’s honestly heartbreaking that kids are being exposed to such low-quality books.

Books play a vital role in shaping children – their views, their character, and even their imagination. Allowing something so crucial to be created by a machine is something I can’t support.

An example of what I believe to be AI-generated illustrations (from the same book) paired with text that appears to have been created using AI.

The text:

“Shoes and bag, no time to grieve.
Out the door, it’s time to leave.”

“A treasure map, old and frayed,
He found in his grandfather’s chest, he played.” (What?)

The definition of “creativity” is: the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness.

If this is the definition, how can we claim to have written a book using AI and still call it creativity? A machine doesn’t have imagination. It generates content based on patterns and data it has been fed. It’s also debatable whether it truly produces original ideas.

The AI floodgates have opened. But at what cost?

Today, I want to give you more information about AI and state my case as to why human creativity is still irreplaceable in creating imaginative, high-quality children’s books.

Note: Toward the end, I share links to books that, in my opinion, appear to have been created using AI. These examples are provided for educational purposes to help you better understand what’s currently on the market.

AI for Children’s Books

AI is becoming a tool that’s hard to ignore, but as children’s book authors (and illustrators), we have to really give thought to how, and if, we want to use AI.

While I don’t think using AI to write or illustrate your book is ever a good idea, for those considering it, there are a few obvious issues:

For Writing

1.Garbage In, Garbage Out

A lot of people think AI can do it all when it comes to writing, but the truth is, it’s only as good as the input you give it. If someone doesn’t know how to give clear, detailed prompts or doesn’t have a solid grasp of writing craft, the results are going to reflect that.

For example, if you ask AI to “write a picture book about friendship” without explaining the tone, age group, or structure you’re looking for, it’ll turn out something generic and poorly written. Even if you explain the tone, etc. you’ll still end up with, at best, an okay manuscript. And if you don’t understand essentials like leaving room for the illustrator as your co-creator, story and character arcs, or using age-appropriate language, the story won’t turn out well.

A good children’s book encourages imagination and evokes an emotional response. AI doesn’t bring the empathy, humor, or creativity needed to achieve that. The stories feel lifeless, predictable, or disconnected.

So, if you’re not familiar with what makes a strong picture book so that you can refine, refine, refine whatever AI gives you, AI isn’t going to write one for you. That’s why learning the basics of writing craft is so important.

And once you’ve done that, write your own book, since you know how to do it by yourself!

2. AI Struggles with Writing Craft

AI tools, even if trained, often fail to grasp the fundamental elements of good writing. The AI-written books I’ve seen usually have weak story and character arcs, and they don’t evoke an emotional response.

A few quick examples of issues I’ve seen with AI writing:

AI often writes unnecessary descriptions for picture books, not leaving visual details to the illustrator. (Even for chapter books or MG novels, AI can be too descriptive.)
Stilted, overly flowery or formal language.
Inconsistent language, writing style or voice.
Violating basic principles like show, don’t tell. For instance, instead of letting actions or dialogue reveal a character’s emotions or motivations, AI tends to over-explain.
Sounding robotic.

All of these make the text feel heavy-handed and makes it unengaging for kids.

3. Lack of Understanding of Genre Standards

Industry and genre standards are extremely important in children’s books. AI doesn’t always understand this.

For example:

Word Count: AI is not good at sticking to specific word counts. For children’s picture books, the industry standards are 200 (or less)-500 words for younger readers, 500-800 words for older ones.
Vocabulary: While picture books can introduce a few new words to expand a child’s vocabulary, the majority of the text should be simple and age-appropriate. AI tools tend to use language that is too complex.
Structure: Good picture books need tight pacing, clever page turns, and consistency in the character and their development. AI lacks the skill for this.

4. Copyright Challenges

Another major limitation of AI is the issue of copyright. In most countries, content created partially or entirely by AI cannot be copyrighted. This means that if you use AI to write your text or generate illustrations, someone else could legally copy your book and sell it as their own.

The U.S. Copyright Office has recently started allowing some AI-assisted content to be copyrighted, but only if a significant portion of the work is human-created. They review such cases on an individual basis, focusing on whether there’s substantial human authorship involved. This leaves a very gray area when it comes to creative work. If you’ve rewritten or significantly transformed AI-generated text or illustrations, your contributions might qualify for copyright, but the AI-generated portions will not.

The bottom line is this: AI-generated content might seem convenient, but it comes with significant legal risks. To protect your work (and your rights as an author) you need to write your own book and hire a human illustrator who draws (not prompts AI).

5. AI Doesn‘t Make You an Author

Last, but certainly not least, having AI write a book for you doesn’t make you an author. Writing a children’s book is about learning the craft, refining your skills, and sharing your unique story with the world.

Being an author means taking the time to develop your writing voice, that special tone and style that sets your writing apart. It’s about creating something that’s truly yours: a story filled with your creativity, emotions, and perspective.

AI can’t do that. It’s not you. As an author, you have the ability to connect with readers in a way no machine ever could. The joy of writing and becoming a published author comes from pouring yourself into the work and watching your story take shape, knowing that it’s a reflection of your imagination and effort, and that’s what makes your story worth sharing.

