Writing a children's book might sound easy—short pages, simple language, right? But how surprisingly tricky the task of creating something that will be read by kids can be. And coming up with a perfect idea is often the hardest part.
This guide can help you start your imagination, whether you're working on a picture book or a chapter book! You'll learn about fun and simple techniques to develop new ideas, along with 101 creative prompts to get those thoughts flowing. Let's get started!
Narrow Your Focus for a Great Children's Book Idea
To come up with excellent children's book ideas, the writer has to control his or her focus to make sure that the tale is interesting to the young reader. This begins with determining who the target age group is. For example, picture book ideas for kids differ significantly from good story ideas for kids.
Considering the stages of growth allows you to create age-appropriate and attractive children's stories. Focusing on certain children book themes, such as friendship, adventure, or learning, may help guide your storytelling and make your book more attractive to publishers and readers.
Different Age Ranges for Children's Books
Ideas for children's books are often classified by age group, and each category has specific characteristics. Knowing your target allows you to create your children's book ideas for greater effectiveness.
- Board Books: These are books with little text that are mostly colorful and visually attractive for young readers (ages 0–3).
- Picture books: Picture books are written for children ages 3 to 7 and use both text and images to tell straightforward yet engaging tales.
- Early Readers: Designed for children aged 5 to 8, these books use basic language to ease the transition from picture book ideas to novels with more text.
- Chapter Books: These include fewer illustrations and more complex narratives, making them appropriate for kids ages 7 to 10.
- Novels for middle school: It covers complex topics and issues and lasts for 8 to 12 years.
Popular Children's Book Themes and Settings
When brainstorming kid book ideas, think about popular themes and situations that grab the interest of kids. Common children's book themes include:
- Adventure: Tales with interesting adventures or missions.
- Friendship: Stories about friendships and how to get along with others.
- Family: Stories that highlight the values and dynamics of families.
- Fantasy: Including fantastical settings and magical aspects.
- Animals: Tales with animal characters that exhibit human characteristics.
Choosing a beautiful setting might also help your kids story ideas. Consider locales that arouse interest, such as magical woods, outer space, or underwater kingdoms.
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Types of Children's Books
Understanding a variety of children's books might inspire a variety of kid book ideas. According to Wordsrated in 2022, over 184 million children's fictional books are sold annually. So here are some types to consider.
- Concept books: These present fundamental ideas including colors, forms, and numbers.
- Toy Books: These books captivate young readers with interactive features like flaps or textures.
- Traditional literature: This contains fairy tales, fables, and folklore that have been passed down through centuries.
- Contemporary Fiction: Tales from the present era that kids may identify with.
- Non-Fiction: Books for education that present accurate facts about a range of subjects.
Children's Book Idea Prompts
To get your children's story ideas running, here are 101 suggestions to generate good story ideas for kids:
- Write about an animal that moves to a strange city.
- Write about a child going to a farm for the first time.
- Write about a child learning to read with the help of a few furry friends.
- Write about an animal learning the meaning of loyalty.
- Write about a character learning to make a new friend from a different background.
- Write about a cast of animals learning how to work as a team to accomplish some goal.
- Write a story about a character learning to share their favorite toy.
- Write about a character learning to be brave amid adversity.
- Write about a kid learning the importance of honesty.
- Write about a sloth who wants to become a comedian.
- Explore the difficulty of losing a pet (or experiencing a drastic life change).
- Write about a magical box that operates on kindness.
- Write about a group of animals who must deal with human-made changes to their environment.
- Explore Halloween through a magical pumpkin and a surly scarecrow.
- Write about the power of dreams, showing the importance of getting enough sleep.
- Write about a kid who discovers a magical pair of shoes.
- Write about both healthy vegetable characters and unhealthy fast-food ones.
- Consider the influence a single nice deed may have on the globe.
- Write about a character who discovers the power (both positive and terrible) of technology.
- Write about a child taking care of a jellybean that turns out to be an egg.
- Explore the power of a misunderstanding and the significance of empathy.
- Write a picture book about an ambitious photographer.
- Write a rhyming narrative about Freddy, the friendly fish.
- Write about two characters who make a mess and work together to clean it up.
- Explore a character learning to swim.
- Write about a character learning to not compare themselves to others.
- Explore the implications of anger with a shark, hippo, or some seemingly angry animal.
- Write a story about an animal who is a picky eater.
- Write a story about wild things becoming tame over time.
- Write a story about a young girl making friends outside of her age group.
- Explore family dynamics through a family of dinosaurs trying to make it in a prehistoric world.
- Write a story about an aspiring writer learning to spell (and to use his imagination).
- Write a bedtime story about a pillow who waits all day for her chance to shine at bedtime.
- Write about a character who becomes unintentionally famous.
- Write about an actor who gains a new talent and changes his life.
- Write about a character who accepts responsibility for something she didn't do to aid a buddy.
- Explore the main character's view on what happiness is and isn't.
- Explore both the positive and negative aspects of fear.
- Write about a child who accidentally invents a time machine.
- Write a story about the life cycle of water and its importance to all life on Earth.
- Write about an event not going to plan, but what happens instead is good in its way.
- With the aid of an elf, a penguin, and a polar bear, discover the importance of Christmas.
- Write about a main character learning to go potty by himself or herself.
- Write about a character who’s fiercely individualistic, meeting one who is a staunch conformist.
- Write a mystery about what happened to the main character’s favorite toy.
- Write a tale about a kid whose crazy imagination begins to shape reality.
- Write from the viewpoint of a little kid who has lost her parents while discussing adoption and orphans.
