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20 Online Courses to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books

• by Domestika @domestika

Learn how to create engaging stories for children and young adults with these top courses for beginners

Books help stimulate young readers' imaginations , offering them an opportunity to explore new worlds filled with adventure, fantasy, and humor . At the same time, they help children and teens develop a better understanding of the world we live in, by sharing information about daily life in a fun and engaging way.

To create a story that appeals to future generations, you’ll need to create that magic, using both words and illustrations. It’s a skill that involves various techniques as you learn to develop plot, characters, language, and images .

Ready to get started? Read on for fifteen online expert-led courses to learn the process of creating a children’s book every step of the way—whether you’re interested in writing, illustrating, or a mix of both.

But first, let’s take a look at some of the main characteristics that define these genres.

Common characteristics in books for children and young people

To get started as a children’s book writer or illustrator, you’ll need to understand the features that are typical of these genres. Three of the main characteristics include:

1. Simple stories with a deeper meaning and takeaway message that can teach something.

2. Images often play a central role. However, the relationship between text and illustration can be either complementary or contradictory, depending on the message.

3. In children’s book illustration especially, there is often an open approach to using various techniques. Some common styles include collage, ink, watercolors, acrylics, or pop-ups .

Children’s book illustration courses

From illustrations inspired by nature to vintage-style drawings, learn how to create images that encourage young readers' imaginations.

1. Vintage Illustration for Engaging Children’s Books, a course by Ingela P Arrhenius

Children’s illustration gives us the opportunity to pique curiosity in the minds of young readers from an early age through words and images. Illustrator Ingela P Arrhenius ( @hello_ingela ) specializes in doing just that through her bold and colorful artwork, and has illustrated and published multiple children’s books.

In this course, Ingela teaches you how to design an illustrated children’s book with a vintage twist . Create a visual universe that inspires young readers by exploring i llustration techniques, playful typography, and book design .

2. Animal Characters in Watercolor for Children’s Books, a course by Julie Mellan

Watercolor allows you to paint atmospheres and bring a personal approach to any scene. Illustrator Julie Mellan ( @julie_mellan ) uses it to create captivating illustrations for children’s books. She explores color, light, and shadow to paint images full of personality that have been published by the likes of Penguin Random House, Clavis, and Fleurus.

In her course, you will learn to create animal characters in watercolor for children’s books . Create dynamic and expressive animal protagonists as Julie guides you through all the stages—from your initial ideas and sketches to deciding color schemes, and more.

3. Character Creation for Illustrated Stories, a course by Valentina Toro

Learn the tools to write and illustrate characters, both inside and out, by understanding their essence and their world with illustrator and writer Valentina Toro ( @valentinatorog ).

In her course on character creation for illustrated stories , Valentina teaches you how to create a character using a text to understand their essence , while sharing all the tools you need to write and illustrate a scene inhabited by your story's protagonists.

If you'd like to delve even deeper, take a look at her other course, Illustrating and Writing a Children's book .

4. Illustrated Children's Books: Create a Unique Story, a course by Weberson Santiago

An illustrator defines their style in their strokes, lines, and colors that evoke certain feelings or sentiments in their viewers. Building on that principle, in this course, you will develop a story idea graphically , by learning how to create illustrated children's books with a unique visual narrative .

Teacher, author, and illustrator Weberson Santiago ( @webersonsantiago ) will guide you through each step with a series of exercises, showing you how to create characters and build the environment using a variety of composition techniques.

5. Wildlife Illustration for Children's Books, a course by Dieter Braun

The natural world offers endless inspiration for people of all ages. Get inspired by wildlife to create a nature-inspired storybook that reminds children of the world we live in with help from illustrator and author Dieter Braun ( @dieter_2 ).

In his course, Wildlife Illustration for Children's Books , dive into the world of illustration and learn how to turn your sketches into digital drawings full of texture and color. Then, learn his tips for bringing it all together creating a double-page spread for a children’s book .

Picturebook courses

Learn to create memorable stories that shape young minds by combing both words and pictures.

6. Visual Narrative for Picturebooks: Create a Playful World, a course by Renata Galindo

Discovering a story through both visual and verbal language has the power to spark young imaginations on multiple levels. Explore this art further by diving into the world of visual storytelling with published author and illustrator Renata Galindo ( @r_galindoprieto ).

Renata is passionate about combining visual and verbal narratives to tell compelling stories full of surprises. In her course on creating a visual narrative for picturebooks , she guides you through writing, illustrating, and designing your first story.

7. Pitch Writing for Non-fiction Picturebooks, a course by Isabel Thomas

When it comes to writing a non-fiction children’s book, the choice of topics is endless, and each of them can help young readers learn more about the world around them .

An award-winning science writer and children's book author, Isabel Thomas ( @isabelthomas ) has written over 180 non-fiction titles, published in over thirty languages. The first step in her process? Writing a pitch that captures the attention of publishers.

Sharing her expertise on how to write a pitch for non-fiction picturebooks , in this course she shows you step-by-step how to create an original idea and craft it into a polished pitch . Explore strategies for ideation, storyboarding, writing a sample text , and more.

8. Picturebook Creation, a course by Flavia Z Drago

Learn the differences between an illustrated book, a picturebook, and all the different types that exist along with their characteristics in this picturebook creation course by Flavia Zorrilla Drago ( @flavia_zdrago ).

Flavia has collaborated with publishers Combel, Petra, Delete Dog, Walker Books, and the Mexican Secretariat of Culture to author illustrated albums for children of all ages. In her course, you will learn about the basic narrative principles and find brilliant ideas for creating your own illustrated album .

9. Creation of a Children's Picturebook, a course by Claudia Rueda

If you would like to learn all the steps involved in creating an illustrated children’s book for young readers, Claudia Rueda ( @clau_2 ) is the ideal person to guide you.

An author and illustrator who has published more than thirty books, in her course Claudia takes you through the full process for creating children's picturebooks . From setting up the album book to making a final mock-up, you’ll learn how to plan and create your picturebook project from scratch combining narrative and illustration in a unique way.

