For children's book creators
Keep your characters recognizable from the first page to the last
Plan a picture book, bedtime story, alphabet book or social story, keep characters consistent with reference images, and export a print PDF with bleed. Visual books are part of the Pro plan.
What makes picture books hard to get right
A picture book is short, but every page has to match every other page.Details that drift between pages
A bear with a red scarf on page two can lose it by page five when each picture is made on its own.
Pages that don't match
Watercolor on one page and cartoon on the next makes a book look unfinished.
Words that don't fit the page
Picture-book text has to be short, paced for page turns and easy to read aloud.
Printers with strict rules
Art that runs to the edge of the page needs bleed, and the page size has to match the printer.
Making a picture book, page by page
Visual books follow their own path, built around pages rather than chapters.Choose the kind of book
Choose a picture book, bedtime story, alphabet book, social story, coloring book, comic or manga, and set the trim size, such as a square 8.5×8.5.
Define the cast and the look
Add reference images for your characters and choose one art style for the whole book, such as watercolor storybook, soft pastel or bold cartoon.
Build it page by page
Write the text for each page and illustrate it, as a single page or as a spread across two.
Get print-ready files
Export a print PDF with bleed on the Pro plan, ready for your printer or print-on-demand service.
What keeps the book consistent
Consistency is decided up front, so every page starts from the same characters and the same style.Reference images
Characters are drawn from reference images, so they stay recognizable from page to page.
One art style per book
Choose the style once and every illustration follows it.
Page-by-page control
Work on one page at a time: the words, the picture, and whether it's a single page or a spread.
Print PDF with bleed
Illustrations can run to the edge of the paper in the printed book.
Audiences for young readers
Set the audience, such as children 3–7 or 8–12, so the language suits the readers.
Social stories
Walk a child through a new situation step by step, with pictures that show what to expect.
Picture books and chapter books
Children's books come in two broad shapes, and AIBookWriter handles both.
Visual books are built page by page: picture books, bedtime stories, alphabet books, social stories, coloring books, comics and manga. Each page has its text and its illustration, and characters stay consistent because they're drawn from reference images, in one art style chosen for the whole book. Visual books are part of the Pro plan, and each visual page costs 20 credits.
Chapter books and middle grade are text first. They use the fiction flow: concept, basics, details and style, characters, outline and chapters. Set the audience to children 8–12, choose a warm or funny tone, and chapters are written to suit. These books work on every plan, with AI writing chapter 1 on Free and the rest from Plus.
Both kinds finish the same way, with a cover, a blurb and files for print. Picture books export as print PDFs with bleed. Chapter books export as a print-ready PDF and an EPUB on Pro, or as a DOCX on Plus.
If you're testing an idea first, the free story starter and character creator work without an account for your first runs.
Books you can make
Bedtime stories
Short, gentle stories with a calm ending, illustrated page by page.
Alphabet books
One letter per page, with a picture that matches each word.
Social stories
Step-by-step stories that help a child prepare for something new, like a first day at school or a visit to the dentist.
Coloring books
Line-art pages in a style made for coloring, consistent from the first page to the last.
Free tools for children's books
Story Starter
Opening passages to break a blank page
2 free runs an hour
Character Creator
Full character profiles with motive, flaw and arc
2 free runs an hour
Character Name Generator
Names that fit a culture, a period and a personality
2 free runs an hour
Book Cover Generator
A front cover with your title on it, sized for ebook and print
30 credits, free preview
Book Title Generator
Twenty title ideas to shortlist
2 free runs an hour
Book Blurb Generator
Back-cover copy in several styles, without spoilers
2 free runs an hour
Frequently asked questions
Which plan do I need for picture books?
Visual books, including picture books, bedtime stories, alphabet books and social stories, are part of the Pro plan ($30 a month billed yearly, or $37 month to month) and Ultra. Pro includes 5,000 credits a month. Text-first chapter books for children use the fiction flow and work on every plan.
How do characters stay the same on every page?
Each character can have reference images, and illustrations are drawn from them in the single art style chosen for the book. That keeps faces, clothes and colors recognizable from page to page. If one picture needs another attempt, redo that page and leave the rest of the book as it is.
Can I make two-page spreads?
Yes. Each page can be a single page or a spread across two pages, which suits big moments like a reveal or a wide landscape. Choose the layout page by page. The print PDF includes bleed, so the art can run all the way to the edge of the paper.
Which art styles are available?
Suggestions include watercolor storybook, soft pastel, bold cartoon, flat vector, pencil sketch, gouache, anime or manga, comic ink, paper cut-out, 3D clay, and line art for coloring books. You choose one style per book, so every page matches the others. Line art suits coloring books, while watercolor storybook and soft pastel suit gentle bedtime stories.
What size should a picture book be?
AIBookWriter offers a square 8.5×8.5 trim for picture books, along with sizes from 5×8 to 8.5×11. Check which sizes your printer or print-on-demand service supports before you start, because changing the size later re-flows the pages and the illustrations. Pick the size first, then build the pages.
Can I write the words myself and only generate pictures?
Yes. Type each page's text yourself and generate only the illustrations. Suggestions for text are there if you want them, and anything you write stays as you wrote it. Illustrations follow the book's art style and your characters' reference images. This works well when the story's text is already finished.
Make a picture book you'd happily read aloud
Write chapter books for young readers on any plan, and move to Pro to illustrate picture books and export them for print. Every account starts free.