- Explore what Thanksgiving is all about with animals getting ready for a harsh winter.
- Write about a child who climbs the tallest tree in the world, making friends along the way.
- Write about a family of rabbits who are also detectives, helping solve mysteries for the forest creatures.
- Write about a robot that learns about human emotions.
- Write about a child experiencing snow for the first time.
- Write about an enchanted umbrella that can take its owner to another era or location.
- Write about a character that overcomes their fear of darkness.
- Write about a bee that is allergic to pollen.
- Discover the value of patience through a snail-racing story.
- Describe a character that understands the value of having self-love and self-worth.
- Write about a bird that is unable to fly yet has a rare aptitude.
- Write about a mystical garden that changes depending on the attitude of its caretaker.
- Write a narrative about a mouse who aspires to be a Lion.
- Write about a child who discovers a mysterious rock that grants desires.
- Write about a beautiful woodland that varies with the weather.
- Write about a lost toy's quest to find its way home.
- Write about someone who enjoys cooking and sharing it with their friends.
- Write a story on diversity and beauty using a variety of colors.
- Write about a young innovator who unexpectedly brings their greatest fantasies to reality.
- Write about an alien visiting Earth and learning about human customs.
- Write about a character who discovers the worth of giving and charity.
- Write about a musical instrument that has a unique sound.
- Write about a creative child who transforms their modest bedroom into a huge adventure.
- Write about a youngster who learns the value of hard labor by opening a lemonade stand.
- Write about a character who learns how to fight bullies.
- Write a story about a chameleon who cannot change colors yet manages to fit in.
- Write about a young witch discovering magic for the first time.
- Write about an ant learning the value of teamwork.
- Write about a character learning to conquer the fear of swimming.
- Write about a child who plants a magic seed and experiences unexpected results.
- Write about a beast that is frightened of sunlight.
- Write about a day in the life of a moving cloud.
- Write about a character who discovers the value of resilience by trying to ride a bicycle.
- Write about a kid who finds out they can communicate with animals.
- Write about a little ghost overcoming its fear of people.
- Write about a character learning the importance of respecting nature.
- Create and write about a character who comes to love calm and isolation.
- Write a tale about a lost puppy that finds its way home.
- Write about an elven household preparing for Christmas.
- Write about a treasure map that leads to the most important goal: friendship.
- Write about an orphan who has to move and learn to adjust to a new environment.
- Write about a child who learns to garden and develops an incredible plant.
- Write about an underwater city full of aquatic creatures.
- Write about a character who finds a key that opens any door.
- Create a story about alien children who started schooling on Earth.
- Write about a dog who helps his owner adjust to a new city.
- Write about a rainy day adventure from the viewpoint of a raindrop.
- Write about a bear's first winter.
- Write about a set of spectacles that let the wearer glimpse mythical creatures.
- Write about a character who overcomes their fear of storms.
- Write about a lonely star finding its constellation.
- Write a tale about a squirrel family getting ready for the colder months.
- Write about a child who grows to love art by visiting a museum.
- Write about a wizard's apprentice who makes a potion with surprising results.
These prompts can help you create children's book ideas with morals and messages that resonate with young readers.
Vetting Your Children's Book Idea
Before you start writing, it's essential to vet your childrens book ideas. Consider the following steps:
- Research: Discover whether similar books currently exist and how your proposal might provide a new viewpoint. You can search Amazon to see children's book purchasing trends.
- Feedback: Discuss your proposal with children, parents, and educators to measure interest and get helpful input.
- Prototype: Make an initial draft or storyboard to see how your tale evolves and make any required changes.
- Publishing: To ensure that your work meets industry standards, research children's book publishers and submission criteria from a well-reputed children's book publishing company like Ace Book Publishers.
Why choose Ace Book Publishers?
Once you are done writing an inspiring fun-filled children's book using childrens books ideas from the prompts mentioned in this article, you'll have to decide on a children's book publishing company that can give you creative freedom while publishing your book at an affordable price.
For that, we recommend Ace Book Publishers. Why? Because:
- They not only provide excellent publishing services but also have Ghostwriters, editors, and illustrators that you can hire for your book.
- They are immensely experienced in writing children's books and have a long list of happy clients to prove that.
- If you need help in writing or publishing a different book genre, they'll also help you with that.
- Last but not least, they'll give you full ownership rights for your book so you don't have to share your royalty or profits with anyone.
So if you have a great children's book idea that you want to share with the world but are looking for a solution on sites like Reddit, we have provided you with a great solution. Just hire a ghostwriter and a publishing firm and turn your idea into an amazing story for kids!
Children’s Book Ideas: Final Thoughts
Creating children book ideas requires creativity, audience comprehension, and thoughtful thought. Whether you're using a children's book ideas generator or crafting ideas from scratch, remember that the best childrens book ideas are those that inspire, entertain, and educate young readers. By focusing on unique childrens books ideas, you'll be well on your way to creating a memorable and impactful story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with observing the behavior and interests of the kids. Use everyday experiences, combine different genres, or use prompts from a children's book ideas generator to spark creativity.
Outline your story's framework, develop compelling characters, and make sure the language is appropriate for the desired age group. Incorporate children book themes that resonate with young readers.
Take part in activities such as thought visualization, natural writing, or drawing. Collaborate with children to understand their preferences and use these insights to generate children story ideas.
Begin by determining your target audience and the type of tale you would like to share. Use familiar children’s book themes and settings, and ensure your story has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Seek feedback from children and professionals to refine your idea.