Writing picture books

Course Programme

10:00 Thinking about the young child audience for picture books.  Can we remember that young child view of the world from our own childhoods?  Considering the demands of the market, and therefore of publishers and agents, when they consider a text.
11:15 Coffee
11:45 What is a story?  How to achieve a strong simple story suited to the young audience, and how to shape it using plot and character.  Discussion and writing.
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Looking at the book format, and the restrictions and opportunities it offers the writer.  Rework your story to fit the format.  Are there opportunities to dramatise the story in less obvious ways?
15:15 Tea
15:30 Workshopping your stories.  Considering publication options (including adapting stories to work as young reader books).
16:45 Day school ends

Accommodation
Although this is a non-residential course, students requiring accommodation may be able to book B&B at Madingley Hall, as availability permits. Please contact reservations@madingleyhall.co.uk or +44 (0)1223 746222 for availability and booking enquiries.

Dietary Requirements
If you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies please inform our Admissions Team on ice.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262 if you have not already advised us of your requirements.

Additional Requirements
Further information about student support

No academic qualification is required of applicants, and most courses are suitable for students who are new to the subject.

All teaching is in English (unless a foreign-language course). If your first language is not English, you need to satisfy yourself that you have the required near-native command of the language to get the maximum benefit from studying with ICE.

A booklist, course syllabus and detailed timetable are circulated as far as possible in advance of a course. You will receive these documents by email if you have provided us with your email address; please check your spam folder if you have not received these documents. You can also download material from the course web page.

This course takes place at Madingley Hall, home to the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education.

About Madingley Hall

Madingley Hall itself is an impressive manor house dating back to the mid-16th century. The decoration of the Saloon and the formal Stair Hall was carried out 200 years later, and the whole fabric was renovated with great care around 1900. About four miles from the centre of Cambridge, the Hall stands in several acres of beautifully-maintained gardens and overlooks a landscape which has changed relatively little since it was laid out by Capability Brown. It is just four miles from the centre of Cambridge, and only 60 minutes from London, with excellent links to London airports.

Getting here

We now have a mini-bus service which runs between the station and Madingly Hall weekday mornings between 06:45 and 09:25 and evenings between 16:45 and 19:25. Please contact the reception desk at ICE for more details.

For more information see directions to Madingley Hall.