BOARD BOOKS THAT AREN'T BORING

By Laura Gehl

 

Board books are amazing for lots of reasons: the pages can’t be torn out, the pages can be chewed on, and board books cost waaaaaay less for families to purchase than picture books!

I have four kids, all spaced two years apart, so I spent many years reading board books out loud. But during the years when I was reading tons of board books to whichever of my kids were babies or toddlers at the time, I often had an older kid (or two or three) snuggling with us and listening in. As my first three children learned to read, they sometimes read the board books to their younger siblings too. 

These experiences—both reading the same board books over and over as a parent, and reading board books to a baby with older kids listening as well—made me want to write board books that are interesting for all ages.

Let me be clear: I believe board books should be very simple, with language and illustrations appealing to babies and toddlers. They are not just smaller, chunkier picture books, and many picture books don’t work well as board books. So my #1 goal when writing a board book is to appeal to those very youngest readers. But I also believe it is possible to make choices that achieve the #1 goal while intriguing older readers as well.

The board books I loved as a parent—such as Peggy Rathman’s GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA or Sandra Boynton’s BLUE HAT, GREEN HAT—appeal to all ages mostly because of humor. But as an author and scientist interested in writing nonfiction board books, I decided to try other ways of adding interest for adults and older kids.

In the Curious Critters series (ODD BIRDS, ODD BEASTS, and—coming soon—ODD BUGS), the way I tried to add interest for older readers was through the critters I chose to include. From the point of view of my target audience, I could have chosen almost any creatures to include in the books. Would it make a difference to babies or toddlers if I included a robin or a hoatzin? Probably not. Either way, Gareth Lucas—the incredible illustrator of this series—could make the bird visually compelling. And either way, I could write a simple, rhyming verse about the bird that would appeal to those youngest readers. But for an older sibling or a parent, a hoatzin—who smells like poop due to its lengthy digestion process—could be more exciting than a robin. By choosing critters that I, as an adult, found fascinating, I hoped I would captivate all ages of readers. 

In another set of board books, WHO DUG THIS HOLE? and WHO LAID THESE EGGS?, I chose familiar creatures—such as a robin, a skunk, and a chicken—rather than unusual ones. But for these books, I added interest for older readers in two other ways. WHO DUG THIS HOLE? and WHO LAID THESE EGGS? are essentially guessing games, with big flaps on each page. After the reader guesses “Who dug this hole in the snow?,” for example, a flap is lifted to reveal the answer (“A polar bear!”). Making the book a guessing game is one way to draw in readers of all ages. But for these two lift-the-flap books, I added an additional layer for older readers by including extra information about each animal under the flap. For example, under the polar bear flap, the text reads, “Polar bears dig dens in snowdrifts for a place to stay warm and give birth to their cubs.” If a parent were reading the book to a baby, they could just say “A polar bear!” and turn the page, skipping the fun fact. But that extra science fact under the flap would be interesting to the parent, and to any older siblings who might be joining the read-aloud.

Writing board books can be very tricky, because you only have 50-100 words, or less, to make the book compelling. But that extra challenge is exactly what makes them so fun to write!

 

Try this:

Go to your local library or bookstore. Read twenty nonfiction board books. Which ones capture your interest, as an adult? Why? Did you notice puns, wordplay, humor, games, or fun facts? Now start brainstorming your own ideas for nonfiction board books. See if you can come up with ideas that will captivate everyone, from babies to grandparents!

 

About the author:

Laura Gehl is the author of many board books, including the BABY SCIENTIST series, the BRILLIANT BABY series, and YOU’RE THE SPRINKLES ON MY ICE CREAM, an Amazon Editors’ Best Book of 2024. Her board book ODD BEASTS, illustrated by Gareth Lucas, was an ALA Notable Children’s Book, while ODD BIRDS was a Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year selection and a Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year selection. A former science teacher with a PhD in neuroscience, Laura loves bringing science into her board books, picture books, and middle grade nonfiction. Visit her online at lauragehl.com.