Congratulations to author Alayne K. Christian (and one of my critique partners) on the publication of her picture book, Turkey on the Run, illustrated by Neha Rewat, published by PRH Flamingo Books, Sept.29th. I, Tina Cho, invited Alayne to our blog to teach us more about the writing craft. 

Thank you, Tina and the GROG group for inviting me to be a guest on your blog. I’ve been thinking about the various things that made my manuscript for Turkey On the Run! successful. And there is a long list, so I thought I would start at the beginning and share some thoughts about what I believe makes a good beginning along with some mentor text examples with analysis.

A strong effective beginning will improve your chances of having your whole manuscript read by agents and editors. And if it is acquired, the strong beginning will make your book more appealing to readers.

 

The whole objective of first lines is to capture readers’ attention and make them want more. We want to entice and incite them to step into the story, buy into the experience, and commit to taking the journey with our protagonist. This is often referred to as the hook. A good hook creates questions and curiosity. It makes a promise that says, “This is what the story is about.” It also sets expectations and maybe even evokes emotions. Wow! That’s a lot to accomplish in a picture book page or two. This is true, but writers do it all the time, proving that it can be done.

 

In picture books, we often incite the reader’s interest with words such as the following, “but,” “until,” “one day,” and we often use the three little dots . . . called the ellipsis. Interestingly enough, these words and punctuation that incite the reader to turn the page usually lead to the inciting incident—the event that energizes the story’s progression. This event moves your protagonists into the action of the story. It also pulls them out of their ordinary world into a new world where change can occur. First lines open the door to the story and lead us over the threshold into the story journey.

In the beginning of a picture book story, it is important to quickly establish the following for the reader: Who, what, where, when, and why. For today, I am going to focus on who, what, and why.

• Who is the story is about?
• What is the story about?
• Why? In order for readers to relate to the main character from the beginning, they need to understand the character’s motivation. They need to know why the character is taking action. Why is he setting off on the journey that will become the story? Just as the why motivates the main character to move forward, it motivates the reader to move forward. The why of the story is the energy of the story. 

There is another kind of “why” our stories create. By giving the reader who, what, and why, we create curiosity. Generally, there will be something in this information that will prompt the reader to ask “why” it is happening and what will come next. And this makes the reader want to turn the page. Following are some great examples.

 

TURKEY ON THE RUN! by Alayne Kay Christian, illustrated by Neha Rawat (Flamingo Books 2026)