Sarah and David share insights into their work in both areas of picture book creation as they offer insider tips.
This course is ideal for aspiring writers or illustrators who want to learn the fundamentals behind making a picture book. The course is suitable for complete beginners as well as those who have already written picture book texts but want to learn more and improve their skills.
Our online courses are designed for flexible learning. Allocate your own study time and take part from wherever you are in the world. Each week, we recommend spending at least four hours on the course.
All students will be given the option to purchase feedback on their final task from a CBC editor.
If you love the idea of writing a picture book but don’t feel the desire to illustrate it – then our six-week Writing a Children’s Picture Book course could be the perfect option for you.
David O’Connell is a writer and illustrator living in Brighton. He works mostly in children’s books, particularly humorous picture books and young fiction. His best known books are The Naughtiest Unicorn series, the Sunday Times bestselling How to Grow Up and Feel Amazing (both as illustrator) and The Chocolate Factory Ghost (as writer). His first book was Monster & Chips, the first of a series of funny (and revolting) adventures of ‘hooman’ Joe Shoe whilst working at the Monster Diner of friendly monster Fuzzby Bixington. He then collaborated with the brilliant Sarah McIntyre on the picture book Jampires! After illustrating the Creature Teacher series by writer Sam Watkins, he worked with illustrator Francesca Gambatesa on a series of picture books all about families, as well as illustrating Boyband of the Apocalypse books for funny writer Tom Nicoll.
Sarah McIntyre works as an illustrator and writer from her studio in south London. Her solo picture books include There’s a Shark in the Bath, Dinosaur Firefighters and The New Neighbours, and she’s worked with writers such as Giles Andreae (Morris the Mankiest Monster), Gillian Rogerson (You Can’t Scare a Princess!) and Alan MacDonald (The Prince of Pants). She also creates longer illustrated chapter books with her co-author Philip Reeve, such as Pugs of the Frozen North and Oliver and the Seawigs. She first got into publishing through comics, where she met her Jampires co-author David O’Connell. She’s delivered a TEDx talk on learning how to grow from our mistakes, spoken internationally at book festivals, and led a campaign called Pictures Mean Business, encouraging the book industry to credit illustrators properly for their work.