Children’s book writing courses

Children’s fiction writing is a chance to take the imagination of young minds on fantastical journeys, whilst diving into an exciting literary journey of your own!

10. Introduction to Writing a Children’s Fantasy Novel, a course by Piers Torday

Embark on a writer’s journey to create a children’s novel that transports the little ones to another universe and inspires them to ask big questions in this children’s fantasy novel writing course for beginners .

With children’s book author and recipient of the Guardian Award for Children’s Fiction, Piers Torday ( @ptorday ), discover the creative process behind world-building, plot development, and character arcs that can inspire the next generation.

11. Children’s Fiction: Write Compelling Adventure Stories, a course by Ross Montgomery

Explore the process of writing a captivating quest story for children and create a one-page synopsis of your book ready to submit to a literary agent with Ross Montgomery ( @rossjamesmontgomery ).

A children’s author whose stories invite young readers into worlds full of oddity, mischief, and laughter, in his children’s adventure fiction writing course , he helps you explore what a children’s book is, understand your readers, develop your plot , and learn how to approach publishers with your story.

12. Creating Children's Stories, a course by Ilan Brenman

Experiences from daily life offer all kinds of avenues for exploration when it comes to creating stories that really connect with young readers . If you want to write a story that leaves an impact, learn how in Ilan Brenman’s ( @ibrenman ) course on creating children's stories .

An award-winning children's book author and international best-seller, with Ilan you’ll discover techniques to develop your own creative writing process. Study the key components of a narrative structure , learn how to turn your ideas into an outline , discover how illustrations interact with text , and lots more.

13. Writing Children's Novels from Start to Finish, a course by Olney Goin

Ready to start writing your first children’s novel? Author Olney Goin ( @olneygoin ) knows all kinds of tricks of the trade to enhance your creativity , bring characters to life, and get you started on writing your first fantasy adventure .

With Olney as your teacher, l earn how to write a children's novel, from start to finish . Transform the ordinary into the extraordinary and write your first novel for young readers—from the initial idea to the final page.

Pop-up book courses

Learn the art of paper folding and cutting to create 3D worlds that will get young readers excited to turn each page.

14. Pop-Up Book Creation, a course by Silvia Hijano Coullaut

Pop-up books are a feat of storytelling and paper engineering that rely on various stages (cutting, folding, assembling, and binding) to create a new world for the reader to dive into with every turn of the page.

An expert in this artform, founder of the Libracos studio, Silvia Hijano Coullaut ( @silvia_libracos ) will teach you the essential skills to create your own pop-up book in her course (audio available in English and Spanish).

If you want to continue improving your technique, check out her second course, Advanced Techniques for Creating Pop-Up Books .

15. Paper Cutting Techniques for Storytelling, a course by Karishma Chugani

Learn the manual techniques to craft a theater book using paper and scissors in this course by illustrator, fashion designer, and founder of L’École de Papier, Karishma Chugani ( @karishma_chugani ).

By experimenting with a few tools and your imagination, you can tell all kinds of stories. With Karishma to teach you, learn paper-cutting techniques for storytelling as you make your own theater book (a hybrid between a tunnel book and a paper theater).

16. Children's Book Illustration: A story in a moment, a course by Mark Hoffmann

In this children's book illustration course , you'll master the art of creating illustrations that blend seamlessly with narratives, using color, texture, and character design to captivate young readers. Learn to hint at the past and future within a single illustration, refining concepts, palettes, and text integration. Gain essential skills for painting narrative moments, making your storytelling shine.

17. Children’s Illustration with Procreate: Paint Magical Scenes, a course by Lucy Fleming

Explore the art of children's illustration with Lucy Fleming in Children’s Illustration with Procreate: Paint Magical Scenes. This course delves into Procreate techniques for creating enchanting digital art, from concept development to final composition. Alongside practical Procreate skills, it offers insights into story crafting and portfolio building, ideal for anyone aspiring to captivate young audiences.

18. Sketchbook Techniques for Children's Illustration, a course by Ema Malyauka

Ema guides you through sketchbook practices, character creation, and color use. This course, perfect for aspiring artists, emphasizes sketchbook experimentation and developing a unique style, culminating in your own fairytale illustration. Discover the power of a sketchbook in bringing your imaginative stories to life.

19. Picturebook Character Illustration with Procreate, a course by Gozde Eyce

Explore the art of creating captivating children's book characters with the 'Picturebook Character Illustration with Procreate' course . This course focuses on crafting digital characters that engage and inspire young readers. You'll learn to develop characters from initial sketches to expressive, colorful illustrations, culminating in a professional portfolio piece. Perfect for anyone looking to enrich their portfolio with memorable, child-friendly characters

20. Imaginative Character Illustration with Watercolor, a course by Emma Thrussell

In the course Imaginative Character Illustration with Watercolor , you'll learn to transform imaginative ideas into vivid watercolor characters. This is a unique opportunity for artists at any level to develop and bring their whimsical characters to life, from concept to final digital touches.

Learn more top tips for creating children’s books

If you want to continue exploring the world of children's books, read on for more top resources and advice from the experts.

- Discover the key dos and don'ts of writing for young readers in this storytelling tutorial on writing children's books .

- Learn tips to make your illustrated characters stand out with this children’s illustration tutorial for character design .

- If you want to hear more industry advice and follow in the footsteps of experts, check out any of Domestika's online children's illustration courses .

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Children’s Books 101: Writing for the Right Age Group

Taught by: Anna Bowles

So you want to write for children? That’s great. But before you take another step, answer this question: who exactly are these children you’re writing for?

Four-year-olds and fourteen-year-olds like different kinds of story — that much is obvious. But when you’re growing up, what you like and even who you are can change from year to year. Many aspiring authors effectively rule themselves out of publication by creating characters that are spot-on for eight-year-olds but making their story far too long, or devising a thrilling, complicated plot only to include dialogue that’s too simple for older readers.