Author Joanna Maciejewska really hit the nail on the head when she posted the following on X:

“I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.”

For Illustrations

1. AI Doesn’t See the Big Picture

A human illustrator doesn’t just draw pictures, they bring emotion and intentionality to their work and create a cohesive vision for your book. They read your whole manuscript, get a feel for the full story, including the characters, message, emotions and more. They work to ensure that the illustrations flow from one page to the next, creating one unified tapestry that tells your story.

AI generates standalone images without understanding the bigger picture. This means AI images don’t tell a story. They just represent snippets of text. On top of this, getting AI to produce an illustration for a very specific, especially more complicated, vision you have for a scene from your book can be near impossible.

Human illustrators can interpret the themes and emotions of your story and translate them into visuals. Subtleties like facial expressions, the mood conveyed through color and texture, or details that enhance the story bring the story to life in ways AI cannot.

That’s the magic a human illustrator brings to your book. It’s a magic no machine can replicate.

2. AI Lacks Consistency

One of the biggest issues with AI-generated illustrations is the lack of consistency across a book. Characters will look different from one page to the next, and the overall style shifts (subtly or very noticeably). Apart from looking unprofessional, children rely on visuals to engage with the story and recognize the characters. When the illustrations are inconsistent, it disrupts the flow and makes it harder for them to connect to and follow the story.

Here are three AI-generated images for “children’s book illustration in watercolour style of a white and brown puppy playing with a ball/walking in a garden/taking a nap”. I chose similar images (I could have chosen images that are much more dissimilar), but you’ll see the style is very inconsistent.

Apart from the inconsistency, I generated 19 images of a puppy playing with a ball, and not one of them captured the liveliness and joy of a puppy playing with a ball that I’d like to see.

Your audience deserves illustrations that enhance the story,
not distract from it.

3. AI Lacks Emotional Depth and Nuance

Illustrations aren’t just decorations, they’re integral to telling the story. A human illustrator can capture subtle emotional nuances that add depth and meaning to each scene. For example, a well-drawn facial expression can tell a child more about a character’s feelings than many words. AI-generated images lack that level of nuance. The emotions feel flat, and the illustrations can feel detached from the heart of the story (and readers).

To demonstrate, I tried to recreate this beautiful illustration from The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken:

After many attempts, these are the two best images I got from AI:

Apart from missing arms, hands, and other errors, I think it’s obvious how much less emotional depth the AI images have.

Beware of AI “Illustrators”

Recently, platforms like Facebook, Fiverr, and others have been flooded with so-called “illustrators” passing off AI-generated images as their own work. Not only is this dishonest and unethical, but it also puts authors at serious risk. AI-generated illustrations cannot be copyrighted, which means your book’s artwork could be legally copied, used, or sold by anyone.

How to Avoid This Trap:

Ask for a Portfolio: A legitimate illustrator should have a portfolio with examples of hand-drawn or digitally created work that show consistency AI images lack cohesive style. Better yet, ask for a book or two they’ve illustrated, so you can compare all the scenes and characters. (Note: Some illustrators have different styles, but it should not be a hodge-podge, and one book should of course be in one style.)
Look for Clues: AI often makes mistakes on hands and fingers. Look for any missing or extra limbs, ears, horns on animals. Look for strange details or lines that shouldn’t be there.
Request Process Samples: Ask for sketches or works-in-progress (from past projects) to confirm they’re creating the artwork themselves. Watch out for traced images, where the “illustrator” works backwards by tracing an AI image and then presenting that as a sketch. Real illustrators will have rough sketches and usually different iterations of the same scene, where they were working out the final illustration or layout.
You can also ask illustrators who use Procreate to send a video of their drawing process. This is an inbuilt feature in Procreate.

Storyboard to final illustration for Hunting Orange: A Mixing Colour Adventure by Moza Himid, illustrated by Anastasiia at GetYourBookIllustrations

Work with Trusted Sources: Look for illustrators through reputable platforms that have, ideally, been around since well before the advent of AI (like my company, GetYourBookIllustrations), or get recommendations from other authors.
Have a Contract: You should always have a contract with your illustrator, and in today’s world, you should add a clause about AI. I’d suggest saying that if it is found that the illustrator used AI, they need to refund you in full and the contract is then terminated. This will help safeguard you if they somehow convince you they are legitimate, but then deliver inconsistent illustrations/characters and they can’t fix them.
Here’s an example contract from my company that you’re welcome to copy, edits as needed, and use! (Note, it doesn’t contain anything about AI, so you would need to add a clause.)
Get Input From Others: Sometimes, AI art is harder to spot than you may think. If you’re still uncertain, ask on Facebook in an author/illustrator group. I’ve seen others do this and some group members point out amazingly perceptive details.
If you’re not part of any such groups, you’re welcome to join Children’s Book Mastery Community: Collaboration & Support for Authors! Protect your book and your reputation by thoroughly vetting illustrators before hiring. It’s worth the extra effort to ensure your illustrations are genuine and copyright-safe.

The truth is, writing a high-quality picture book involves far more than stringing sentences and pictures together. Authors draw on their own experiences, emotions, and understanding of readers to write stories that truly matter.

