First, look at the directions at the top of the page, not the parent guide. Note the consistency from page to page. Notice what we call the white space . Many publishers will think the parent sees value in more on a page, not less. Children are easily frustrated by a page filled with tons of work.
White space gives the child a more restful feeling.
The characters put the child at ease, too. Pleasant, smiling, funny, absurd, they're like family. Now, its not our main task to make the child so restful he falls asleep. We just want the book to have a pleasant personality. We want the child to look forward to working on each page.