Age-appropriateness is the number one issue on any editor or agent’s mind when they’re assessing submissions. As a children’s author, you need to make sure your book is tailored to its market.

What you'll learn in this course

• An introduction to the children's book market
• What publishers are looking for in children's books for different ages
• Industry standards for books in all categories including appropriate content, word count, and illustration requirements
• How to give yourself the best chance of landing a publisher.

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What are people saying about this course?

"This course was VERY helpful. I am mainly interested in writing picture books but the other information was very helpful if I were ever to want to try my hat at a book for older children."

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Workshops and Resources for Writers & Illustrators

Helping authors and illustrators inspire kids since 1985.

From that first spark of an idea all the way to a finished book, it can be a long (and sometimes lonely) road to give shape to the stories within you.

That’s why at the Highlights Foundation, we start with what’s beyond your pages.

We start with the kids who will read them.

It’s an approach that’s ingrained in our DNA: our purpose lies in the young minds that will be educated, informed, and inspired by the stories you tell.

We positively impact those young minds by supporting you —the writers, the illustrators, and professionals who bring story to children, teens, and young adults.  We help you find craft and community through workshops, retreats, online courses, and resources that help you tell the best stories you can.

Because when you succeed in your mission, so do we.  And it’s kids who benefit most.

Whether you’re just starting out, or continuing to navigate the complexities of this industry—if you believe in the power of story for kids, we’re glad you’re here.

Craft & Community

For writers and illustrators who inspire kids through story.

Working Retreats

Learn, network, and get time and space to create with high faculty:student ratios and all meals and lodging included.

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Choose mini courses, short intensives, or longer workshops with feedback opportunities built-in.

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Reserved and respected spaces for children’s authors and illustrators to find connected care, learning, growth, and collaboration.

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Get inspiration and space to work with your own personal retreat, or bring your group and share our campus.

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“The Highlights Foundation launched my writing career… I signed my first book contract shortly after [my first workshop], and within a year, I’d signed eight more contracts. The Highlights Foundation changed my life, and I’m forever thankful. ”

“ The Highlights Foundation is quite literally where the foundation of my professional writing career was laid. lt is where I learned the basics of craft, met my critique group, and got plugged into the kidlit community.”

Crystal Allen attended her first workshop with the Highlights Foundation in 2005.  Now she's the author of more than seven books for kids.  Learn more about Crystal's story.

Chelsea Tornetto found confidence to complete and publish her picture books.  Learn more about Chelsea's story.

Rachel Werner has pursued her passions and signed seven book deals after a career- and life-transforming experience with the Highlights Foundation.  Learn more about Rachel's story.

Claire London shares how she got from an idea to a sale to publication of her graphic novel after a workshop at the Highlights Foundation.  Learn more about Claire's story.

“I have a two-book contract, and book two is due later this year.  I am inspired by being a part of the Highlights Foundation, and find that writing is easier, more enjoyable, and the quality is better because of what I am learning in the workshops .”

“ I’d never really experienced such a feeling of community among writers and artists as I did at the workshops. It made me realize how many creative people share this love of storytelling, and how willing others are to share their insights.”

“How had I never known that the perfect writer’s retreat existed at the Highlights Foundation Campus? I had such a wonderful time finishing my novel.”

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The Highlights Foundation positively impacts children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves.

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Our community fulfills our mission every day, as they bring their stories to kids through words and art.

He took the book from his brother, and he read it. It was my first letter. And in the letter it said, “My father is from a small village in Senegal. And I’ve never been there, but I was there in your story.”

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Creative Journaling and Story Writing Classes

How do we do it?

What do we offer, weekly classes for children and teens, journaling & creative writing workshops, who attends our courses.

Our courses serve gifted children who need to be stretched, children for whom English is a second language, children who are mad about stories, and children with learning difficulties who need support.

For all students the by-product of attending our courses is increased confidence, compassion for others and excellent writing skills, which benefit them greatly in secondary school and beyond.

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is the art of writing stories from our own imagination.

It uses language to create imaginary worlds, original characters and plot.

The practice helps us understand ourselves and our world better.

Why send your child to us?

We have been inspiring students to write brilliant stories since 2007.  Students return to classes year after year because they are inspiring and fun.

By practicing the elements of story telling, students gain fluency and confidence in their writing. By creating characters, they develop greater understanding of themselves and others.

The results are confident writers who produce beautiful stories. Past students have won national writing competitions and often do exceptionally well in English at school.

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Why Creative Writing?

We offer creative writing classes to children because we want to teach them how to write brilliant stories!

Children LOVE to create characters and new worlds. Gifted children as well as children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties excel in our classes because the focus is on fun and they can write about whatever they want: unicorns, bombs, animals, war, friendship, loss or anything at all. Most importantly the children are given the opportunity to express themselves and be heard when they read their work aloud in class.

Megan loved to read as a child and she thought authors were magical beings – she still does. Her greatest dream was that she would one day write a novel and become one of those magical beings too – eventually it happened!

As a child, she didn’t think that she could become an author for two reasons:

• She wasn’t very good at spelling. Their, shoes and diary were particularly difficult words for her. She still get some words muddled up.
• She didn’t think she was good enough.  We don’t want this to happen to other children.

It gives us the greatest of pleasure to encourage children, especially anxious ones, to escape into their own imagination. We want them to experience the thrill of creating their own stories, and to know that this tool is available to them whenever they find real life difficult. Discovering they can create stories, gives children an immense boost in confidence and appreciation for themselves.

Our Aim is:

• to encourage children to believe in themselves and know that they can write fantastic stories too.
• to help children find this precious place inside themselves.
• to create the next generation of storytellers.

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Written by Scott Wilson

The very first books you read to children can shape them for a lifetime.

A trip to the Hundred Acre Wood or Neverland can sparks the imagination of new and foreign places, a far cry from the mundane days at home and preschool. Pinocchio’s particular disability and predilection demonstrates the value of honesty in ways that no number of parental lectures could achieve. The journey of Mowgli through the jungles introduces social hierarchy and the importance of family in the most visceral way.

