Quick, think of a picture book with a long title!
DUH, I KNOW.
Of course, Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz’s classic sports a long title for hyperbole purposes. The author wants you to know that Alexander’s day was straight-up disastrous…and that Alexander is perhaps a tad overdramatic. The title sets up the plot and character perfectly.
However, you don’t see long picture book titles like this one too often. Why?
Picture books tend to sell on concept. That concept must be communicated succinctly in order to capture a young child’s (and a parent’s) imagination. Yes, people really do judge a book by its cover.
If your picture book manuscript has an overly long title, it may suggest your concept is either too vague or too complicated for the format. You want to nail down your concept and make it snappy, catchy. BAM! SELL THAT BOOK!
Even though character name titles are short, I personally tend to shy away from them. The title ERIN & JOAN doesn’t tell my audience enough about who the characters are. Here’s an interesting case study: the talented Ame Dyckman’s WOLFIE THE BUNNY was originally called WOLFIE & DOT. The final title WOLFIE THE BUNNY practically sells itself (with Zacharia OHora’s bold artwork), whereas the original title doesn’t necessarily relay enough clues about the tale.
But there are exceptions when two names work. GEORGE & MARTHA, one of the most popular picture books of all time, totally blows a hole in my theory.
So does Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney’s upcoming LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST. But here the names give you a lot to go on.
Now let’s examine SLJ/Fuse #8’s Top 100 Picture Books. The majority of titles are between one and four words. The longest title? THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR, published in 1984. But let’s take a look at the cover…
…interestingly, THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR is emphasized in larger letters, juxtaposed against the image of the delicious strawberry and an anxious-looking mouse. I’m going to predict that in today’s market, an editor might have cut that title down to just the BEAR part. (But alas, the world will never know. Just like we still don’t know how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop!)
Now here’s a title for ya:
POPPY THE PONY PICKS A PERFECTLY PATIENT PLAYMATE
This isn’t a real title, but notice how long it is and how it fell into an alliteration trap! Ahhhhh! I tend to see this often with new writers’ manuscripts.
THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES
This is a real title. It’s long but it’s allowed to be. It features “stinky” and “stupid,” two words especially beloved by the target audience. (Plus it’s Jon Scieszka! You gonna argue with JON SCIESZKA?)
So take a close look at your picture book manuscript’s title. If you haven’t found a clever moniker, it may be that your story isn’t focused enough yet. If the title is long and complicated, maybe your story is, too. The title is going to be one of your most important selling points, so spend some time on it and get it right!
Bottom line: long titles can work, but be sure to know when they don’t.
Now it’s your turn:
What are some of your favorite picture book titles?
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 
39 comments
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May 20, 2015 at 2:35 pm
diane1944
I love Goodnight Moon, the title AND the story!
May 20, 2015 at 2:51 pm
Mary Zisk
“Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must Be More to Life”
or, in the 21st century, “POP!”
May 20, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Josh Funk
The Adventures of the S.S. Happiness Crew
First Adventure: Cap’n Joshua’s Dangerous Dilemma
by Jane Dutton, Illustrated by Eric Hill
May 20, 2015 at 3:09 pm
Donna Mae
My new book coming out later this fall is titled “The Wooly Adventures of Purl”
It’s long but I love it and I think it works.
The zany story about a little girl who just can’t stop knitting-until????
May 20, 2015 at 3:20 pm
Kim Sebastian
This was a very very good, thought provoking, brevity- inspiring, gem of a post! Thanks Tara for reminding us to punch it from the get- go!
May 20, 2015 at 3:58 pm
annamarras
IF YOU WANT TO BRING AN ALLIGATOR TO FIRST GRADE, DON’T! Watch for it, by Elise Parsley, debuting July 14.
May 20, 2015 at 4:00 pm
Tara Lazar
11 words, but it totally gets the point across…and it’s a hilarious point!
May 21, 2015 at 6:01 pm
annamarras
Oops! I see it’s available July 7, 2015. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/elise-parsley/if-you-ever-want-to-bring-an-alligator-to-school-dont/9780316376570/?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly&utm_campaign=831c77329a-Little+Brown+-+CB+-+20150521&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bb2959cbb-831c77329a-305330369
May 21, 2015 at 6:03 pm
annamarras
12 words. I forgot the word “ever.”