AI, on the other hand, relies solely on algorithms and data. It doesn’t know what it feels like to be a child or human, and it cannot replace creativity, emotion, and artistry.

Children deserve books that feed their imaginations and hearts from authors and illustrators with wonderful imaginations and hearts.

So, can authors use AI ethically?

Yes, I believe authors can use AI, if done in moderation and never to write their books.

Some things that I think AI can be helpful for:

Editing Assistance: Use AI to help with grammar checks and proofreading. Don’t let it change your wording, though.
Idea Generation: AI can be helpful for brainstorming story prompts, character traits, or potential plotlines. Let these ideas serve as inspiration, but ensure the story remains your own. For instance, you can ask AI to give you 10 writing prompts for a children’s book, or for nonfiction, to list 10 interesting facts about a topic as a thought-starter. (Then write the book without AI!)
Clarity and Readability: Tools like ProWritingAid can evaluate the readability of your text and help you adjust for your intended age group. For instance, you can check if your vocabulary is appropriate for young readers.

ProWritingAid is a fantastic tool that offers comprehensive insights into your writing.

Research Assistance: AI tools can help you gather information quickly, particularly for nonfiction projects. However, it’s critical to fact-check everything. AI can sometimes give inaccurate information, so treat it as a starting point rather than the final word.
Marketing: AI is also helpful to do marketing research, get suggestions for copy to use on your website, or refine your website and marketing copy.

Here’s what I really think…

The conversation about AI in children’s books often focuses on surface-level trade-offs: speed and cost versus quality and creativity. But to fully understand the impact, we need to look deeper.

At its core, the rise of AI in children’s books is a reflection of societal trends that prioritize efficiency, scalability, and profit over depth, authenticity, and connection. This is driving a shift in how many view creative work – not as a craft worth cultivating, but as a money-making commodity to be mass-produced. Some have started treating stories as products rather than the precious tools they are for growth and imagination.

This shift raises even more critical questions:

What happens when creativity is devalued?
As the late L. Ron Hubbard said, “A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists.”

If stories are created by machines instead of people, we risk turning creativity into an afterthought, reducing art to a commodity. This deprives children of the chance to see themselves as creators and storytellers. Children absorb what they see. If books lose their soul, they may stop viewing art and storytelling as worthwhile pursuits, and that would be a tragedy.

Who gets left behind in a world of AI-driven “creativity”?
If publishers choose AI because it’s cheaper, what happens to human authors, especially those just starting out? Will voices, like yours, struggle to find their place in a market that values speed and cost over creativity, and that is flooded with low-quality AI books? Writers pour their heart and hard-won skill into their stories. This AI shift poses a threat to authors and illustrators who rely on their craft not only for income but as a way to connect with readers.
Are we solving the wrong problem?
The appeal of AI often stems from a perceived problem: “Human-created books are too expensive or time-consuming.” But that’s the wrong focus.

Instead, we should be asking:

How important are high-quality, human-created children’s books?
How much are we willing to commit to preserving the magic and meaning they provide?

As an author, are you committed to this journey enough to create a book that truly means something? That means dedicating the time, effort, and resources it takes to create something wonderful, a story with heart and a soul.

And the question isn’t just about the value of children’s books, it’s about the value of the creative process itself.

AI isn’t the solution; it’s a distraction from the real problem: undervaluing creativity and the people who bring stories to life.

Want to see real examples of books that may have been created using AI?

Here are a few books on Amazon. Use “read sample” to look inside and judge for yourself.

Disclaimer: These examples are shared for educational purposes. In my opinion, these books feature AI-generated images and/or text. My goal is simply to help authors identify common traits of AI-generated books.

AI images (and, I suspect,) text: Max And The Injured Turtle
AI images and text: The Little Girl Who Overcame Her Fear
AI images and text: The Great Underwater Treasure Hunt
AI images and text: How would we live in a world without PINK?

The text says:

Imagine a world without a trace of pink, Where
roses are red, but some fade to brink.
Cherry blossoms bloom in shades not found, A
soft blush lost, no petals around.

AI images: Tess Grandison. Note the character on the cover of and inside Pete and the Broken Vase (below):

AI images and text: Donna Plata
AI images and text: Olivia’s Colorful Adventure
AI images (and, I suspect,) text: Bobby’s Busy Day
AI images: Luna Lark

In my opinion, some AI “authors” may be paying for reviews, as certain books show an unusually high number of glowing reviews despite their poor quality. Additionally, some of these reviews have wording that seems AI-generated.

This highlights the ethical concerns around the use of AI to create books. Because they haven’t actually written and gotten their book illustrated, they seem to show a lack of respect for the industry and for authors who poured their heart and sweat into their book. It reflects a mindset of viewing books as commodities to make money, instead of a responsibility towards the reader and an art.

Over to You!

What are your thoughts on using AI in children’s books? Comment and let me know. I’d love to hear your take!

It may be hard work, but I believe if you want to create an outstanding book, you absolutely can. Don’t let self-doubt or the convenience of AI overshadow the incredible gift of your creativity.

Let’s keep publishing books that our children deserve.

The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle – Issue #04