Telling tales to young children is an ancient practice that evolved into an entire category of classic literature and fairy tales.

Modern authors who want to follow in the footsteps of the Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll need the special skill of telling entertaining tales in simple language with vivid imagery. Children’s story authors may need a multidisciplinary background, skilled in illustration as well as writing for picture books.

From primers designed to teach the alphabet to meditations on what it would be like to have a giant red dog bigger than your own house, there are plenty of opportunities in creative writing to craft children’s books that draw laughter, forge understanding, and unleash empathy in the very newest readers.

But it takes a special skill and a wildly creative imagination to both invent the sort of stories to grab the attention of children and bring those visions to life. Both of those qualities can come to you with a degree in creative wring.

What Is Children’s Literature?

In general, when people talk about children’s books, they are talking about works aimed at kids under the developmental age of approximately 12 years old. They tend to be short chapter or picture books with limited text to each page, a restricted vocabulary, and short, to-the-point ideas and story lines.

There’s no bright line between young adult and children’s literature. Much depends on the developmental stage of the child. Like any other sort of genre distinction, it’s as much about marketing as it is about the actual audience for the books.

Kid lit can further be grouped by genre or by the target age range of the reader.

Children’s literature is often intended to be a combination of entertaining and instructive.

Kid’s books can be designed either to be read to young children, or to introduce them to reading and the wider world of literature. Because the audience for these works are still building vocabulary and linguistic skills, not only do children’s book authors have to keep their style and word use straightforward, but they also often incorporate strong visual elements in those books.

Children’s books are commonly illustrated and may in fact use visual story-telling as much as the written word. Authors in this genre don’t have to be illustrators, but they do have to be able to think visually and work with other professionals for drawing and illustration.

There are plenty of sub-genres in kid lit, too. Just a few examples include:

First Books

Just what it says on the label, these are books that are designed to be the very first introduction to language and stories for babies or toddlers. Because they are very much for pre-literate children, though, they may actually be more complex and have fewer illustrations since they are designed to be read to the child by an adult.

Picture Books

In the opposite direction are picture books. These are the traditional illustration-focused early readers designed to start kids off with language and words directly. They typically tell the story mainly through the pictures, with the words places carefully to associate meaning. Consequently, they may only have 200 or 300 words through the entire work—but each one is important!

Board Books

Board books are also designed for toddlers and other demographics that may be especially hard on the physical construct of a book. They are printed on thicker cardboard stock that is easier for tiny fingers to flip through and more resistant to tearing, bending, and juice spillage. They can overlap with other genres but are usually matched with picture and early readers.

Educational Books

These children’s books fall more toward the didactic end of the spectrum. They are designed to offer some sort of new information about the world or people in it. They can cover culture, cross-cultural concepts, or weighty matters like death, illness, or how to cope with a new brother or sister in the family.

Early Readers

These books fall just after picture books in the developmental age range of children’s books. They are designed to expand reading skills and vocabulary after the first initial foundations are put in. They are more advanced, with a greater focus on language and story, with illustration offered only as a supporting element. They may be longer than other kinds of children’s books and have more plot and substance, but still are written with direct grammar and basic vocabulary.

Middle Grade

These books are probably the most advanced in the kid lit spectrum, overlapping and blurring together with young adult works. They aimed at kids who are developmentally between 8 and about 13 years old. Consequently, they can be more advanced and may also deal with more advanced subjects—making new friends, fitting in to society, finding your own way in the world apart from your parents.

As you can see, it’s a wide open field with a lot of room for developing your own creativity and ideas. It’s also a genre that is inextricably linked with education. Even in the more entertaining work of kid lit fantasy, new words, new ideas, and new ways of envisioning the world are being passed along. Good children’s authors understand their work on every level.

Are Comic Books Children’s Literature?

It’s true in the United States, at least, that comics were originally aimed at and primarily read by children. As a format with the tried-and-true combination of pictures and words to tell the tale, they fall right in with picture books as an art form.

But as comic readers grew older, they didn’t necessarily put the books down. And some comic authors began taking on heavier, more mature subjects, weaving complex stories together in a format that began to be called a graphic novel.

It’s that very shift suggest the answer to the debate, though: some comics are clearly meant for kids, while others are not. Within the form, you can find as many different gradations and sub-genres as in traditional formats. And either way, when a child finds something they want to read, smart adults know to encourage them—words open new worlds.

Children’s Books Explore Tough Themes and Ideas in a Straightforward Way

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children. ~ Madeleine L’Engle

As you might expect from works for children, the issues and themes for kid’s books tend to be pretty straightforward. But that doesn’t mean they are simple. As the works that will be introducing and explaining many of the most challenging concepts in life to children for the first time, kid’s books have to be crafted very carefully. A children’s author needs the skill and sensibilities to talk about tough subjects ranging from death to divorce to sickness.

And, of course, poop.

In every case, it’s a lot to try to pack into a book that may only be 30 pages or so. Children’s books are a vessel carrying their audience on a voyage of discovery, both of the self and of the wider world.

On the other hand, writing for children can be remarkably freeing. Conventions requiring writers conform more or less to accepted consensual reality don’t really apply. Have a talking bear as the main character and no one will bat an eye. Pixies are real and people can take flight with happy thoughts and a little pixie dust sprinkled on them. That’s not sci-fi, it’s kid lit!

J.M. Barrie claims to have added the concept of pixie dust as a necessary ingredient for flight in his Peter Pan stories after a number of children in the real world ended up in hospital after attempting to take off with only happy thoughts to power them.

With the guard rails of reality removed from the course, however, the author of children’s books actually takes on more responsibility. Children are remarkably adept at sniffing out inauthentic stories or behavior. There’s nothing that will lose readers faster than a character behaving in a way that is not true to themselves or the story. A kid lit author has to, in some very real sense, live within the world they are creating.

How to Write a Children’s Book: Creative Writing Degree Programs Give You Exactly the Skills You Need

Sure, it's simple writing for kids…just as simple as bringing them up. ~ Ursula LeGuin

All these talents are tough to pick up on your own. But a degree in creative writing can help you hone many of them, as well as guiding you toward your own innate voice as a children’s author.