May 20, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Sue Lowell Gallion
LMNO PEAS by Keith Baker is hard to beat. And OL’ MAMA SQUIRREL by David Ezra Stein is a character name plus a clue about the character’s personality. And who doesn’t love dotting an “i” with an acorn?
May 20, 2015 at 4:19 pm
Marty McCormick
I’m showing my age, I guess. I love Judith Viorst’s Alexander book (and it’s title), as well as other long titles, such as If You Give a Moose a Muffin, We Were Tired of Living in a House, and There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Candy. Kidding on the last one; I just made that one up. But I like it; think I’ll add it to my PiBoIdMo list!!!!
May 20, 2015 at 4:19 pm
Janny J Johnson
I always loved Rosemary Wells’ “Noisy Nora.” It says it all in two words and my kids and grandkids loved that book. We finally bought it in hardback because we loved the previous softcovered one to pieces.
May 20, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Nancy Colle
“The House at Pooh Corner” and my all time fave “Bread and Jam for Frances”
May 20, 2015 at 4:42 pm
shiela fuller
Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore. My kids are all grown yet we frequently connection that title to other things going on in our lives.
May 20, 2015 at 7:52 pm
Tara Lazar
I love that book. Recommended by my daughter’s librarian, one of her all-time favorites.
May 20, 2015 at 6:14 pm
Carrie Charley Brown
David LaRochelle’s How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans- 7 words and totally hooks ya. Julie Falatko’s upcoming Snapsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be in This Book- 11 words and totally hooks me, too! I Thought This Was a Bear Book by Tara Lazar does the same! Hey! I like the long titles, if they are just right. But then there are others like SCOWL by Steve Smallman- one word and it combines a real word with the moody character. I like these play on words titles, too! (like THE MONSTORE by Tara Lazar) 😉
May 20, 2015 at 8:14 pm
Tara Lazar
Good examples of long titles that work!
May 20, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Ali Pfautz
I always giggle when I come across my copy of, THE DAY JIMMY’S BOA ATE THE WASH. It’s a long, but oh so fun title and book!
May 20, 2015 at 7:51 pm
Tara Lazar
And Trinka has long been my mentor!
May 24, 2015 at 6:48 am
Ali Pfautz
That’s awesome! 🙂
May 20, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Angie
Reblogged this on Love, Laughter, and Life and commented:
Great information to consider when coming up with a title for our books. Thanks, Tara.
May 20, 2015 at 7:07 pm
Taurean J. Watkins (@Taurean_Watkins)
Before I get to the meet of my take on this, I do want to stress to writers that it’s OKAY to have a WORKING TITLE just to start with, but when you’re (Eventually) ready to submit to agents or editors, or if you’re going indie, then start brainstorming other potential titles that really grab a potential reader.
I think the reason some (not all) writers don’t always put thought in their titles is because they figure they’ll be changed anyway (via the trad. model) but it’s still important to pick something that specifies your book,it still gives the agent or editor an edge of telling your book apart from countless others they’re proposed.
A good example is Janice Hardy’s “Healing Wars Trilogy” Originally book one “The Shifter” was called “The Pain Merchants” which certainly caught her agent’s attention and the editor of her eventual publisher, but it was changed to not sound too scary for upper middle grade or early YA readers.
(Also, probably some parents would’ve felt at best concerned about such a dire-sounding title)
While many parents/writers I know aren’t easily dismissive of what kids read, I do think some parents or teachers who aren’t writers or in publishing are more skittish than others (to put it nicely), especially if cultural and/or religious conditioning play some part.
I chose my title of my debut middle grade novel “Gabriel” the name of my protagonist, and I experimented with other titles, but they were too derivative or conflicting with existing titles of books similar to mine at the time I was submitting (in my case the title just stuck)
A lot of my favorite titles are character name titles, but Tara still makes a valid point that if your characters aren’t yet household names, it’s a more challenging (and debatable) risk. But sometimes it can work if the names are particularly eye-catching. (Think “Rocky and Bullwinkle” or ”
Sometimes pairing a common name with an unusual name does this wonderfully, such as ”
Since I love animal stories, titles with animal names always grabs my attention, especially when they use it in clever ways like “Wolfie the Bunny.”
Some favorites of mine are from the “Hermux Tantamoq Adventure” series that use common sayings about the concept of time (the MC’s a watchmaking mouse) and the stories do have either a tangible or nebulous sense
of time-
Book 1: “Time Stops For No Mouse”
Book 2: “The Sands of Time”
Book 3: “No Time Like Show Time”
Book 4: “Time To Smell The Roses”
Okay, these are novel titles, but I had to mention them as they are clever.
