How to Use Mentor Texts to Write Better Picture Books

The KidLit Creator’s Chronicle – Issue #55

Sometimes I’ll read a picture book, and it hits my heart in exactly the right place and in the right way. Feeling very inspired, I think I want to write something like this. I’m sure you’ve experienced that same feeling.

I see this with authors I work with all the time. They discover a book they love, they get fired up, and they go straight to their own manuscript. Which is wonderful.

But that’s where most authors stop. They let the book inspire the idea, and then they set it aside. They don’t go back and study it. They don’t ask themselves why it worked, dissect the structure, pacing, plot, character.

They read it as a reader, not as a writer.

And that can make a huge difference–the difference between being inspired by a book and actually learning from it.

What is a mentor text?

A mentor text is a published book you study to improve your own writing. You don’t just read it. You study it.

You’re looking at how it’s put together. How the author developed the character and plot, where the page turns fall, what the first line does, how the story resolves…

You read like a writer, asking questions the whole way through.

This is one of the most powerful tools available to picture book authors, and it costs nothing but time and a library card.

How to use a mentor text

Choose the right book for your project

Not every book you love will make a good mentor text for what you’re working on right now (or want to work on). You need a book that contains what you need to master for your own manuscript. That might be the tone or voice (funny, lyrical, quiet, bold), structure (circular, cumulative, problem-solution), or point of view. Books for the same age group are best.

Traditionally published books are your safest bet, because they’ve been through a rigorous editorial process. It can also be worth seeking out debut titles specifically, because where a well-known author’s later books benefit from an established fanbase and years of word-of-mouth, a debut from an unknown author had to earn its place purely on the strength of the book itself.

Read it three times

The first time, read it as a reader. Just enjoy it.

The second time, slow down. Notice the structure. Count the spreads. Mark where the tension builds and where it lessens. Pay attention to the first line and the last line. Ask yourself: what is this book actually about, underneath the surface story?

The third time, focus on one specific element you want to strengthen in your own work, like pacing or voice. How the text and illustrations work together. Don’t study everything at once. Rather read it more times.

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Map out the structure

I once went through many picture books and diagrammed their pacing. I showed what percentage of the book was set-up, where the inciting incident happened, what percentage was rising action, and so on. Exercises like that are extremely helpful to give you a better idea of how great picture books look structurally.

Picture books with the same plot types follow a similar structure, even when it isn’t obvious at first glance. Try to map it out. Where does the problem appear? Where does the main character try and fail? Where does the turning point come? How does it resolve?

Understanding the structure of a book that works is one of the fastest ways to diagnose what isn’t working in your own manuscript. When you can see the bones of a published book, you start to see where your own bones might be missing or out of place.

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Read more than one

One mentor text will only teach you so much. When you study several books that have something in common, you start to see patterns. These patterns are what help you to understand what makes a great picture book.

If you want to write a funny picture book with a grumpy main character, read ten of them. You’ll quickly see what they all have in common (apart from just a grumpy character). You may also notice a gap that nobody has done yet, giving your book a unique opportunity.

“But what if I accidentally copy it?”

Studying a mentor text is not copying. You’re not stealing sentences or characters (or you shouldn’t!). You’re learning technique. It’s the same as a painter studying the masters, or a musician learning from the artists they love. The goal is to understand how something works so that you can do something original with that understanding.

What you take from a mentor text is structural knowledge, craft instinct, and a clearer sense of what you’re aiming for. What you write is your own creation.

Almost every author you admire learnt from the authors they admired.

In practice

I’ve seen this play out numerous times when someone is struggling with their manuscript. For instance, their pacing might feel off, they can’t get the ending to work, or something just doesn’t feel right, but they’re not sure what…

One of the best solutions is to find three, five, or ten published picture books similar to what they’re trying to write and really study those books. Almost always, something will click because they will see how those books handle the problem that they’re struggling with. They’ll see something the author is doing that they’re not doing, or something the author didn’t do that they are doing, which they need to remove. They can go back to their own manuscript and improve it.

That’s what a mentor text can give you. Not just inspiration, but direction.

Over to you!

Pick one picture book you love and read it again,this time reading it like a writer. Ask yourself why it works. How is the plot laid out? How does the author build tension? What does the author trust the illustrator to handle?

Don’t ask all the questions at once. Start with one question and see what you notice. You might be surprised by how much you find.

If you give this a try, tell me what you discovered in the Comments!

I also publish regular videos for children’s book authors on my YouTube channel. If you haven’t subscribed yet, come and join me there!