These programs come at your skillset for writing pitching children’s books from every direction. The ways they can boost your writing skills and career include helping you in areas such as:

Turning the Creativity Dial up to Eleven Through Reading and Writing

Additionally, your mind will be fueled with the essential stuff of imagination: a creative writing program comes with prodigious amounts of assigned reading. You’ll be exposed to many different authors in many genres, with different philosophies and styles that will inevitably influence your own.

Developing a Style All Your Own

Children’s authors are also famously inventive in terms of style. There’s nothing that sells a good line to an audience of children like wordplay. Many of the classics of the genre are written in rhyming or other poetic styles.

Not only will the extensive reading that comes with a creative writing degree expose you to all those styles and help you understand your own, but you’ll take courses that unpack the elements of verse and style. Professors will walk you through the operational mechanics of poetics, exploring the structure and form of different styles and their evolution. You’ll find gems and germs of ideas to help you create your own unique literary style to resonate with children.

Exploring the Evolving Psychological Bases of Your Audience

Creative writing degrees aren’t necessarily just all-writing, all-the-time. You’re studying at a university, one stacked up with the most advanced experts in every sort of field under the sun. And you have the opportunity and often the requirement to acquire a full-throated liberal arts education, one expanding your base of knowledge and experience to draw on for story ideas.

This particularly comes into play for children’s book authors through the availability of psychology coursework to help you explore what science has found about the stages of human development. You can take courses that help you unpack not just the thought and growth process of your core audience, but the actual physical and neurological components that go into those processes. That all goes to making you a more incisive, more capable writer of kid lit.

Getting the Essential Feedback to Hone Your Craft

The constant writing assignments that come along with creative writing studies aren’t just a way to work out your fingers. They also offer legitimate works that you will share with your cohort and receive helpful comments on. Everything from character building to tone to plotting can be improved with feedback. You’ll get plenty of it, and you’ll grow faster than you ever could alone.

Networking With Industry Professionals To Turn a Craft Into a Career

Children’s authors are up against one major challenge that most other writers don’t face: your audience is never going to browse, discover, and buy your books on their own.

One of the biggest benefits on the business side of being a children’s book author is that your audience is constantly renewing itself. A new crop of readers is coming up into your audience every year!

That means a professional network for publication and marketing is an absolute must. And both your classmates and professors can provide invaluable contacts for getting your career launched as they make their own way through the publishing industry. You may get a line on an agent from a professor who knows what they are looking for; a classmate may graduate and end up with a job at a major children’s book imprint and get your manuscript a look it would never have received otherwise.

You’ll also find that the experiences of professors and various guest authors provide valuable insights on how the publishing industry works. You’ll build up your business acumen as a part of being a children’s writer that you probably never considered before.

For Writers of All Stripes, Online Creative Writing Studies Offer New Freedoms With Traditional Rigor

Writing, after all, is a necessary solitary affair. As helpful and useful as professors and your fellow students can be in reading, reviewing, brainstorming, and offering suggestions along the way, when you get right down to it it’s just you and the keyboard during the most critical parts of learning to write absorbing children’s literature.

So you can save money and keep your individual flexibility wide open by pursuing your formal creative writing studies online. Keep your day job, or labor in a humble garret atop a mountain with only your inspiration for company—it’s all on the menu.

At the same time, with high-tech connections to your professors and classmates, you still have regular assignments, video chats to check in, and lengthy online dialogs to review. It’s the best of both worlds that has the added bonus of frequently coming at lower cost than an on-campus degree.

Most programs include at least a few on-campus or other in-person meetings, so you’re not just engaged with random faces on a small screen. You have the opportunity to make genuine connections and long-lasting friendships, while still preserving your personal latitude.

Degrees at Every Level Offer a Foot in the Door for Prospective Children’s Book Authors

That starts off with Certificates in Creative Writing . These take a handful of college-level courses and pack them into a tight schedule lasting only a few months. While they don’t offer the full range of training you find in a full degree program, they often come with tightly focused themes that may be just what you need—including specific options such as a Children’s Book Writing Certificate. They can be offered both at the post-secondary and graduate level, tailored to your individual experience level.

A step beyond certificates will take you to a two-year Associate Degree in Creative Writing or a four-year Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing . As the first level of degree-granting college studies, these programs are more structured and offer a broader level of education than a certificate. You’ll fulfill expansive general education requirements in areas like math, science, and social studies alongside your English and writing courses. With such broad studies, few options exist specific to writing for children, but you will put in strong foundations in spelling, grammar, plotting, and other essentials for any kind of creative writing career.

The real peak for most professional writers comes with a master’s degree in creative writing . Taking between two and three years to complete, an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing is considered to be the pinnacle of training in writing. Here, you will find concentrations in areas like the MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults, or dual degree programs such as a Master of Arts in Children’s Literature plus an MFA in Writing for Children. The level of individual investment in writing prowess that comes with an MFA can’t be beat. Nor can the direct attention of expert, and often widely published, instructors and guest lectures in tight-knit workshops.

There’s also potential to go beyond a master’s, earning a PhD in Creative Writing . But these programs are almost entirely devoted to polishing the research and academic skills needed to teach in the field rather than actively attempting to improve your own writing skills. Still, there are a handful of doctoral-level studies in creative writing that are aimed at producing quality writers rather than quality writing professors.

Each school that offers a creative writing program has a unique culture and conceptual approach to writing education. And the specialties of professors themselves go to shape the program, with their own writing and publication experience offering a preview of their teaching interests and style.

You’ll want to take all of that into account as you look for a school that offers the best shot at launching your own children’s writing career. When you land on the right program, it will put together your inspiration with the right mix of professionalism, expertise, and focus to help you realize your dreams… and spark new dreams in the next generation of readers.

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Creative Writing: Children’s Books

About this course.