In terms of PICTURE BOOKS-
“Ballerino Nate” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (ilus. R.W. Alley)
I love this title as it takes a usually girl-centric story about ballet and lets you know a boy’s spearheading the story.
This book’s sadly out of print, but I hope it will be reissued at some point, as boys determined to stay at the ballet bar need books that normalize and empower that path, especially since a professional dancer’s career in general is considerably short, being culturally and ignorantly teased off the path is a real shame.
One of my first “When I Grow Up” dreams was to be a ballet dancer, but I soon realized it required a discipline and practice regimen I couldn’t live up to, but I still love the art form and I’d hate to see boys and young men who have talent and passion here be discouraged because it’s presumed you’re “less of a man.”
[Check out my review on T.A.A.]
(Also made a fan book trailer for it)
it may be O.P. but it’s worth hunting down, eps. if you’ve got a ballet boy in the family)
“Jacob’s New Dress” by Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman (illus. Chris Case)
This title (along with the cover) makes it clear , but it’s not just about a boy who’d rather play princess than pirates, but about liking what you like unapologetically, and even if boys who’re read this book aren’t specifically like Jacob, it sends a non-preachy message that it’s important to respect what brings others joy, and it may validate any non-traditional gender interests they have, such as boys taking ballet or girls being progressive leaders with out the “Bossy” baggage books like “Lean In: have brought to light.
In regards to a specific example Tara cited above, Ame Dyckman’s “Wolfie the Bunny” (illus. Zachariah O’Hora) which I reviewed on “Talking Animal Addicts” awhile back, works because it has a hint of comical mystery that the cover image enhances and asks the potential reader (kid or adult) asking, “Why would a wolf pretend to be a bunny?”
May 20, 2015 at 7:18 pm
Taurean J. Watkins (@Taurean_Watkins)
EDIT: “A lot of my favorite titles are character name titles, but Tara still makes a valid point that if your characters aren’t yet household names, it’s a more challenging (and debatable) risk. But sometimes it can work if the names are particularly eye-catching. (Think “Rocky and Bullwinkle” or “Naruto”)
Sometimes pairing a common name with an unusual name or concept does this wonderfully, such as William Joyce’s “Dinosaur Bob”, or introverted mouse journalist “Geronimo Stilton.”
Also, while Tara makes the valid point alliteration can be over done, it can work, too, just try to keep it as simple as you can. A great recent example is “Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam.” that I reviewed on T.A.A. last year (and I’m stoked a second book is coming this summer!)”
May 20, 2015 at 7:19 pm
Kaye Baillie
Another great post, thanks, Tara. Interesting about ‘Wolfie & Dot’. But I can see the new title is better.
May 20, 2015 at 8:22 pm
katrinamoorebooks
As always, very insightful, Tara! Favorite titles, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR and DINOSAURS LOVE UNDERPANTS…both are telling, both are intriguing!
May 20, 2015 at 9:12 pm
Tienny The Storyteller
There are too many picture books that I like to list.
>
May 20, 2015 at 9:39 pm
Carol Gordon Ekster
Love this post, Tara. I find it completely frustrating that my first 3 picture books have such long titles. It’s hard to tweet about them and fill them in on forms, and I think it’s hard for people to remember all those words when they want to buy them, hopefully! So I’m particularly excited that my upcoming book has only 3 words in the title. But I can’t officially give more info on that just yet.:)
May 21, 2015 at 4:27 am
Taurean J. Watkins (@Taurean_Watkins)
That’s a good point, Carol, but there are ways around it, you can use a special hashtag that ties to something in the book that makes up for not having a super short title.
I also think it’s important to point out that while we may want to keep our book titles on the short side, we can’t always have the “ideal” one or two word title for our book.
While they’re not picture books, titles like Tor Seidler’s “A Rat’s Tale” and “The Wainscott Weasel” (illus. Fred Marcelino) really encapsulate the heart of the story, and are shorter than Judy Viorst’s
Also, I think it’s important to point out for those who write nonfiction as well, nonfiction books do have longer titles, or they have a short (not always) one word title, and a slightly longer subtitle to set it apart in the right ways, but still not so long you can remember none of it.
