RESOURCES: Writing Bestselling Children’s Books by Alexander Gordon Smith

This handy tome has the distinct advantage of being written by a bestselling children’s author, a fact which not all creative writing manuals can boast. Alexander Gordon Smith is the author of the Escape from Furnace series and The Inventors, and his tone and style in this inspirational book is light and approachable.

Broken into 52 short chapters, each expressing an idea or tip to drive your writing, the book is full no-nonsense truths, such as: ‘You have to make time and space to write!’, ‘Know your hero’, and ‘All good children’s books are driven by conflict’.

The layout and design of the book is easy to read, with bold headings and pull-out quotes to catch your eye and guide you around the book. The writing has a wonderful humour to it too, making reading text an enjoyable experience, even if you end up not putting the ideas into practice. Each chapter ends with a small Q&A between the writer (you) and the teacher (AGS), and if you work through the book you really feel like you’ve worked through a course with an affable tutor. With it’s 52 chapter structure, you could even work through this once a week, and have a whole year of inspiration! Great stuff.