Do you love writing or children? Have you dreamed of having your own book published? This course will guide you through the process of identifying the format and audience for your book, brainstorming ideas, developing a plot and characters, writing effectively, seeking and benefiting from feedback, and finally perfecting your manuscript to send off to an agent or publisher. Whether you know exactly what you want to write or are still fishing around for ideas, this course will take you to the next level through exercises designed to further your particular project.

After completing this course, the learner should be able to:

• Describe the features of different formats of children’s books
• Identify the elements of successful writing for children and common mistakes
• Come up with ideas, plots, and characters for a children’s book
• Recognize the elements of complex characters and a compelling plot
• Describe common children’s book plots
• Employ strategies for improving characters and plot development
• Rewrite effectively to strengthen your work
• Identify sources for feedback on your writing and opportunities for professional development
• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of different avenues for publication
• Recognize the importance of submission guidelines

Estimated length: 1.5 hours Access Time: 90 days CEUs: .15 Delivery: Online Cost: $29

Professional Development Institute

John P. Gorel, Director, Corporate Relations 570-945-8622

Email: [email protected]

Keystone College reserves the right to cancel or postpone any program due to insufficient enrollment or unforeseen circumstances. If a program is canceled, registrants will be notified and a refund will be processed. Requests for refunds for withdrawals must be submitted in writing five days prior to the start of the program. Refunds will not be issued for failure to attend a program.

Interested in more workshops? Check out the Keystone College Professional Development Institute's continuing education and personal enrichment course offerings below:

David Walliams

Writing books for children.

Write stupendous stories with the author who's sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

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Join David as he shares his top tips for creating funny fiction for little readers – from snappy titles to unforgettable heroes and villains.

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David Walliams, OBE, is an award-winning author of best-selling children’s books. He’s written 26 books that have sold over 37 million copies and been translated into 53 languages. He’s learnt a lot along the way and he’s here to teach you.

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Writing Books for Children Introduction

Research your childhood

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" Creative writing workshops for children "

Whether your child is a confident writer or struggles to get their ideas down on the page, The Story Room has something for everyone. Our relaxed workshop approach nurtures and inspires young writers, enabling them to think creatively and to develop their writing skills. Our tutors and workshop leaders are writers who passionately believe in the benefits of writing for all. We understand the difficulties that a writer faces in communicating their creative thoughts effectively and this enables us to work with children of all writing levels.

We love what we do and are forever on the hunt for new story-writing ideas for our writers!

Our broad range of activities are for children aged 5-16 years old. We run holiday workshops, term-time writing clubs, bespoke writing workshops, children’s birthday parties, author workshops and book clubs.

The Story Room is currently in Winchmore Hill N21 and online.

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Click here to listen to poetry written by our young writers in their Story Room workshops.

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Dear Parents, This is the time of year that you might be thinking of mocks for your child. I work with a team of experts in this field and this week we launch our new-look Succeed website which now includes online mocks as well as the physical mocks that we have provided for  years now. Many of you have asked  …

Milo And His Magic Skateboard by Kristina Tanso Clap clap clap and off we go! Meet Milo, an adventurous bulldog who can travel anywhere in the world on his magic skateboard. All he has to do is think of the destination of his dreams and clap his paws, and Milo can visit all his favourite places in the blink of  …

Today saw the end of our workshops in Friends House and it was a very fitting end to a wonderful week. I can’t tell you how much Michelle and I have enjoyed working with the children this week. Today we learnt about bees and how important they are to our eco-system. We got lots of information from The Woodland Trust  …

When we have a little spare time at the end of a workshop we like to write class poems and we just had to share this one with you because it is sooooooo good! We had spent the class writing discussing Michael Rosen’s Sun Sounds poem and decided to have fun writing a poem about Moon senses, so an acrostic  …

What happens in one of our creative writing sessions? The format of our sessions is pretty much the same whether we are online or in person. We always start with some inspiration for the children – whether it be listening to some music, studying a piece of art, or reading poetry or short stories/extracts from books. For example if our  …

These are our clubs in the beautiful building and gardens of Friends Meeting House, Church Hill, London N21 1LE.

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One Night in Winter

Author(s): Simon Sebag Montefiore

Location(s): Moscow

Genre(s): Fiction, Historical

Era(s): 1945

Buy from Amazon or your favourite bookseller

If  your  children were forced to testify against you, what terrible secrets would they reveal?

Moscow 1945.  As Stalin and his courtiers celebrate victory over Hitler, shots ring out. On a nearby bridge, a teenage boy and girl lie dead.

But this is no ordinary tragedy and these are no ordinary teenagers, but the children of Russia’s most important leaders who attend the most exclusive school in Moscow.

Is it murder? A suicide pact? Or a conspiracy against the state?

Directed by Stalin himself, an investigation begins as children are arrested and forced to testify against their friends – and their parents. This terrifying witch-hunt soon unveils illicit love affairs and family secrets in a hidden world where the smallest mistakes will be punished with death.

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“A master storyteller when writing as a historian, Sebag Montefiore’s fiction is just as compelling in this thriller set in Stalin’s Moscow.” (GQ)

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How One Author Pushed the Limits of AI Copyright

Last October, I received an email with a hell of an opening line: “I fired a nuke at the US Copyright Office this morning.”

The message was from Elisa Shupe, a 60-year-old retired US Army veteran who had just filed a copyright registration for a novel she’d recently self-published. She’d used OpenAI's ChatGPT extensively while writing the book. Her application was an attempt to compel the US Copyright Office to overturn its policy on work made with AI, which generally requires would-be copyright holders to exclude machine-generated elements.

That initial shot didn’t detonate—a week later, the USCO rejected Shupe’s application—but she ultimately won out. The agency changed course earlier this month after Shupe appealed, granting her copyright registration for AI Machinations: Tangled Webs and Typed Words, a work of autofiction self-published on Amazon under the pen name Ellen Rae.

The novel draws from Shupe’s eventful life , including her advocacy for more inclusive gender recognition. Its registration provides a glimpse of how the USCO is grappling with artificial intelligence , especially as more people incorporate AI tools into creative work. It is among the first creative works to receive a copyright for the arrangement of AI-generated text.