Author-Illustrator Brian Flocca’s “Locomotive” is
Another great example is “Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla” the nonfiction picture book of the real life story that inspired the Newbury winning novel “The One and Only Ivan” Kids and families who already know and love the novel will be interested, and while I’m not sure if author Katherine Applegate planned this novel+nonfiction book tie-in, but it’s great dual-marketing strategy, especialliy since she mentioned the novel was based on true story since it first came out, and certainly many readers were curious about the story behind the novel.
Readers who prefer nonfiction will love learning the true story of Ivan, but fans of the novel will at least be curious, and it’s one of those picture books that older kids who can read might give it a chance, especially if they prefer nonfiction over fiction.
Even if long titles can be a disservice our book (for reasons beyond not fitting it within Twitters tight character account…) it’s not easy to either come up with a one word title that really “sells” the book.
IF your story’s especially character-driven (like Ian Falconer’s “Olivia” or Sam Garton’s “Otter“) you can pull that off really well, and again, alliteration CAN WORK, but as Tara warns, don’t get too carried away or try too hard to be clever.
May 21, 2015 at 8:10 am
Marilyn Garcia
In Blake Snyder’s book, Save the Cat, he discusses titles, though he is talking more directly about movie titles. His basic point is that the title should tell you what the story is. As an example, he talks about all the different titles that could have been given to a certain movie with Reese Witherspoon: Barbie Goes to Harvard, Totally Law School, Airhead Apparent. Of course, the perfect title for this is Legally Blonde. If you’re not clued into what the story is about by the title, it’s likely to be a story you won’t read.
May 21, 2015 at 10:07 am
Angela Sylvia
Mustache Baby. Two words that made it clear this was a book I had to read.
May 21, 2015 at 10:42 am
Melanie Ellsworth
My daughter and I enjoy both the title and the book SATURDAY IS DADURDAY (Robin Pulver, R.W. Alley). It’s always fun to have a title that rhymes and/or makes a play on words.
May 21, 2015 at 10:55 am
Roelant Dewerse
Arthur Ransome’s “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship”, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz. And I haven’t even read it, but I’m buying it based on the title (as well as Ransome’s and Shulevitz’s reputations).
May 21, 2015 at 4:47 pm
mariagianferrari
I tend to like either punny, clever titles like Interstellar Cinderella, Little Red Writing, Crankenstein, E-mergency, Zero the Hero, Chicks and Salsa, Snowbots.
Or lyrical ones such as Have You Heard the Nesting Bird, An Egg is Quiet or Owl Moon.
May 21, 2015 at 5:06 pm
Wendy Greenley
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything is one of my favorite long title books. And just one of my favorites. 🙂
May 21, 2015 at 9:46 pm
Susan Roberts
It was difficult to identify ‘titles’ that I liked, without looking at the cover, too. One title I had to read was, I Didn’t Do It–had to see what and why. One of my favorite stories is “Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear” –had to see how the trickster tricked. Other titles I love come from Dr Seuss: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish and Green Eggs and Ham. I just like how the titles roll off the tongue; and they sounds like they will be fun and clever to read.
Other, more recent titles, that drew me in include:
brown girl dreaming, Words with Wings (I could practically fly just reading the words!), and Once Upon a Twice (Love fairy tales, again I’m going for the clever twist.)
One long title that makes me laugh just to read it is: My Parents are divorced, My elbows have nicknames and other facts about me. Elbows with Nicknames? Had to get into that author’s imagination!
I do agree it is a challenge to identify the true purpose of the story and distill it down to a 2-5 word title. It’s good practice, however. When I stick on a title search and keep drilling down, something clever usually comes up.
Good post!
(except for Dr Seuss, book reviews can be found on all titles listed at Books4theCuriousChild.com.)
May 25, 2015 at 8:45 am
Ellie
The title “Tomorrow when the War Began” by John Marsden makes you want to read book just to make sense of the title!
May 25, 2015 at 3:25 pm
Cindy C.
I like the “exercise” of examining titles. Some of my recent fave: “This Book Just Ate My Dog!”, “Mr. Wuffles!”, “Traction Man meets Turbodog”, “Hamweenie”, “Spinky Sulks”, and”Meet the Dullards”. One that I’m looking forward to reading is slightly long: “Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats”.
Of course, “Little Red Gliding Hood” is very catchy as well!
May 26, 2015 at 11:19 am
Tara Lazar
You have great taste in books. (Tee hee!)
June 20, 2015 at 4:28 pm
Penny Parker Klostermann
I know a good picture book with a long title. 😉 Nine words long! THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT!