[marla-lesage Posts: 376 Status: Offline Write. Illustrate. Revise.]

I'm working on a dummy & trying to find samples in all the possible layouts to see what my options are. PB wisdom tells me most PBs are 32 pages but you don't get 32 pages because the first & last page are pasted down BUT...

I've checked all the hardcover books on my bookshelf - the majority were 40 pages long. The few that had 32 pages were separate-ended. The only 32 page self-ended book I had was Sidewalk Flowers illustrated by Sidney Smith. Today I stopped at the library & spent 30 min counting pages on random samples. I'll admit I was specifically looking for 32 page self-ended books that still had illustrated "endpapers" but I think most still had 40 pages. The only book I found that was 32 pages & self-ended was The Fathers are Coming Home by Margaret Wise Brown.

The Fathers are Coming Home & Sidewalk Flowers both have illustrated "endpapers". (I'm using the term "endpapers" to distinguish between ones that count in the 32 page count & the separate-ended colour pages.)

Can you suggest any other 32 page self-ended picture books? I'm specifically looking for ones that have illustrated "endpapers" but those without will do too.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,883 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Books can be printed in any multiple of four, so 40 pages isn't uncommon. Make sure you look at recent books because they tend to be shorter than older books. Authors usually get about 28 pages for the story. The other pages are taken up by front matter, title, copyright, etc. Of course, these do have illustrations often. I wonder if paper backs are shorter because they don't have the pages glued to the covers. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I'm not an illustrator and don't know all of the terms you're using.