Our New Children’s Book is NOT a Story
Storybooks are great for kids. But great kids books are NOT all stories.
Take for instance the Dr. Seuss classic, The Foot Book.
Left foot
Left foot
Right foot
Right
Feet in the morning
Feet at night...
From the lilting pace and bold rhymes to the goofy pictures, it’s an undeniably fun read. But aside from the consistent appearance of one hairy brown creature, there’s no unifying plot elements or narrative that typically define what we call a “story.”
Check out this cute picture of my wife and daughter dressed up for a Dr. Seuss-themed Halloween party a few years ago. Lu was “Here comes pig feet!” and my wife was a beautiful Who from Whoville. (I was “fuzzy fur feet.”)
Coming Soon! (Whatever It Is…)
My newest children’s book with illustrator, Jacob Wenzka, doesn’t have a story either. In that regard, it’s different from our two previous books (Juniper Gets Wet and The Girl Who Kept Night In Her Closet).
The new book, which will be released before the holidays, is titled, Do NOT Read This Book At Bedtime. It’s a tongue-in-cheek approach to helping children settle down and fall asleep.
While the new book is pretty simple to describe, I’ve found it difficult to categorize a book without a story. It’s not exactly fiction, which typically tells a story of imaginary events. And it’s not non-fiction, which describes actual things and events—sometimes in the form of a story.
It’s Kind of a Concept
The category into which our book sort of fits is what’s called a “concept book.”
According to The Baby Book Nook, a concept book “is a picture book that teaches a broad concept to young readers.” But it doesn’t exclude books that use story to teach a concept.
Amazon divides its concept category into subsets for counting, colors, alphabet, opposites, seasons, size & shape, and other fundamentals for young kids. The top seller is everyone’s favorite, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, by Eric Carle.
Our new book is based on a concept—using visualization and breathing to elicit sleep—but I wouldn’t argue that it’s a fundamental concept on par with learning colors or the alphabet. And the book is as much an aid for parents and older children as it is for very young readers.
Let’s Not Overthink It
Well, I don’t want to belabor the point. But if any of you librarians or media specialists out there know a better categorization for a picture book without a story, please let me know.
Also, I’m putting together a list of some favorites that fit this description. So please add yours in the comments (and thanks to those of you who helped get this list started for me on Facebook!)
Jacob is putting the final touches on the illustrations now. So, I’ll be able to create a video and voiceover of the book to share with you soon. In the meantime, you can see some of Jacob’s early-stage drawings for the book below. Also, be sure to join the mailing list (at the bottom of the page) if you want to be alerted about release events online and in our hometown of Athens, GA.
BTW, here’s a live video production of The Foot Book that’s kind of cute. (Warning: if you get grossed out by looking at people’s feet, this definitely ISN’T for you.)
UPDATE: It’s an “Interactive” Book!
While looking for books similar to ours, I finally discovered the right category description: interactive.
The defining characteristic seems to be that interactive children’s books speak directly to the reader, asking them to do specific things. Hervé Tullet, author of Press Here and other fun books is the undisputed master of the category. Check out his titles and others in the list I created, “14 Interactive Children Books that are NOT Stories.”