A Downloadable Children's Book Map
If you haven’t written a children’s book yet, I highly recommend starting with a 32-page structure. Yes, you can make your book longer or shorter, but, on average, children’s picture books are 32 pages in length.
Generally speaking, picture books are laid out like this (note – this part of the blog might get confusing due to the amount of pictures. I am posting the picture first and the descriptions are below the image.):
The opposite side of the cover is called the inside cover and does not count as a page.
Page 1 is the Title page. Here, you can put your title, author and illustrator credit, publishing company, ISBN, and copyright info.
Some authors choose to illustrate this page as well adding decorative elements as a border or adding characters.
Page 2 is the back of the Title page and is blank. So, as a rule, odd numbers are on the right and even numbers are on the left.
Page 3 is your Dedications page. This isn’t required, but it is nice. You can also just put a little illustration here or quote.
Page 4 is blank and is the back of the Dedication page.
Pages 5 through 27 are your story pages. All of the writing you actually do will go on these pages.
Pages 26 and 27 will wrap up your story.
Page 28 is blank. Your “THE END” statement will go on Page 29.
Page 30 is blank, and Page 31 is the Author’s Note and Other Books/Learn More details.
The final page is Page 32 which is the back of the Author’s Note page and is typically blank.
When I’m writing a children’s picture book, I use this map to help me stay on track and within the 32-page structure.
You can download a PDF just like the one pictured above and a blank version as well by clicking the download button below.