by Sue Heavenrich
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Welcome to the GROG’s roundtable discussion about Board Books. I’ve got four board book authors with me today, so grab your coffee (or cocoa or tea), pull up a chair, and let’s meet the authors.
Darrin Lunde typically writes on topics related to animals and nature. Seven of his picture books have been reissued in board book format, most recently Whose Egg is That? Darrin’s day job is mammals collection manager at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, so he’s often in the field doing research.
Laura Purdie Salas is a Minnesota author who has written more than 140 picture books and board books. She loves connecting kids to nature and hopes to inspire them to look at a familiar topic in a new way. Her most recent board book is A Home Like This.
Nancy Churnin, a longtime journalist and former theater critic living in North Texas, is probably best known for picture book biographies. Her rhyming board book, Counting on Shabbat, encourages readers to think about ways we can make the world a kinder and more inclusive place.
Laura Gehl has written board books, lift-the-flap books, picture books and early readers. Her newest board book, Odd Bugs: Meet Nature's Weirdest Insects joins her “Curious Critters” series in March, 2026.
I have no board books. What I do have is a new grandbaby … which is why I invited these wonderful authors to the table this morning - I want to pick their brains!
Me: Let’s begin with topics - What made you know that you HAD to write your book?
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| Nancy & her mom |
Nancy: It was actually my mother, Flora Churnin, who inspired Counting on Shabbat – she loves numbers. My mother is 99 years old, and for the past decade it has been hard for her to go out and visit with people she loves. That's why Counting on Shabbat starts with an elderly person on his own and how delighted he is to hear five knocks on the door and have a family arrive with food and cheer. Is it his family? Is it a family caring for someone in the community? That does not matter. In the book we are counting objects on Shabbat, so we are counting, but we are also counting on kindness. My mother has been dealing with dementia for the last five years, and as she has struggled to read and speak, this has become one of her preferred books.
I think there is a lot of value in sharing board books with seniors as well as toddlers, and would love to see an organized effort to bring board books and picture books to senior living facilities. One of my most precious moments came after I read this book to her. After I closed the book, she looked me right in the eye and said, "Eleven!" Then she grinned as if she was telling me something I didn't know (after all I had only gone up to 10). I loved that!
Laura Salas: For A Home Like This, the publisher actually asked me to write a board book about animal homes. While the topic was chosen, I got the fun of figuring out how to approach it. I love refrains, and I wanted the book to be lovely and lyrical, like Joyce Sidman’s Swirl by Swirl. I also wanted a bit of a different approach from the board books already published on this topic. I wrote a few different drafts exploring materials, how homes are different, some in rhyme, some not. I wrote close to 20 drafts spread among eight or so different approaches. Because board books are so short, a lot of my writing time was spent trying different structures. It's enormous fun, and I love the trial and error of it all. I have to be open to diving in and seeing what appears on the screen. It ended up gently rhyming, but without any refrain at all!
Darrin: Sometimes I get my ideas for books by settling on a topic and then waiting until a catchy title for it pops into my head, for example, Meet the Meerkat. Other times, the topic presents itself during the course of a normal day, such as when I was standing in the driveway of my neighbor talking. We both looked down at the same time and saw what turned out to be a fox scat in his driveway, but when we both looked up at each other and asked Whose Poop is THAT? I knew I had my next book. I try not to force things. Rather, I try to stay open and alert to new possibilities. Of course, I always have the fear that I might never come up with a new book idea, but so far, the ideas have kept coming.
Laura Gehl: My new board book is the third in a series. The first two were Odd Beasts and Odd Birds. I knew I wanted to do Odd Bugs if possible—because there are so many weird and wonderful bugs out there—but we had to wait to see how well the first two did. I was so excited when I heard from my editor that Odd Bugs was a go!
Me: Did you initially write this to be a board book? And if not, why do you think it works well as a board book?
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| Laura Gehl |
Laura Gehl: Yes, this was always intended to be a board book. It has very simple, rhyming text, just one line per spread. However, what’s unusual about this board book (and the other two in the series) is that it has back matter. At the end of the book, there are photographs of each critter, plus a few interesting facts about each one. I think the back matter allows these board books to appeal to older kids and adults as well as to babies and toddlers.
Laura Salas: Definitely. I think its gentle rhyme and adventurous language make it work well. Of course, Miriam Nerlove’s brilliant art and the wonderful design helps! Each spread has an animal close-up on the left side and a pulled-back view of the home on the right side. Perfect to help kids understand what animal we’re talking about and what its home looks like. I also think the ending, which comes around to humans and to love, makes it a satisfying toddler read. They know love, and they’ve likely heard opposites, such as big and little and below and above. I feel like the main text language may stretch them some, with a few less familiar words and creatures. But the cuddly ending brings it all back to the heart. This is a book I would love to read to a baby on my lap.
