The Creative Writers Resource 22. In its broadest definition, a picture book is a book in which the illustrations play a significant role in telling the story. For infants and young toddlers, these books are generally lullabies, nursery rhymes, fingerplays, or wordless books. The length and format varies with the content. Manuscripts are up to 1500 words, with 1000 words being the average length.
Picture books cover a wide range of topics and styles.
The list of Caldecott Medal winners, available from your library, is a good place to start your research. These stories are simple and contain under 1000 words. Many early picture books have been reprinted in the board book format, thus widening the audience. Books average 2-5 sentences per page. Stories are meatier than transition books, though still contain a lot of action.