See if the thoughts in two sentences can be efficiently merged in a single sentence. For a picture book, I recommend allowing three sentences per paragraph, and rarely more than four. Allow one or two more if a paragraph combines dialog and narration, but still allow only three for dialog. As in the sentence, the most important position in the paragraph is at the end, and the second most important is at the beginning. Sentences containing the most important thoughts are best placed in these positions.
Rhythmic interest is achieved in language by both variety and repetition.
Sentences should vary in number of beats from one to the next, and paragraphs should vary in number of sentences. Alternatively, you can create interest by rigidly repeating a pattern of beats or sentences. Variety is also produced by mixing dialog with narration. Rhythm in Structure Plot structure generates a larger rhythm to the story. This structure is made up of one or more incidents, which are in turn made up of one or more scenes.