“We’re seeing the Copyright Office struggling with where to draw the line,” intellectual property lawyer Erica Van Loon, a partner at Nixon Peabody, says. Shupe’s case highlights some of the nuances of that struggle—because the approval of her registration comes with a significant caveat.

The USCO’s notice granting Shupe copyright registration of her book does not recognize her as author of the whole text as is conventional for written works. Instead she is considered the author of the “selection, coordination, and arrangement of text generated by artificial intelligence.” This means no one can copy the book without permission, but the actual sentences and paragraphs themselves are not copyrighted and could theoretically be rearranged and republished as a different book.

The agency backdated the copyright registration to October 10, the day that Shupe originally attempted to register her work. It declined to comment on this story. “The Copyright Office does not comment on specific copyright registrations or pending applications for registration,” Nora Scheland, an agency spokesperson says. President Biden’s executive order on AI last fall asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to make recommendations on copyright and AI to the White House in consultation with the Copyright Office, including on the “scope of protection for works produced using AI.”

Although Shupe’s limited copyright registration is notable, she originally asked the USCO to open a more significant path to copyright recognition for AI-generated material. “I seek to copyright the AI-assisted and AI-generated material under an ADA exemption for my many disabilities,” she wrote in her original copyright application. Shupe believes fervently that she was only able to complete her book with the assistance of generative AI tools. She says she has been assessed as 100 percent disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs and struggles to write due to cognitive impairment related to conditions including bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and a brain stem malformation.

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She is proud of the finished work and sees working with a text generator as a different but no less worthwhile method of expressing thoughts. “You don't just hit ‘generate’ and get something worthy of publishing. That may come in the future, but we're still far from it,” she says, noting that she spent upwards of 14 hours a day working on her draft.

After her initial registration was refused, Shupe connected with Jonathan Askin, founder of the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic at Brooklyn Law School, which takes pro bono cases centered on emerging tech and policy questions. Askin and Brooklyn Law student Sofia Vescovo began working on Shupe’s case and filed an appeal with the USCO in January.

The appeal built on Shupe’s argument about her disabilities, saying she should be granted copyright because she used ChatGPT as an assistive technology to communicate, comparing her use of OpenAI’s chatbot to an amputee using a prosthetic leg. The appeal claimed that the USCO “discriminated against her because of her disability.”

The Brooklyn Law appeal also claimed that Shupe should be granted copyright for compiling the book—that is, doing the work of selecting and organizing the snippets of AI-generated text. It provided an exhaustive log of how Shupe prompted ChatGPT, showing the custom commands she created and the edits she made.

It includes a side-by-side comparison of the unedited machine output and the final version of Shupe’s book. On a sentence level, she adjusted almost every line in some way, from changes in word choice to structure. One example describing a character in the novel: “Mark eyed her, a complex mix of concern and annoyance evident in his gaze” becomes “Mark studied her, his gaze reflecting both worry and irritation.”

The appeal cites another recent AI copyright decision about the graphic novel Zarya and the Dawn , which incorporates AI-generated images created with Midjourney. In February 2023, author Kris Kashtanova was granted copyright to the selection and arrangement of AI-generated images in the text, even though they were denied copyright on the specific images themselves.

When the USCO granted Shupe’s request for copyright, it did not address the disability argument put forth but agreed with the appeal’s other argument. Shupe could be considered the author of “selection, coordination, and arrangement of text generated by artificial intelligence,” the agency wrote, backdating her copyright registration to October 10, 2023, the day that Shupe had originally attempted to register her work. That gives her authorship of the work overall, prohibiting unauthorized wholecloth reproduction of the entire book, but not copyright protection over the actual sentences of the novel.

“Overall, we are extremely satisfied,” says Vescovo. The team felt that copyrighting the book’s compilation would provide peace of mind against out-and-out reproduction of the work. “We really wanted to make sure we could get her this protection right now.” The Brooklyn Law team hope Shupe’s approval can serve as a blueprint for other people experimenting with AI text generation who want some copyright protection.

“I’m going to take this as a win for now,” Shupe says, even though she knows that “in some ways, it’s a compromise.” She maintains that the way she uses ChatGPT more closely resembles a collaboration than an automated output, and that she should be able to copyright the actual text of the book.

Matthew Sag, a professor of law and artificial intelligence at Emory University, calls what the USCO granted Shupe “thin copyright”—protection against full-fledged duplication of materials that doesn’t stop someone from rearranging the paragraphs into a different story. “This is the same kind of copyright you would get in an anthology of poetry that you didn’t write,” Sag says.

Erica Van Loon agrees. “It’s hard to imagine something more narrow,” she says.

Shupe is part of a larger movement to make copyright law friendlier to AI and the people who use it. The Copyright Office, which both administers the copyright registration system and advises Congress, the judiciary system, and other governmental agencies on copyright matters, plays a central role in determining how works that use AI are treated.

Although it continues to define authorship as an exclusively human endeavor , the USCO has demonstrated openness to registering works that incorporate AI elements. The USCO said in February that it has granted registration to over 100 works with AI incorporated; a search by WIRED found over 200 copyright registration applications explicitly disclosing AI elements, including books, songs, and visual artworks.

One such application came from Tyler Partin, who works for a chemical manufacturer. He recently registered a tongue-in-cheek song he created about a coworker, but excluded lyrics that he spun up using ChatGPT from his registration. Partin sees the text generator as a tool, but ultimately doesn’t think he should take credit for its output. Instead, he applied only for the music rather than the accompanying words. “I didn’t do that work,” he says.

But there are others who share Shupe’s perspective and agree with her mission, and believe that AI-generated materials should be registrable. Some high-profile attempts to register AI-generated artworks have resulted in USCO refusals, like artist Jason M. Allen’s effort to get his award-winning artwork Théâtre D’opéra Spatial copyrighted last year. AI researcher Stephen Thaler has been on a mission for years to prove that he should be entitled to copyright protections for a work made by the AI system he developed.

