Peek inside my notebook to get inspired, make new connections, develop your craft, and grow as a children’s book writer.

This month I’m looking at Julia Donaldson’s picture book The Paper Dolls. It’s not as famous as Room on the Broom or The Gruffalo, but it features so many elements that editors often recommend writers use in their books that I wanted to analyze it more deeply.

The story opens “There was once a girl who had tiger slippers and a ceiling with stars on it and a butterfly hairslide which she kept losing and two goldfish and a nice mother who helped her to make some paper dolls.” This run-on sentence is written the way a child would talk, but it’s broken up with illustrations that make it easier to digest. Specific details like “tiger slippers” and a barrette that’s always falling out make the story feel real not generic. The next page introduces the refrain and describes the paper dolls. “They were Ticky and Tacky, and Jackie the Backie, and Jim with two noses, and Jo with the bow.” We learn the girl and her dolls “danced, and they jumped, and they sang, and they met a dinosaur who clawed and roared and said, I’m going to get you!” The paper dolls prevail though singing, “You can’t get us. Oh no no no! We’re holding hands, and we won’t let go…” This pattern is followed three times, with light fun moments and silly, over-the-top drama. Until…a boy comes along and snips the paper dolls into a million little pieces. The boy says “You’re gone forever,” and you would have to be pretty soulless not to feel your heart drop at the sight of the girl running after her friends. But turn the page, and the paper dolls sing their refrain with a twist. “And the pieces all joined together, and the paper dolls flew…into the little girl’s memory where they found white mice and fireworks, and a starfish soap, and a kind granny, and the butterfly hairslide, and more and more lovely things each day and each year.” Again the sensory details and personal references keep a sweet surprise from feeling too cloying. The book ends with the girl grown and making paper dolls with her own daughter. Their names carry the rhythm through and unexpected choices add more dimension. (For those curious, “They were Poppy and pInkie and Binky the Blinkie, and Friend with one eyebrow and Flow with the bow.”) The reader ends the book with a satisfied sigh.

Do you see what I mean? It’s a simple story with a few imaginative leaps, but it feels fresh and endearing, because Donaldson weaves in so many strong techniques. It’s not trying to do too much, and sensory details, personal touches, select rhyme, a kid-friendly voice, and fun surprises transform this book from a simple idea (Paper dolls are fun to play with) to a book that’s memorable and special.

Try This

Look for these classic techniques the next time you’re reading a picture book, and try using them to deepen and enrich your own story. Which ones work best with the story you’re trying to tell?