Nancy: I had always envisioned it as a board book anchored by the 1-10 counting element. From the start it was a book that began with 1, which in the book is "1 table draped in white," but that you can also see that visually as the 1 elderly person who is alone. I always wanted it to lead up to "10 smiles. Shabbat is here!" because that reminds us that what is joyful about this weekly celebration is when we are all together as a family and as a community -- including the four cats, whose smiles are included in the 10-smile count. I believe it works well as a board book, because the story is told visually, with Petronela Dostalova's exquisite illustrations. The simple rhymes and the numbers on each page anchor the story while toddlers can "read" the narrative to themselves by following the pictures.
Darrin: No, I've always written 32-page picture books and then my editors pick and choose which ones they want to adapt as board books. I think my first few picture books I had originally written as board books, but my editor asked me to expand them as 32-page picture books. Funnily enough, some of these same books were later reissued as board books.
Me: What’s the biggest challenge in creating a book for an adult to read to a very young (0-2 years) child?
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| Darrin Lunde / Charlesbride photo |
Darrin: I'm a very economical writer, meaning that I like to write in the simplest possible form. I'm always trying to reduce my word count, but without sacrificing content. For me, writing board books is like solving a puzzle--How do you say what you want to say with crystal clarity in 100 words or less? It's fun, and I'm always looking for ways to further simplify or reduce my text.
Laura Gehl: For me, the biggest challenge is targeting the book at the very young child but somehow making it interesting enough for the adult reader too.
Nancy: You have to approach a board book with a different mindset than you would a picture book. With a board book, you have to let the illustrator take the lead – with the written words as anchor and jumping-off points. Picture book writers are discouraged from writing too many art notes. But with Counting on Shabbat, art notes were essential because without them how would you know that there would be one senior alone on the page that simply says "1 table draped in white." Without the art notes, how would you know that "5 knocking on the door" would reveal a family of five bringing bags of food? All those details didn't need to be written out for the reader because Petronela was creating the images. But I did need those essential words (and art descriptions of what I was envisioning for my editor and illustrator) for the images to make sense.
Laura Salas: Two things come to mind immediately. First off is the incredibly short word count. A Home Like This has fewer than 60 words to both introduce a big topic and also connect with the reader. The other challenge for me is finding the right tone—one where I’m talking to a very young child, but not in a babyish or condescending way. It’s an exciting struggle to balance between having fun with my own creativity and giving the adult and child readers a wonderful experience.
Me: Any advice for picture book authors who might want to try their hand at writing a board book?
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| Laura Salas |
Laura Salas: Think about word choice, word count, language, imagery, rhyme, complexity… then simplify, simplify, simplify. That doesn’t mean dumb down. It means find a single, elegant line to follow through your text. Even if it’s a laugh out loud funny text. There’s only room for one narrative, one concept, one conflict. It has to be simple and sparkling. So it's about finding the best, most exciting way to relate that one idea using language that evokes a reaction from the reader. It's okay to use some words that a toddler doesn't know. But the idea has to be one a toddle can really connect to somehow.
Also, go to several libraries and bookstores and read dozens of dozens of board books. Especially try to read the ones that aren't licensed characters or aren't just adaptations of picture books. Find the publishers creating the ones you love the most and study their catalogs. Then choose a topic and start playing with it. Have fun!
Nancy: Think short. Counting on Shabbat is only 48 words! Think spare. I didn't have to say who was cooking the matzo balls or bringing the kugel to the table or that the kids were drawing pictures and our senior would put them up on his refrigerator (even though that is what I envisioned). Leave the illustrator room to weave the visual magic. But make sure your editor and illustrator are on the same page with your vision for the story.
Laura Gehl: What Laura said - and then go read lots and lots of board books and see what works. Unlike picture books, board books don’t always have a standard number of pages, but aiming for about ten spreads is a good idea. As far as word count, I’d say aim for 100 words max. Another important aspect of writing board books is to think of a series concept rather than just a single book. Single board books do sell on occasion, but most board books are sold in series.
Darrin: (nodding in agreement with the Lauras) and then it all comes down to having a love for clear and concise language. I actually don't write board books for children, rather, I write board books because I love writing as simply as possible. Even when my editor thinks a manuscript is done, I'm always looking for a way to say something more simply – to cut down on words without sacrificing clarity.
Me: We could talk about books all day long, but my coffee cup is empty. Please drop by our roundtable guest's websites, and check out their amazing books! And make sure to come back next week when I chat with two board book editors.
Nancy Churnin shares books and more at her website, www.nancychurnin.com. You can find an activity guide here.
Laura P. Salas parks her website at laurasalas.com
Laura Gehl shares her books and more at her website lauragehl.com
Darrin Lunde has a page on the Smithsonian’s site at naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/darrin-lunde
