On Picturebooks
I believe that children's picturebooks can be high art.
Here are my rules for truly great children's picturebooks and what they should avoid:
Doesn't explicitly lecture on morals
Many picturebooks address questions of morality explicitly. To teach children "stealing is wrong", for example, authors ensure this is spoken word for word by either a character or the narrator.
I have found that the best picturebooks, when choosing to address morality, do so implicitly. They demonstrate the emotional effect of poor behaviour on the characters to let children come to their own conclusions.
Some of my favourite picturebooks contain no moral messaging at all, but if they do, it needs to be delivered in the subtext.
Executes its prose perfectly
Some picturebooks are written in verse and some in prose.
If a picturebook chooses verse, it must execute on this without error or half-rhyme. Meter must also be respected, and create no confusing, stuttering moments for the parent reading the book to their child.
If the book chooses prose, the writing should create lilting intonation for the adult reader to lean into when speaking aloud. Without this, boredom can set in.
Delivers a strong story
Great picturebooks have strong stories.
This means stories that have a narrative arc, even if lightweight. The story should end not too early or too late. Sometimes moral messaging drags an ending - another reason to dislike it.
The story should "make sense". Narrative developments should logically follow the preceding pages, and readers should not be left wondering why something happened.
Engaging Artwork
By definition, a picturebook's images must contain their own information. Goodnight Moon's text doesn't describe the room as a bedroom, or the child as a rabbit. This is delivered by the images.
Great picturebooks use the images to add emotional weight to a small amount of text.
The artwork must be of high and engaging quality. Flat designs must be original in nature.