PICTURE BOOK FOCUS: Super Structure (Part 4) - CIRCULAR STORIES

Experienced editor Natascha Biebow shares tips on finding the right structure
to make your picture book shine.

Picture books are concise and this is why they are hard to write! When they’re finished, they look seamless, but behind the scenes, there is often a lot of unravelling and re-knitting to make each book really shine.

 

There is so much that you want to include in your picture book, but knowing your structure will help you to tell the story you want to tell. In the first three parts of this blog post series, we explored:

1. CLASSIC PICTURE BOOK and CONCEPT STRUCTURES: your main character has a problem. The plot builds towards a climactic turning point (at which point something must change) and finally, delivers a satisfying ending. Concept plot structures are based on concepts such as seasons, counting, shapes, and the alphabet. 

 

2. ROUTINES: structures based on child-centred routines such as bedtimes, mealtimes, school and everyday activities like visiting the library.

 

3. CUMULATIVE stories: in a cumulative story, the narrative builds on itself, adding on and repeating what’s come before

 

Now, let’s look at another other possible structure that you can explore: 

 

4. CIRCULAR stories: in circular stories, the story starts and ends in the same place, but importantly, the characters have grown and changed as a result of the action, or something dramatic has changed since the opening premise and the story problem has been resolved in a satisfying way.

 

Unlike the ‘story mountain’ classic picture book structure, circular stories literally come full circle.

 

 

In the classic Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, the story starts and ends with Max in his bedroom, but with a key change in Max’s worldview by the close of the story. Max dresses up in his Wolf suit and wreaks mischief of one kind or another, so his mother sends him to his room without supper.

From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

 

That night, a forest grows in his room and Max sets off in a boat and meets the Wild Things. In a reversal of roles, Max now holds the power, taming the Wild Things and even being crowned King.

From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

But Max misses home, and even though the Wild Things beg him to stay, he sails back to home. Through his adventure, Max masters his inner tumult and is reassured to find his dinner waiting for him, ‘still hot’, a sign of his mother’s love and forgiveness.

From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Sendak’s book has stood the test of time for its compelling exploration of the dichotomy of our wild side and desire for comfort. The reassuring warmth of parental love balances out Max’s longing for adventure and wild play.

 

Here is another way to consider and visualise this kind of circular structure:

 

English resource from teachwire.net by Rachel Clarke

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems also follows the circular structure.

From Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

In the opening pages of the book, the bus driver entreats readers to not let the pigeon drive the bus.

 

From Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

 

 In the opening scene, the pigeon is excited and hopeful: 

From Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

 

As the story progresses, the pigeon’s pleas and shenanigans in order to persuade readers to allow him to drive that bus escalate . . .

 

. . . culminating with a temper tantrum. 

 

From Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

 

Here, too, the joy is in the role reversal – the young reader is ‘driving’ the story, empowered to say ‘no’ for once, rather than being told ‘no’ by their grown-ups. When the driver returns at the end of the book, the pigeon is distraught, defeated. 

From Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

(But the book doesn’t end on a downer – in a fun twist, the pigeon now seems keen to try wheedling his way into driving a truck next!)

 

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond is another classic circular story.  

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

 

But in this book, the emotional arc is slightly different – one thing leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another . . . all the way back to the first thing:

 

“If you give a mouse a cookie . . . he’ll ask for a glass of milk.

If you give him a glass of milk, he’ll ask for a straw, then a napkin . . ."

and so on until . . . 

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

 

 the mouse is so thirsty after his day that he will need a glass of milk . . . and a cookie!

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

In this narrative, there’s no build-up, climax or resolution per se, but instead, the narrative ebbs and flows as the cause-and-effect actions follow the boy and mouse through their day. The humour comes largely from the visuals, in which the boy is like a tired parent after a long day of minding an active toddler (the mouse). Young readers will enjoy the predictable structure and guessing what might come next.

 

Here is how you might consider and visualise this kind of circular story with twelve ‘slices’. Each corresponding to a moment or double-paged spread:

 

 

A Hippy-Hoppy Toad by Peggy Archer and Anne Wilsdorf is another example of a character that starts and ends in the same place – his teeter-totter twig – with a series of cause-and-effect actions that lead to each page turn.

A Hippy-Hoppy Toad by Peggy Archer and Anne Wilsdorf

It starts out:

 

"In the middle of a puddle
in the middle of a road
on a teeter-totter twig
sat a teeny-tiny toad.

Snap! went the twig!
Up went the toad!
And he landed on a tree
by the side of the road."

 

 

A Hippy-Hoppy Toad by Peggy Archer and Anne Wilsdorf

 

Each time that the toad is surprised by a new creature – a bird picks, a bee buzzes, a dog barks, a lizard lunges . . . and so on ­– he hops to a new location farther down the road.

 

Eventually, the frog ends up clinging to a sneaker. . .

 

A Hippy-Hoppy Toad by Peggy Archer and Anne Wilsdorf

 

. . . and retracing his hops past all the previous locations in reverse order, re-capping for the reader the frog’s itinerary. 

A Hippy-Hoppy Toad by Peggy Archer and Anne Wilsdorf

 

With fun sounds, clever rhymes, and an irresistible rhythm, the narrative seamlessly leads the reader through the teeny-tiny toad’s adventurous day. By the end of the book, the frog is relieved to be once again sitting safe and sound, peacefully on his twig – whew! he’s survived another day.

 

Since in a circular structure, the first and final scenes in the story are mirrors, by comparing the character’s outlooks and behaviours in these, we can easily see how they have grown and changed, or what knowledge or insights have been gained during the course of the story. It’s a great way to check that your picture book’s stakes are high enough and that you have solved the story problem or delivered a punchy enough punchline to keep young readers hooked.

 

In circular stories, the ending comes full circle to the opening.

In part five of this blog post series, we’ll explore more structures you can play with!

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*Header image: Ell Rose & Tita Berredo

Natascha Biebow is an experienced children's book editor, coach and mentor and founder of Blue Elephant Storyshaping. She loves to help authors and illustrators at all levels to shape their stories and fine-tune their work pre-submission. She is the author of the award-winning nonfiction picture book The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons.