Today I am delighted to welcome Sarah Coyle to my blog.
Sarah Coyle is the author of the fabulous Pick a Story series, which encourage children to read in a very different imaginative way. These innovative picture books allow the reader to choose their own story by answering simple questions on where they would like the story to go and turning to the appropriate page in the same way as a game book. In this way, the reader participates in the story by making choices, which does not follow a linear or ordered fashion.
The latest book in the series is Pick A Story: A Superhero + Mermaid + Dragon Adventure.
Sarah has kindly agreed to be interviewed about the writing of her Pick a Story book series.
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Hi Sarah, welcome to my blog. To start please can you tell us a little about yourself and the inspiration for your Pick a Story book series.
I was a big reader when I was a child. I remember the difficulty I had walking from my bus stop to my door stop reading The Queen’s Nose while simultaneously scanning the ground for magic fifty pieces. Bumping into wheelie bins was a hazard, for sure. But I simply couldn’t put a book I loved down. I want all children to get the chance to love reading as much as I do. So the Pick a Story books are all about encouraging engagement to get our youngest readers hooked on books. With this series, I am particularly trying to catch those kids for whom reading can feel more of a chore by giving them real agency through choice.
Why did you decide to write a choose your own adventure style picture book for children?
I enjoyed the choose your own adventure books. Making decisions about where to go next made reading the books an active experience. They felt close to make-believe, which aside from reading was one of my very favourite things. You were playing as you read. Picture books are a great format for these books because small children are so willing to put themselves in a character’s shoes. I have found that kids are very fast to ‘live’ the adventures in the Pick a Story books.
Is there a lot of planning and plotting for this interactive series? Talk us through your writing process with reference to the latest book Pick a Story A Superhero + Mermaid + Dragon Adventure.
Oh my, yes. The process begins with an empty map with lines where the pages link so I can work out that each theme has equal ‘airtime’. Once themes are chosen and a lead character picked, the real plotting begins. There are many different story arcs with lots of crossover and stitchback and it all needs to feel organic and make sense. The making sense bit is often where I get distracted. A lot of utter nonsense seems perfectly sensible to me. This is where Emily Lamm, my editor at Farshore, comes in to save the day and make sure the whole thing flows nicely.
How do you ensure you keep children turning the pages?
I try to ensure that the choices in the books are as fun and exciting as possible. I also love that every time you make a choice, you flick past other tempting pages that you’ll then want to track down.
The illustrator Adam Walker-Parker and the designers at Farshore have done a glorious job here. The themes have their own colour schemes, so the different worlds pop visually as you pass them. You will certainly want to explore them all. Some pages are easier to find than others too. My hope is that this trickery keeps readers engrossed as they seek out that page with baby dragons on it.
What school events have you devised to support the series?
The school events for these books are more fun than I ever imagined they would be. We basically play the book. That means everyone gets to join in and make choice the whole time. The kids decide where we are going on every page. So every event is unique and I never know what’s going to happen moment by moment. It sounds like madness but it works brilliantly.
What writing advice would you give to people aspiring to write a choose your own adventure style children’s book?
Start at the end. If you know where you’re going, it’s much easier to get there. Select a world, (or worlds), that you love yourself. Maybe you like a ye olde medieval romp? Maybe a shiny sci-fi? These books are meant to be fun so stay where you like spending your imaginative time. And go ballistic with the choices. Make them extremely different, make them maddeningly similar, whatever tickles your funny bone. We can learn a lot about ourselves by the choices we make. These books are a safe space to enjoy making them, so you can afford to be brave exploring that.
Is there anything else you would like to tell readers about the Pick a Story series and writing for children?
Pick a Story is all about getting our youngest readers excited about reading through choice and interactive engagement. There are highly important decisions to make and fun activities on every page. You might end up solving a maze, counting, shouting, or spotting and there’s lots of opportunity to share your thoughts along the way. I always find it interesting to find out what catches a child’s attention. For one reader it might be getting to describe in detail what they would do in a narrative, but another kid will just love getting to shout at a giant squid. I try to keep the interactive stuff varied so there’s room for everyone to enjoy themselves.
Where is the best place for people to buy your book?
An independent bookshop. Give them a call in advance and see if they have a copy of the book or can order it in. If you don’t have an independent bookshop nearby, a lot of the big shops will have them like Waterstones. Of course, there’s always The Website That Starts With the Letter A, but going outside is a healthy part of an active lifestyle, so I’d encourage a real-life visit to a real-life bookshop. Bookshops are gentle, calming places to be, like spas or sunset clifftops. One of the important things for me about Pick a Story is that the books are good value for money. They’re not read in a flash and you can go back to them again and again. But if you can’t afford to buy books at the moment don’t let that put you off getting hold of a copy. You should be able to find all the Pick a Story books at your local library.
Thank you Sarah for such insightful answers. I am sure you have inspired many authors to try and write their own Gamebooks. I wonder where their stories will take them?
Thanks for having me, Anita! Those were fabulous questions.
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You can follow Sarah Coyle on X (formerly known as Twitter) at: @WriterSCoyle and on Instagram as @writerscoyle
You can read my review of the second book in the series, Pick a Story A Dinosaur + Unicorn + Robot Adventure here: Book Review: Pick a Story A Dinosaur + Unicorn + Robot Adventure.
Sarah Coyle will be in Bath for Bath Children’s Literature Festival – Europe’s BIGGEST dedicated children’s literature festival – on the 4th October. Book now at:
I would like to thank Madeline from Harper Collins for organising this interview with Sarah Coyle. Thank you.
Much To Do About Writing 
Wow, Great post, thanks for sharing it.
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