The Personal Blog of Dan Bodenstein

So we now have a story concept, “a penguin that wishes he could fly”. Next we have to establish why the penguin thinks this way and more importantly, the end lesson.

Let’s say he loves watching birds. After all, who doesn’t. He loves to see them take flight and zoom through the air. He thinks they are simply amazing. Being a penguin, sorely he can’t fly, but he can swim. We still need to establish the lesson. The lesson will be one of the reasons your book will be purchased. The lesson should be something a child can relate to, even if the parent has to explain it the first time through. For our story, the lesson could be something like learning to be yourself, or perhaps he learns that he can fly, but unlike the birds he loves, water is his sky. Yeah. I like that.

Now we need to establish what makes him realized this. Some event must happen for him to step up and show his true skill, and how it compares, or contrasts his love of flying. What if something happens so that he becomes the only one who can solve a problem primarily because of his swimming ability.

See how the story is developing. One decision leads to another.

So what could happen? Remember, the story is about a penguin that wishes he could fly. The event should involve a bird as they are a point of interest in the story. Read more »

I am often asked the question, “How do you write a children’s book?” I honestly never knew how to answer that. I’ve only published one children’s book, and I have one set to be published later this year. In all truthfulness, I never really considered myself a children’s book writer.  But, hey … I’ve written two books. People who have read my second book really think its great, and I know my first book is good just based on sales. So I guess I am qualified to answer that question. But how do you answer a question that has so many steps to it. There is no one answer. It’s not like people ask, what’s your favorite color? (Hunter green by the way).

So although I cannot answer the question simply, I can explain my process. I am going to create a multi-part series on how I write a children’s book. So without further ado, here we go.

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