Connect the pages
Make each page matter to the page that follows.
A sequence feels like a story when the pages affect one another. Grown-ups can help children see those connections without deciding what the connections must be.
Use three neutral questions
These questions work with almost any plot and do not imply that the answer should be sensible, educational, or conventional.
- What changed on this page?
- Who notices or cares about that change?
- What does someone choose to do because of it?
Keep surprising pages, then connect them
If a child suddenly introduces a submarine into a forest story, do not remove it for consistency. Ask how it arrived, who wanted it there, or what changed when it appeared. The goal is not realism; it is helping the child give the surprise a relationship to the existing book.
Review the visual sequence
Lay out the page thumbnails or swipe through the reader. Ask the child to tell the story using only the pictures. Places where they pause may need a connecting page or a small revision. Places where they enthusiastically explain an invisible detail may simply need that detail added to the image.