A easy and common children book story structure that provides an simple framework for children to build their own story.
Who is your story about? Where are they? What are they doing?
Encourage your child to choose:
- A child
- An animal
- A magical creature
- Or even an object with feelings
Prompt:
Tell me about your character?
Something goes wrong.
The problem doesn’t need to be big — it just needs to matter to the character.
Examples:
- They lose something important
- They are afraid of something
- They want something they can’t have
- They make a mistake
Prompt:
What problem does your character have?
Now your character tries to fix the problem.
Often, it works beautifully to try three attempts, the last attempt solves the problem.
Prompt:
How does your Character try to fix their problem?
How is the problem solved?
Did the character:
- Learn something?
- Ask for help?
- Try something new?
- Discover they were braver than they thought?
Prompt:
How does it end?
At the end of the story, something should feel different.
What did the character learn?
How are they different now?
Tips for Parents
When helping your child write:
- Focus on ideas, not spelling.
- Let their voice stay their voice.
- Resist the urge to over-correct.
- Ask questions instead of giving answers.
- Celebrate finishing — not perfection.
The goal is confidence, not polish.
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