A Review of BBC Maestro’s “Writing Children’s Picture Books with Julia Donaldson” online course, from a Christian perspective

 

There are a huge number of online writing courses and many of them are a scandalous amount of money! I sometimes watch the initial free webinar to glean what wisdom I can but without recommendations, I’m never really sure if a course will make me a better writer, or if I am just being ripped off. So let me help you decide if this one is worth your pennies.

Last year, I signed up to the ‘Writing Children's Picture Books' with Julia Donaldson, hosted by BBC Maestro who run a number of celebrity fronted courses in a variety of practical topics from acting to wine tasting! Several of their courses are writing-based including Song writing, Writing for Children, Writing for Young Adults, Writing Drama for Television, Storytelling etc. Each one has a celebrity leading us through the topic in a series of short, 5 to 15 minute online videos.

I decided that the price was affordable (and actually, if you sign up without buying a course, they’ll keep emailing you with offers! There’s a handy tip). I also chose to do it because Julia Donaldson is one of those names that, as a children’s writer, people keep saying I should emulate. Things like ‘Why don’t you just do such and such, the way that Julia Donaldson does it?’

So, is it worth the money?

Overall, it is a very good course, especially if you want to write a children’s picture book but need some inspiration. The majority of the course is focussed on generating ideas and forming your structure. If you have a blank slate, this course will fill your slate with ideas. If you already have a children’s book but want to improve it, you’ll also get ideas of how to restructure your book to make a better story.

There are tips about baddies and endings, themes and patterns, language and rhyme. Every topic you can think of is covered, with a little ‘activity’ to do at then end of each video. These videos are worth every penny of the course and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to write a children’s book. Which, in turn, makes me believe that the other courses in their library should hopefully be equally as professional and helpful.

There are two downsides: Firstly, the final few videos are dedicated to practical matters such as getting an agent, working with illustrators, editing and marketing etc. Because Julia Donaldson is the communicator, all the advice is in the context of a traditional publishing model. For children’s writers who self-publish or hybrid publish, like myself, there’s some helpful tips in this section but mostly it’s the opposite of my experience, which I’ll write about in my next blog.

The second thing that stood out to me is the emphasis on the story, not the values. Julia Donaldson’s advice, when it comes to writing for children is “Don’t be too earnest”. She recommends that you aim to write a really good story and your values will come through naturally. Julia admits that her primary motivation is NOT to communicate values, even though others have projected values onto her books (e.g., if you’re kind to nature, nature will be kind to you).

As someone who writes for children, I am purely motivated by the earnest desire to teach children Biblical truths in memorable and imaginative ways. So how do I do that while not being too earnest? Ms Donaldson's advice is to put the story first. Who am I to argue? However, I still feel that this aspect of writing for children bears further thought, so I shall have to keep searching for answers. 

Can anyone recommend a good online course I might do? Or perhaps I shall write my own - once I've sold a hundred million books myself, of course!

 

Joanne Gilchrist is mother of 3 and runs the charity, Ruach Resources, which is the home of God for Kids app and the Animals of Eden Valley series (a series of two at the moment - but I'm working on it!). 

She also wrote the autobiographical "Looking for Love" and freelances for the SunScool app.