Thaler is currently appealing a ruling in the US last year that rebuffed his attempt to obtain copyright. Ryan Abbott, the lead attorney on the case, founded the Artificial Inventor Project , a group of intellectual property lawyers who file test cases seeking legal protections for AI-generated works.

Abbott is a supporter of Shupe’s mission, although he’s not a member of her legal team. He isn’t happy that the copyright registration excludes the AI-generated work itself. “We all see it as a very big problem,” he says.

Shupe and her legal helpers don’t have plans to push the ADA argument further by contesting the USCO’s decision, but it’s an issue that is far from settled. “The best path is probably to lobby Congress for an addition to the ADA statute,” says Askin. “There's a potential for us to draft some legislation or testimony to try to move Congress in that direction.”

Shupe’s qualified victory is still a significant marker in how the Copyright Office is grappling with what it means to be an author in the age of AI. She hopes going public with her efforts will reduce what she sees as a stigma against using AI as a creative tool. Her metaphorical nuke didn’t go off, but she has nonetheless advanced her cause. “I haven't been this excited since I unboxed a Commodore 64 back in the 1980s and, after a lot of noise, connected to a distant computer,” she says.

Updated 17-4-2024, 4:35 pm EDT: President Biden's executive order on AI last year asked the US Patent and Trademark office to make recommendations on copyright and AI in consultation with the Copyright Office, it did not ask the Copyright Office itself to make the recommendations.

Updated 18-4-2024, 9 am EDT: This piece has been updated to clarify Stephen Thaler's position on AI system copyright.

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• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
• Thrillers & Suspense

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The Moscow Tape Paperback – June 7, 2013

• Print length 356 pages
• Language English
• Publication date June 7, 2013
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.81 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 1940227089
• ISBN-13 978-1940227085
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Born in 1950, John Nicholas Datesh lived mostly in and around Pittsburgh, PA until early 2009. At Brown University, he took many courses in writing as an excuse for doing just that. Then, at Boston University School of Law, he learned to mix in words and phrases like Hereinafter and It Depends .

After two years of losing reasons to stay, he moved cats Lila and Lucy Liu to a condo a mile east of Naples Bay in Florida. He left a Pittsburgh career in law, business and product development in favor of concentrating on writing fiction, winging blogs and cultivating beach chairs, presumably in that order of dedication.

He began writing fiction with a pencil and published his first three books, the SF/Mystery novel The Nightmare Machine ; the Soft-boiled Detective novel The Janus Murder ; and the International Suspense novel The Moscow Tape , in actual ink. All are evailable in virtual ink at e-book stores on the Web.

Also widely evailable are the short stories The Pro Station (WWII), The Final Equation (SF) and Reruns ad Infinitum (SF/Fantasy). They join the author's definitive Christmas short story, You Could Call It a Christmas Story as works published after the move to Naples.

He concocted a humorous/satiric blog at EmptyGlassFull.com shortly after moving. He has e-published a collection its other early posts, grandly entitled The Very First Blog Posts of All Time.

His 2013 novel, The Girl in the Coyote Coat , ignored the boundaries of mystery/suspense genre for which it was originally intended. No one would call it a romance, either. With a real estate and finance backdrop, the novel exposes how love, sex, money, scams, thievery, drugs, house shopping and fur coats can destroy the lives of complex and intriguing characters.

His four novels are also available in print as Trade Paperbacks.

Coming in the winter of 2014-15 is The Body in the Bog , the first novel in his Death by Condo mystery series.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Loiseau Development; 2nd edition (June 7, 2013)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 356 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1940227089
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1940227085
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.81 x 8.5 inches

About the author

John nicholas datesh.

Born in 1950, John Nicholas Datesh lived mostly in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until early 2009. At Brown University, he took many courses in writing as an institutionalized rationale for doing just that. Then, at Boston University School of Law, he learned to mix in words and phrases like It Depends and Hereinafter. It is unknown when he learned to use italics every third paragraph.

In Spring 2009, he moved cats Lila and Lucy Liu to a condominium one mile in from the east side of Naples Bay in Florida. He left his Pittsburgh career in law, business and product development in favor of concentrating on writing fiction, winging blogs and cultivating beach chairs, presumably in that order of dedication.

He began writing fiction with a pencil and published, on paper with actual ink, his first three books, the SF/Mystery novel The Nightmare Machine; the Soft-boiled Detective novel The Janus Murder; and the International Suspense novel The Moscow Tape. All three novels are currently evailable in virtual ink at e-book stores on the Web and in trade paperback.

Also widely evailable are the short stories The Pro Station (WWII), The Final Equation (SF) and Reruns ad Infinitum (SF/Fantasy). They join the author's definitive Christmas short story, You Could Call It a Christmas Story as works published after the move to Naples.

He concocted a humorous and/or satiric blog at EmptyGlassFull.com shortly after moving. His Christmas Story started out as post to the blog, and he has e-published a collection its other early posts, grandly entitled The Very First Blog Posts of All Time. As novel writing began to take more of his time, he sent blogging off on long vacation in Naples.

His 2013 novel, The Girl in the Coyote Coat, came to ignore the boundaries of mystery / suspense genre for which it was originally intended. No one would call it a romance, either. With a real estate and finance backdrop, the novel exposes how love, sex, money, scams, drugs, furs, and house-breaking / -shopping can affect the lives of complex and intriguing characters and even kill a few.

2016’s The Body in the Bog is a Sunset Noir mystery novel. It is the first in the author’s planned Death by Condo series starring prematurely retired lawyer Ian Decker. It begins with a body lying dead in a bog. The twists come later

His screenplay The Last Three Minutes was the first piece written partly on the beach and entirely in the Naples Bay scenery, though it is not set there. It is squarely in the cyber supernatural love story thriller genre. The Last Three Minutes has been adapted as a novel, if not a movie, by the author and will be out beginning December 2016, immediately after The Body in the Bog hits the virtual streets.

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