What would you say to someone who might think of children’s picture books as “lesser” literature?

Having met picture book author/poet Laurel Snyder at a reading here last semester, I can say that my opinion of picture books has definitely changed from a view much like that. I have always appreciated picture books... I did bring Frederick with me to college, after all. However, as a writer, I found the suggestion that I should write children's books insulting. "What," I thought to myself, "you don't think I can write a real book?"

Laurel Snyder's story of editing her poetry and prose into a picture book really changed this idea for me. It made me realize that, even if your audience is less conscious of it, stories for children can still contain words that don't fit, or excessive description, or not enough description. There are probably many authors who ignore this and use a cheap formula to sell sub-par work... but then, there are plenty of adult novelists who arguably do the same. Picture books have the additional hurdle implied in their name - they need pictures. For authors who are also illustrators, this can mean telling a story with images, which would be hard enough for most who would consider the writing easy. However, for authors who work with illustrators, this means an extremely demanding collaborative process to get things right; one in which both the author and illustrators creative views must be considered, and things rarely important to the average novelist (words on a page, breakdown of sentences) can become vital to the presentation of the story.

In addition, there's the argument of their vitality. Children can't be expected to learn their alphabet and a basic vocabulary and jump right in to "young reader" chapter books (with intimidatingly high amounts of words), without any familiarity with the subject or storyline. Part of the joy of learning to read is being able to read your favorite picture books without your parents'... it turns reading into a highly personal, independent process at a young age. As such, shouldn't more respect be shown to the authors who basically provide that impetus for youth to read? When I'm a parent, faced with the challenge of raising a child in a truly digital age (in a way unlike any that our generation really saw... yes, we had iPods and cell phones, but not in elementary school) I fully intend to send a thank you note to any author who can interest my child in a paper-and-ink book.

(Laurel Snyder's picture books include Inside the Slidy Diner and Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains if anyone wants to check them out).